Helicopter aerobatic testing can be an effective way to meet many objectives;such as the development of air-to-air engagement techniques, in support of business development, or to perform public aerobatic displays. Extreme helicopter maneuvering is one of the highest risk envelope expansion tasks a test pilot can be assigned. This presentation will discuss a few methods to reduce those risks. According to Wikipedia, in the past 114 years there have been only 17 years with no display related accidents or incidents. Often multiple events have occurred during each year listed. The actual statistics arc said to be shockingly higher than reported. Accidents have occurred because pilots cannot recover from maneuver departures, or attempted aborts, during an air display. What is not reported is the damage that can accrue when a pilot uses non-standard maneuvers to recover from an abort or departure. When a test pilot considers all the things that might not go according to plan during an acrobatic envelope expansion or display, a more appropriate title for this presentation should be: "Planning for When Things Go Really, Really Wrong." By learning and practicing the most successful techniques for recovery, the pilot moves from slow and possibly incorrect conscious mind reactions;to faster subconscious mind responses. By anticipating what might go wrong during a display, a pilot will be better able to plan and practice the most successful departure and abort recovery strategies. This allows the display pilot to perform complex recovery tasks on the sub-conscience level in the demanding air display environment.
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