So, what is the best way to pass the Certified Pilot check-ride?

Well, will start with this premise: 

There are NO shortcuts, and nothing will allow you to get through it without dedicated practice.  However, equally important, is the way you practice.

What does that mean, the WAY you practice?

Well, simply put, it means doing the same thing the same way repeatedly until it becomes second nature.  The single biggest mistake people make when learning (and this includes any skill that requires manual dexterity: Piano playing, guitar playing, helicopter flying) is to not have a consistent practice routine.  That’s why instructors in these disciplines always give their students specific exercises to master to make them proficient in a specific skill prior to moving on to a new skill. 

So, what is the routine?

Part 1:

1.  Set your chopper in the center of the Hover circle at KMSO, DEAD centered, and facing towards the runway on a heading of 264 degrees.
2. Set your fuel load at 65%.
3. Set the time to noon local time.
4. Turn off wind.
5. Set your views the way you like them.
6. Save the flight.

Now, every time you start your practice routine, load the saved flight and you will be starting from the exact same location with the same fuel load at the same time of day and with the correct views already set.  Why?  Because it removes all the variables such as a different fuel load, different shadows from the sun position, different starting position and sets you up for your training maneuvers.  This will also be the starting point for your check ride, and so it will be a familiar place.

Setting your fuel load to 65% (personal preference, you can use any loading you prefer) is important to finding the correct NUMBERS for our practicing.  The heavier a chopper is the more power it needs to get off the ground and sustain a hover.  In addition, the heavier a chopper is, the more control inputs it requires to keep it under control.  Basic physics tells us: F=MA (Force=Mass x Acceleration).  In other words, the heavier the chopper and faster it is accelerating the more Force (for our purposes, Cyclic input) is required to bring it under control.  Therefore, a heavy chopper reacts slower to cyclic inputs and takes more cyclic movement to control than a light a chopper does.

Part 2:

1.  Only practice for 30-45 minutes at a time. Take a break after that, then practice for another 30-45 minutes.  After that, go fly and have fun. 
2.  Always follow a routine to the point that it becomes second nature.
3.  Every single maneuver is a sequence of small steps put together one at a time to make a continuous string of steps into a routine.  Like playing a tune on a guitar, every song consists of chords that must be learned individually then put together is a specific order to play a song.
4. Practice maneuvers one at a time until you have one maneuver mastered before moving on to the next one.  The test is a cumulative test.  That is, it is based on the ability to successfully complete the previous maneuver before applying your skills to the next maneuver.  Each maneuver is a combination of the ones you have already demonstrated.


FLYING BY THE NUMBERS

This is probably the most important step in developing good practice routines.  For every maneuver in the test, there are specific settings for the chopper to achieve the desired results, and learning these early on will be a huge bonus to you later.  Print the Certified Pilot test from Hovercontrol; make notes in the margins as to what the collective settings, radio call signs, pattern flying ground markers and associated headings were in the margins next to each exercise.  That way, you always had a reference sheet to look at while training to guide you and to allow repetition of these settings.

Let us look at the steps required to achieve a hover and the required “numbers”.

The Hover.

Step 1:

The chopper gets light on the skids at 61-62 % torque (with the above noted 65% fuel load).

Leave it here for 3-5 seconds and make sure that it isn’t drifting in any direction and that the cyclic and pedals are centered. If you do not do this, the moment the chopper loses it’s friction on the ground and becomes airborne, it will head off in whatever direction it was drifting in.

Step 2:

Then increase power to 63-65%, which brings it into the hover about 4-5 feet above ground, and I hold it there for a few more seconds to get it balanced and make sure I am not drifting.

Step 3:

Then increase power to 66-67 % Torque to rise to 12 feet AGL (AGL=Above Ground Level) which is the height used for the test.

Notice, however, how small the power changes are to get to the desired height of 12 feet AGL?

From light on the skids to 12 feet is only a difference 6 % Torque. SIX PERCENT!!!!  Be gentle with the collective.

Your “Numbers” may be slightly different.  That is OK, just find YOUR numbers and use them!

Do this procedure EVERY TIME YOU LIFT OFF THE CHOPPER, regardless of the maneuver you are going to do, without fail. That way, your routine becomes ingrained to your flying and becomes second nature.

To land the chopper, it is a reverse of the above, exactly as stated, only backwards.

From a hover at 12 feet AGL and power settings of 66-67 %, decrease collective to 63-65 % and let the chopper settle to about 4-5 feet AGL and steady it up, removing all movement and keeping it stationary. Once you have it steady, SLOWLY decrease power back down to 61-62 % and it will gently settle back into a position of being light on the skids. Make sure all movement is stopped, and then slowly decrease collective all the way to put the chopper firmly on the ground.

Now, do it again.

And again.

It will become second nature after a while.

Every maneuver in the CP check ride has its own “NUMBERS” to remember, and you need to perform these maneuvers repeatedly to ingrain the routine into your head so that your hands and eyes no longer “think” they just do.

Get yourself a routine, learn your numbers, practice until you know this stuff cold, and your CP test will be a breeze.

Part 4 – other items

The hover circle work in respect to hovering, pedal turns and lateral maneuvers has usually been practiced to the point that, when an applicant for CP is performing those specific maneuvers they are usually done quite well to at least a pass mark of a 3. In fact, I would suggest that many applicants spend too much time practicing the hover circle maneuvers and not enough time in practicing the 3 flight maneuvers that follow, specifically:

TEST 5: Orbit the Hovercontrol Headquarter Facility at 100 feet AGL and at a speed of between 20 – 30 knots.

This test is designed to show your ability to control the helicopter in the specific flight regime of slow controlled flight while performing turns and maintaining a constant altitude.

This one is a deceptively simple test that most people rarely practice, but it will catch you out and make you fail your CP unless you are paying attention to detail. We see many people unable to maintain a constant altitude of 100 feet AGL, and fluctuating up or down 20-30 feet during the turns.

To master this test you should break the maneuver into 3 parts:



1.  Start from the center of the hover circle, lift up into a controlled hover, transition into climbing forward flight and climb to 100 feet AGL at 25 knots.

PRACTICE THIS PART OVER AND OVER AGAIN. It is so easy to over speed and blow your assigned altitude. You want the chopper leveled off at 100 feet AGL, NOT blowing the assigned altitude and then creeping back down again to stabilize at 100 feet.

2.  Practice flying at 100 feet AGL at 25 knots while making turns left and right MAINTAINING 25 KTS AND 100 feet.  We see folks who climb or descend in the turns 20-30 feet, which, if you stop and think about it, 20-30 % of the assigned altitude.

3.  Practice a slow, controlled descent from 100 feet altitude AGL, coming to a full stop 10 feet above the center of the hover circle and in a controlled hover.  After the hover is stabilized, then land.


Put these 3 maneuvers together and you will have this portion of the test mastered.


TEST 6: Fly the Runway, Join Left Traffic, and Approach and Land on the Numbers

This is another area where we see some pilots have problems in the CP test.

Basically, what we are expecting of you is to be able to fly a left traffic pattern for runway 29 at KMSO, and land on the runway directly on top of the actual runway numbers, announcing by voice (and with correct radio procedures) pilot’s intentions for all flight maneuvers.

You will start from an altitude of approximately 4000MSL over the town of Missoula and, announcing intentions, fly at 80 KTS directly over and down the center of, runway 29. At the end of the runway, you will announce intentions of turning left crosswind and follow the traffic pattern all the way to final and land on the runway numbers in the same heading as the runway.

The problems we typically see here are poor radio communications, failure to maintain a constant altitude and not landing directly on the numbers.

Make sure you have your radio procedures down pat, that you follow radio etiquette and that you understand the left traffic pattern and are able to name each leg correctly.

Make sure you can maintain a constant altitude. When practicing you should allow yourself NO leeway with altitude deviation, and try your best to perfect accurate altitude control.

Finally, a well set up approach on final is the key to landing on the numbers. It is exactly the same procedure used in the previous exercise, except we will use the numbers as our target, as opposed to the center of the hover circle.


TEST 7: Hover-Taxi back to the Hovercontrol HQ.


The final test is a slow, controlled hover-taxi back to the training circle from the numbers of runway 29.

Practice flying at about 10 feet AGL at a speed between 3-5 KTS. What we want to see is precise pilot control in respect to altitude and speed, as well as your ability to follow assigned taxiways AND to follow radio procedures in respect to announcing your intentions.


IN SUMMARY

Remember, the Certified Pilot test is all about controlling the chopper in ALL flight regimes, not just the hover. Pay attention to mastering all 7 areas of the CP test ride, and you will be assured of gaining pilot proficiency and control over the helicopter so that you will be able to perform any maneuver you wish and have a great deal of satisfaction knowing that you can do so.

Did you know that less than 1% of all Hovercontrol Members are Certified Pilots here?  It is a small but growing club of dedicated pilots who have taken the time to master helicopter flight, and have been rewarded for that dedication by the Certified Pilot