407 checkride

As part of my annual refresher training, we did a half an hour worth of touchdown autorotations in the Bell 407 helicopter.  The point of the training is to be prepared for the possibility of an engine failure.


This particular maneuver is known as a "full down" (terminating in a power-off landing to the ground) 180 degree autorotation, beginning from about 500 feet on the downwind leg.  The throttle is rolled to idle, which disconnects the rotor system from the engine, and after some flight control manipulations the rotor system transitions to a "driven state", where the only thing keeping the rotor turning is the air rushing through it, as the helicopter rapidly descends in a turn.  At around 100 feet, the helicopter's nose is pulled up to slow the forward airspeed and descent rate, and in the last ten feet, the helicopter is leveled and the touchdown is "cushioned" by pulling pitch in the blades, using all the remaining energy in the rotor system to slow the blades and provide a soft touchdown.  All of this happens pretty rapidly, in our case, about 25-30 seconds from when the throttle is rolled off until you are sliding along on the grass.  Piece of cake.  


In this video, the instructor was doing the first demonstration, mine were not quite as pretty.  

Autorotation training can be dangerous, what happens if you attempt a 180 degree full down auto, and of the critical items (turn, flare, level, and cushion) you only score 50%?  It looks a lot like this next video, and NO, the skids don't normally spread that far.  

For this reason, our instructors are always ready on the controls in case we are a little slow, and in the Army, full down autorotation practice is something that is only done in flight school.