Kenny Keller explains settling with power, a dangerous helicopter condition where you sink in your own downwash. It requires a descent rate of 300 feet per minute or more, 20 to 100 percent power, and airspeed below effective translational lift. Recovery means increasing forward airspeed, lowering the collective, or entering autorotation if altitude allows.
Avoid selling with power. If you always keep the wind off your nose, as in this picture right here, and the turbulence behind you, you're never probably going to get in. Selling with power Selling with power is one of the most important things you need to be aware of as a helicopter pilot today. I'm Kenny Keller, the creator of Helicopter Online Ground School and author of the Amazon bestseller Helicopter Checkride. First, you need to know a simple definition for selling with power. And a simple definition is settling in your own downwash. That's exactly what it is. You're settling in your own disturbed air. So there are three things that you absolutely have to comm memory. These are the three things, if combined together, they can get you into selling with power, which are rated Ascent 300ft per minute or greater, using 20 to 100% of your available power, and airspeed less than effective translational lift, or ETL, as we call it. So again, you must have all three of those things combined together to get in selling with power. There are three situations conductive to selling with power. Three situations that pilots commonly put themselves in. Number one, attempting to hover above the hovering ceiling. Number two, attempt attempting to hover out of ground effect without precise attitude control. And three, a steep power approach, airspeed near zero. So if you find yourself in this situation slugging with power, you can increase forward air speed to get out of it. You can lower collective to get out of it. You can do both. Altitude permitting, you could perform an auto rotation to get out of it. Altitude permitting, you could fly sideways and even fly backwards to get out of it. So Remember, rate ascent 300ft per minute or greater, using 20 to 100% of power, airspeed less than ETL. Those three things combined together, you can get into something with power. Take any one of the three away. And you're not in slang with power. Common situations people put themselves in attempting to hover above the hovering ceiling of the aircraft, hovering out of ground effect without precise attitude control and a high power approach, airspeed near zero. How can you get out of it? You can fly into clean air, sideways, backwards, whichever direction. To get into clean air, you can lower collective, altitude permitting, and. Or you could gain air speed and lower collective simultaneously. So those are some of the basic elements of selling with power that you absolutely have to commit to memory. You have to know how you get into it, how to recognize it, and the best thing to do is just to know how to avoid it and not get yourself in that position in the first place. Hope that helps. Please give us a like and a share. Leave your comments down below. And if you'd like some help with helicopter checkride preparation and like to check out our helicopter online ground school, click the link above, beside, below or on the face of this video. So click one of those links now and we'll see you in the next video.
