#283 From The Examiner: Applicants Confused On Tail Rotor Failure/Malfunction

From the examiner. He asked me to make you a video. The last checkride we did with the same exam I've been using for 20 years, said Kenny. Make a video. People are having some real trouble when it comes to tail rotors and tail rotor failures and malfunctions and understanding the difference. So we're going to go through some of this and I'm going to relay to you what he told me. This is to help you out, because this is what this examiner is seeing, people showing up for a checkride. And here's the problems they're having. People are struggling with thrust and loss of thrust, tail rotor failures, stuck pedal, and loss of tail rotor effectiveness. They're getting confused between these different topics right here. So let's walk through it slow and simple. I do need to mention content in this presentation is from the Helicopter Flying Handbook, which is our helicopter bible here in the United States. And if you're going for any rating, private, commercial, cfi, instrument examiner, whatever the FAA says, this is the book that we need to be referencing. And I know lately there's been a lot of talk about, you know, the way FAA looks at certain things, but hey, we got to work with what we've got, right? And then I got to mention, as with all operations, always refer to the manufacturer's POH or flight manual. Today is going to be a generic conversation, helping you try to understand the differences between these issues. So we've broken this down to help you kind of make sense of it. Anti Torque System Failure an anti torque failure usually falls into one of two categories. One is a failure of the power drive portion of the tail rotor system, resulting in a complete loss of anti torque. The other category covers mechanical control failures, prohibiting the pilot from changing or controlling the tail rotor thrust, even though the tail rotor may still be providing anti torque thrust. So on the tail rotor drive system failures include drive shaft failures, tail rotor gearbox failures, or a complete loss of the tail rotor itself. So let's take a look at this. So to elaborate on that further, could be the drive shaft going back to the tail rotor. It can be the gearbox itself that's causing the issue, or the tail rotor has come apart or actually flown off the aircraft. In any of these cases, the loss of anti torque normally results in immediate spinning of the helicopter's nose. The helicopter spins to the right in a counterclockwise rotor system and to the left in a clockwise system. So for those of you who are just starting out, and you may be unsure, it's when you're looking at the top, down. So spinning that way, clockwise, that way, counterclockwise. Again, looking down from above, straight at the rotor system. So then the severity of the spin is proportionate to the amount of power being used and the airspeed. Higher airspeeds tend to streamline the helicopter and keep it from spinning. If a tail rotor failure occurs, power must be reduced in order to reduce the main rotor torque. The techniques can differ depending on whether the helicopter is in flight or in a hover, but ultimately require an autorotation. If a complete tail rotor failure occurs while hovering, enter a hovering auto rotation by rolling off the throttle. If the helicopter has enough forward speed, close to cruising speed when the failure occurs. And depending on the helicopter design, the vertical stabilizer may provide enough directional control to allow the pilot to maneuver the helicopter to a more desirable landing site. Meaning you enter the auto rotation and you got nothing but, you know, woods below you. You could fly a little further and try to get to a suitable spot by pulling the power back in and continuing to fly. So then we have mechanical control failure. A mechanical control failure limits or prevents control of tail rotor thrust and is usually caused by stuck or broken control rod or cable. While the tail rotor is still producing anti torque thrust, it cannot be controlled by the pilot. The amount of anti torque depends on the position at which the controls jam or fail. So the techniques differ depending on the amount of tower thrust. But an auto rotation is generally not required. The specific manufacturer's procedures should always be followed. All right, so I hope that makes sense to you. Hope that helps clarify that a little bit. The other thing that my examiner talks about is people screw up which way thrust is working. And I've mentioned this in a previous coffee with Kenny, and we talk about it inside helicopter airline ground school. The actual thrust on a counterclockwise system tail rotor over here, the thrust is going this way against the tail boom. And I understand why people get confused because you've got air blowing out this way, right? You got turbulent air coming out away from that tail rotor. That is not the thrust. The actual thrust is pushing against the tail boom that way, counter affecting torque. So think about that one too. That's where he always takes people when they go out for their checkride. I always see them back here having a conversation right beside the tow rotor, because he'll ask them every single time. So there you go. It's a complete failure. Like tail rotor drive shaft gearbox has went away, tail rotor is coming apart or flies off. Or you have a failure where there's some Type of stuck control, tail rotor still providing thrust. You just can't control it. I will also mention the three T's, which we've done plenty of videos on. People get confused between effective translational lift, transverse flow effect, and translating tendency. The three T's, that's another area that you need to make sure when you're studying that you sit down and you differentiate between those three different things. And of course, we can help you out with that. Inside helicopter online ground school or keep tuning in with coffee with Kenny every day. Checkride problems, right? That's how I built online ground school. This all started because I failed my first checkride. And I know how it feels. And what's fun all these years later is that failure changed my life. And as much as it sucked and it hurt, it's why I had to study a lot harder to go back. And it shaped the type of pilot I became because of my failure. I just had to work really hard at it. I'm not exceptional related to anything. I had to try really, really hard, and I had to study really hard. So in turn, I took that knowledge and my struggles. When I became an instructor, I can remember starting out when I first got my cfi. All of us, most all of us go, I don't know what I'm doing. I can't believe they gave me this certificate. But it's a license to learn. And I just, I can remember getting started and just going, well, just think of everything that I've learned, you know, and you just kind of put together the things that you learn from different people flying with different instructors, different aircraft, different places around the country, around the world. You learn so much. And I've just taken what works for me. There are so many different methods, and I really try to be, you know, impartial. When somebody says, well, hey, my instructor says I have to do it that way, you know, nine times out of ten, I'll say, hey, what your instructor is teaching you may very well be a great way to do it. I mean, my examiner always says there's a million ways of teaching a quick stop. As long as the maneuver is safe, who cares exactly how you teach it and how much you pull to a certain point? All those things can vary depending on aircraft and make and model and time of day and wind and everything else. So that's where helicopter land ground school comes from. So we'd love to help you out. We have four courses, private, commercial, CFI and instrument. You can go to helicopterground.com below in the link below in the description box. You can take any of our courses for a 24 hour test flight, not be billed anything. Go in, see what it's all about. We'd love to have you as a member. And if you want to make a little less of a micro commitment, you can get top 10 checkride tips, as in the tips today coming from my examiner, who has been an examiner for many, many, many years. Very respected in the Midwest, an excellent examiner. He pointed out those things in this video that I wanted to make for you today. That's why we built top 10 checkride tips or we wrote it. Taz Christma and I co authored this together. This again is the problems. This is the things that people run into getting ready for a checkride and the things that mess you up on a checkride. Guess what? They're not usually the hard stuff. It's usually simple things like that we talk about in this book. What you stress over prepping for the checkride is something starting airplane, starting over there. Lost my train of thought. Yeah, I got it. What screws people up is stupid stuff not having the proper paperwork, showing up late, whatever the case is. And Taz and I got together, both of us been teaching 20 years and we just put together our top 10 tips, the top 10 things that we think people mess up. And also As a bonus, TAs went out and interviewed examiners in the Las Vegas area and said, what are you people seeing when people show up for checkrides? That's a bonus in the book as well. We already bought them, we paid for them. They're upstairs in the office. Heather ships them Monday through Thursday. We ship to you this for just shipping and handling. So you can go down the link below. You can order that for just shipping and handling and we'll ship it out to you as fast as possible. So day 283, I'm still having a blast. Weekend's here. I gotta add this up and get headed home. My daughter should be home anytime, so hope that helps. Subscribe to the channel and click the bell. We do a daily video talking about all kinds of cool stuff. Helicopter training, careers topics, all kinds of stuff. If you subscribe to our channel and then click that little bell, that'll give you the notification each day when our new video is going to come out. So subscribe. Leave us a comment below about today's video. We'll see you in day 284. Peace out. It.