Unpaved Freedom

No runway needed

It takes time, flight hours, more flight hours, keep going......even more flight hours to build up experience. But I wanted to learn to fly. The thing is, helicopters are inherently unstable. The many axes of instabilities make flying challenging. But I couldn't hold back this urge.

So, how can my human brain manage to fly 3 degrees of rotation? Managing 3 rotations of the - yaw, pitch and roll that translates into pitch rotation, forward/aft translation and climb/descent - that's 3 degrees of freedom (DOF). Airplanes have 3 degrees of freedom. For helicopters, now add the next 3, which are roll rotation, left/right translation, and right/left pedal rotation. Helicopters have a cross coupling of 6 degrees of freedom

It's true, our human brain can control 3 DOF. We can balance objects vertically, and we control larger objects easier than smaller objects. However, flying helis take on 6 DOF, noted above, and as I realized more and more when I fly, I am anticipating every one of those rotations and translations in my head. For instance in a hover, with a slight pressure on the cyclic, anticipating any movement into translational lift, the pilot anticipates the next steady pitch, to the next tilt, to the next thrust generating a longitudinal acceleration into velocity.

Hold on..... I'm neglecting an essential part of flying.....it's the "feeling". Perhaps you heard pilots say, I get 'feedback' from the machine, or I know how it feels without looking at the instruments or that 'brisk walk' we are often told when keeping a steady rate of closure, or t's that 'feeling' when a manuever feels the way it should, when a descent 'feels' like a normal descent. The problem is, words can only go as far in instruction. Mathematical equations can can only supply a controlled explanation of hover to forward flight with moments, angles and linear accelerations.

So when does the pilot start to realize that he/she has a feel for flying? And when pilots start flying as student pilot, is that feeling only present in their early years of flying but now has been redefined as pilots continue on in their careers with more instrument flying, stabilized augmentated system, 3-axis and 4-axis autopilots?

I thought it might be worthwhile to write about how pilots understand what it means to 'hand fly the machine' or feeling the feedback from the machine as they fly or what does it mean when pilots say 'it's a feeling'. The postings are about flying, and since flying encompasses everything from the pilot's personality to the flight school, not least the financial investment, the weather, the flight environment and so on, I'll try to make sure the postings are not laden with too much of one thing but with some substance and wide ranging experiences.

This site are postings of what pilots say. And a bit of my own reflection from what I hear from them referring to my experiences thus far.

The first posting was inspired from my current CFI who asked if I would be a good pilot if I had a download, like a neurolink or software programme of all his skills as a pilot? A profound question. Imagine yourself getting a download from your first flight instructor.......