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the journal of the professional helicopter pilot
Special Issue -
UNIONS!
page 12 - Fireside Chat
about Autos with Pete Gillies
COLUMNS
HELICOPTER PILOTS AND UNIONS
2 From the President
3 Editor’s “License”
20 Back to Basics:
A Mighty Wind:
Downwash & Disc Loading
6 UNIONS!
9 Profile—4 Helicopter Pilot Unions
11 Air Log Pilots Ratify New Agreement
& MORE
12 Fireside Chat
—about Autos with Pete Gillies
18 Live & Learn
—26,000 Hours and Counting
18 Pilot Profile
—Darron Adams, Metropolitan D.C.
Police Dept.
22 Test Pilot
Volume 5
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Issue 2
A u t o r o t a t e i s t h e o f f i c i a l p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e P r o f e s s i o n a l H e l i c o p t e r P i l o t s ’ A s s o c i a t i o n ( P H PA )
From the President
EVERYTHING IN BLACK AND WHITE
This issue of Autorotate is taking a
look at the one topic every other magazine tries to avoid—Unions. We hope to
give our readers some factual insight into
what is going on across our profession as
more and more helicopter pilots find
themselves involved in this discussion.
While I’m at it, I would like to congratulate the Air Logistics pilots for ratifying
their new contract. I know it was a long,
hard negotiation, but in the end, it all
worked out well for them.
What I would like to add to the union
discussion are some of my personal feelings and experiences concerning unions.
I was as anti-union as they come when I
hired on here at Ft. Rucker. I had been
through three different union jobs before
I started flying for a living and all three
of them left a very bad taste in my mouth
for anything union. It was not until I had
been on the job at Rucker for a few years
that I even considered looking at the
union we have had here since the early
seventies. It did not take long for me to
see that this union of helicopter pilots
was entirely different from those other
unions I had experienced. These guys
were my peers and they were working on
their own time, for no pay, to get us the
best contract they could. I was three
kinds of impressed as I began to understand how the process worked and what
it actually meant to me in my day to day
life.
I had never really understood the term
Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)
until I watched and listened as the
months of contract negotiations went by.
What I learned was the CBA was nothing
more than a binding contract between me
and my employer and I liked that idea. I
liked the fact that everything was in
black and white. I liked the fact that
BOTH myself and my employer had to
abide by the contract. I liked the idea
2
EDITOR’S “LICENSE”
In this issue of Autorotate, we are
doing something unprecedented. We’ve
devoted the bulk of the magazine to a
topic that is both timely and controversial—helicopter pilot unions.
that there were written punishments for
written offenses leaving no uncertainty,
with either side, about how bad behavior
was to be handled. I liked knowing when
my next pay raise was coming and how
much it would be. I liked a grievance
procedure that started with “Talk to your
immediate supervisor first and if that
does not resolve the issue then put it in
writing and send it to his supervisor.” In
twenty-five years on the job I have never
filed a grievance. But, it is nice knowing there is a process if I ever need it. In
twenty-five years on the job I have never
been punished or counseled for any misdeed, but I am glad there is a black and
white process in place to do so. Needless
to say, I have grown to appreciate working under a contract. It simply takes
everything in the work place that is usually gray and fuzzy around the edges and
makes it black and white. In other words
it removes all the uncertainty from your
day to day life on the job and that is
something I have come to expect and
appreciate.
If you have any questions concerning
this subject, please drop me a note at
Butch@autorotate.org and I will be more
than happy to answer them as best I can.
Butch Grafton
President
Butch@autorotate.org
END
Prior to researching this article, I found
that I knew precious little about unions.
And, I suspect, I’m not alone in this
regard. A dozen books and a bunch of
conversations later and I feel like I have
a grasp on the subject. I hope you feel
the same way when you finally put down
this issue.
OK, now pretend for a moment that
you are me. You’re armed with some
interesting information about unions, but
now you have to decide what “tone” to
take in the magazine—pro-union, antiunion, neutral? It is a given that I’m
going to offend about 2/3 of my audience
no matter which way I go.
In the last issue of Autorotate, I
reviewed briefly the relationship between
myself, PHPA and OPEIU (Office &
Professional Employees International
Union). PHPA actively represents both
union pilots and non-union pilots.
OPEIU is the umbrella organization supporting the helicopter pilot “Locals”
mentioned in this issue (Page 9). They
also made it possible for PHPA to acquire
Autorotate and they graciously pay for
my services as editor of the magazine.
Yet, as I previously mentioned, they have
never exerted the slightest pressure on
me or Autorotate with regards to either
content or “spin”. The reason I’m doing
an issue on unions is because I thought it
was the right thing to do and this was the
right time to do it.
So, in writing my story and editing the
other materials for this issue, I’ve chosen
to do so in a way that makes me feel
most comfortable. Most of the pilots I
know are smart people, fully capable of
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Volume 5 Issue 2
making up their own minds. But, many
of them are uninformed as well. I think
we can help change that.
Union is a powerful word. It raises
alarms and many are uncomfortable with
it. Admittedly, I am one of them. How
could I not be? I’ve spent most of my
adult life in various management positions where “union” was something that
was perceived as making your already
hard job, harder.
On the other side of the coin, some
pilots fear unionization because they feel
that they may be giving up a perceived
element of control over their own careers.
And, there is concern over a deteriorated
relationship between pilots and management that can strain day to day working
conditions. Nobody wants that.
Yet, when I speak with union members
and leaders, they are adamant about the
improvements in their pay and benefits,
status within the company and working
conditions since either the threat of
unionization has appeared or an actual
contract has been negotiated under the
rules of a collective bargaining agree-
ment. Many of these men and women
have been with their companies for nearly 30 years. They’ve seen it both ways
and are speaking from experience.
I’ve met the pro-union leaders of the
Locals profiled in this issue. Whatever
your opinion on unions, the men and
women who decide to lead union efforts
within their companies are uniformly
people of courage and conviction.
As I send this issue off to the printer I
hear a small alarm or two going off in my
own head. Is the company that employs
me as a line pilot going to feel threatened
by seeing my “byline” next to the word
“UNION!” in big block letters? Are the
people who write my check each month
for producing the magazine going to be
disappointed because I didn’t take a
stronger stand? In the end, I have to do
what feels right to me.
And, when you think about it, I guess
that’s the way it is with unions too.
Tony Fonze, editor
TonyFonze@autorotate.org
Publisher:
The Professional Helicopter Pilots’ Association
Managing Editor:
Anthony Fonze
Design:
Studio 33
Editorial Assistance:
Michael Sklar
Autorotate is owned by the Professional Helicopter
Pilots’ Association (PHPA). Autorotate (ISSN 1531166X) is published every other month for $30.00 per
year by PHPA, 1809 Clearview Parkway, New Orleans,
LA 70001.
Copyright © 2005, Professional Helicopter Pilots’
Association. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or
in part is strictly prohibited. It is illegal to make copies
of this publication. Printed in the U.S.A. by union
employees.
Subscriptions:
Subscriptions are provided to current members of PHPA.
PHPA membership is offered at $60.00 per year.
Promotional discounts may be offered. For a complete
list of membership benefits go to www.autorotate.org.
Single issue reprints offered, when available, for $5.00
each. To become a member of PHPA or to notify PHPA of
a change of address, contact PHPA at 1809 Clearview
Parkway, New Orleans, LA 70001.
Phone 866-367-7472. Fax 504-779-5209.
E-mail publisher@autorotate.com.
PHPA members may submit address changes at
www.autorotate.com. Local members may submit
address changes through their locals. Local members
with e-mail addresses, who are not registered at the
website, should contact their locals.
END
Article Contributions and Editorial
Comments:
Article contributions, including ideas, freelance stories,
an interest in assignment articles, Live and Learn
experiences, photographs, and comments are welcome
and should be sent to autorotate, 3160 N. San Remo,
Tucson, AZ 85715. Phone 520-906-2485.
Fax 520-298-7439. E-mail editor@autorotate.org.
Autorotate and PHPA are not responsible for materials
submitted for review.
Notice:
The information contained herein has been researched
and reviewed. However, Autorotate and PHPA do not
assume responsibility for actions taken by any pilot or
aircraft operator based upon information contained
herein. Every pilot and aircraft operator is responsible for
complying with all applicable regulations.
Cover: Hemerra Images, Corel, Autorotate Staff;
composite Studio 33
3
Cover Story
UNIONS!
You’re not going to read a lot about
unions in the well-known helicopter
industry publications—for good reason.
Helicopter publications survive on the
revenues generated by their advertising.
Advertising is purchased by helicopter
operators, manufacturers and suppliers
who are usually less than enthused when
the word “Union” appears in print.
Leafing through the pages of Autorotate,
one can quickly see that we are not
plagued by the same problem—we are
pretty much free to say what we want
without fear of major economic calamity
(this is both a good thing and a bad
thing). So here goes.
Helicopter pilot unions are here and
they are slowly increasing in number.
This raises some important questions that
ought to be brought to the surface and
discussed. There’s no good reason for
anyone, manager or line pilot, to be ignorant. So, with that in mind, our mission
here isn’t to persuade, it is to inform and
educate. You can draw your own conclusions.
First and foremost, what is a labor
union, exactly? What can they do, and
4
Photography: Liquid Library; Hemerra Images
not do, and by what right do they do it?
Short questions. Long answers.
It’s the law!
Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate
Dictionary defines a labor union as “an
organization of workers formed for the
purpose of advancing its members’ interests in respect to wages and working conditions.”
OK, so we’re all sitting around the
break room and we collectively decide
that the temperature of the sodas in the
soda machine is too warm and we want
something done about it or we’re all
going to quit tomorrow. We proceed to
march into the boss’s office together, mad
as hornets, to demand colder sodas or
else. Does that make us a union?
According to Webster’s it might. But,
not according to U.S. Labor Law.
By Tony Fonze
Law is derived from two sources. We
all learn in school that the legislatures
make the laws or statutes. Statutory law
serves as the latticework upon which
Case Law is built. Case Law, also
known as Common Law, builds upon the
framework of legislative laws as individual cases are brought before the courts
and the courts serve to interpret the
statutes against real-life situations.
Precedence is established and Common
Law is born. Combined, Statutory Law
and Common Law are the framework
upon which labor, management and
everything else is ultimately governed.
Let’s start at the beginning. The First
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
gives us freedom of association.
Consequently, the generic right to form a
union is, in effect, protected by the
Constitution of the United States. When
can unions be formed? What can they
do? What can’t they do? For these
answers we have to look elsewhere.
The congress “giveth” and the congress
“taketh away”
For more than a hundred years congress has been passing laws that both
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Special Section - Helicopter Pilots and Unions
“giveth” and “taketh away” legal standing for the formation of and governance
of organized labor unions. The tide of
labor has ebbed and flowed depending
upon the political climate of the times.
Sometimes, a law that was written originally as a pro-labor policy was later used
(after a political climate shift) to suppress
the growth of the labor movement.
Early laws that played a role in the
evolution of organized labor include the
Sherman Antitrust Act (1890), the
Clayton Act (1914) and the NorrisLaGuardia Act of 1932, which is still in
force today. The Norris-LaGuardia Act
restricts the power of federal courts to
issue injunctions in cases growing out of
labor disputes. Created during the Great
Depression, with unemployment above
25%, organized labor was one of the few
forces speaking out on behalf of
American workers at the time. The
Norris-LaGuardia Act was a step toward
recognizing unions as the legitimate representatives of workers. But, it applied
only to the federal courts and employers
were still free to discharge workers who
led, joined or even sympathized with
unions. Employers had no duty to bargain
with unions, even if they represented a
majority of workers. Stronger legal medicine was needed.
referred to at the time as the “TaftHartley Act.” Section 7 was amended to
provide that workers had the right to
refrain from union activities as well as to
engage in them, and Section 8 was
amended to prohibit unions from engaging in unfair labor practices. In 1959
Congress enacted another significant
amendment to the Act with the Labor
Management Reporting and Disclosure
Act. This amendment, called the
“Landrum-Griffin Act,” prohibited unions
from engaging in certain forms of picketing and established a code of conduct for
unions for the protection of their members.
What about pilots?
Finally, in 1935, Congress recognized
unions as legitimate representatives of
workers with the creation of the National
Labor Relations Act. Also called the
“Wagner Act,” it created the National
Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Section
7 of the Act spelled out the rights of
workers to join and participate in union
activities and Section 8 prohibited
employers from engaging in unfair labor
practices that interfered with the workers’
Section 7 rights.
Enough legal stuff already, you’re
thinking. Well, almost. While the previously cited labor laws have helped to
form a foundation for labor-management
relations across the board, it turns out
that pilots’ rights are more directly
defined by a law that was originally written to protect the operation of the
nation’s railroads. The Railway Labor
Act of 1926 (RLA), creates a framework
to protect the rights of railroad workers
and operators and, even more importantly, to help insure the continuous operation of the nation’s railroads. In 1935, it
was amended to include air carriers.
The National Labor Relations Act has
undergone at least two major amendments. In 1947, it was amended by the
Labor Management Relations Act,
The Railway Labor Act has a strongly
stated public policy of avoiding disruption in the airline and railroad industries.
Consequently, it introduces a greater
Photography: Jack Bowers
degree of governmental involvement in
the collective bargaining process than is
found in the National Labor Relations
Act. Under the NLRA, the collective
bargaining process is a more direct affair
between the employer and union. Still,
the NLRA contains some limitations on
the right to strike and on lockouts. It
imposes a ban on strikes and lockouts for
a 60-day period immediately after either
party serves notice to the Federal
Mediation and Conciliation Service and it
also provides for the rarely used authority
of the President to temporarily enjoin a
strike or lockout that “will imperil the
national health and safety.”
In short, in the text of the Railway
Labor Act, congress proposed to institute
a system and methodology that encourages the peaceful resolution of labor disputes, both major and minor, and avoids
interruptions to commerce in the airline
and railroad industries. The Act created
the National Mediation Board to both
conduct elections to determine whether
or not workers want union representation
and to mediate disputes that arise during
subsequent union-management contract
negotiations.
There are principle distinctions
between the Railway Labor Act and the
National Labor Relations Act. The
National Labor Relations Act serves to
define the rules by which organized labor
and management can coexist and interrelate while maintaining the “free low of
5
Special Section - Helicopter Pilots and Unions
commerce.” The Railway Labor Act
similarly recognizes the right of employees to organize and to establish bargaining equality between employers and
employees while at the same time stating
that its first purpose is “to avoid any
interruption to commerce or to the operation of any carrier engaged therein.” In
order to prevent disruptions, the rules are
a little different.
The Railway Labor Act addresses three
principle threats to labor peace: representation disputes, collective bargaining
disputes, and grievance disputes. The
RLA establishes procedures designed to
resolve these disputes and to minimize
the likelihood that they will result in the
interruption of rail or air service.
Representation Disputes
The designation of a collective bargaining representative is a principle concern of the RLA. Its procedures reduce
the risk of work stoppages relating to
representation issues by (1) acknowledging the employees’ absolute right to be
represented and (2) forbidding employer
interference in the process. And, when
all else fails, the RLA grants the National
Mediation Board nearly absolute power
to resolve representation disputes should
they arise.
Unlike the NLRA, picketing associated
with representational issues is not permitted by the RLA and is subject to court
injunction. The Railway Labor Act’s
procedures for the resolution of representation disputes and the conduct of collective bargaining are applied on a carrierwide basis. Representation and bargaining procedures include all employees in a
particular craft or class (e.g. pilots,
mechanics, dispatchers, flight nurses,
etc.) of the air carrier.
the shopkeeper-artisan now became the
shopkeeper-employer in order to keep up
with demand. Skilled laborers, journeymen, were hired to produce the goods
once produced by the shopkeeper and the
management-employee relationship was
born.
The Origins of Organized Labor
by Tony Fonze
Willing to do almost anything to provide a good story I did the unthinkable in
pursuit of this article. I read nearly a
dozen books on labor history. OK,
there’s some interesting stuff in there, but
there’s a lot of incredible minutiae too.
To be honest, this has very little to do
with helicopter pilot unions. But, I found
it very interesting and decided to share
the highlights so you wouldn’t have to go
out and read those books yourselves.
Agriculture was the focus of life in the
early colonies. We’re talking 1600s.
6
Nearly everyone was a farmer and the
hard goods that they had were, for the
most part, brought with them from
England. Over time, small villages began
to form and individuals with a skill
(blacksmith, tinker, miller, shoemaker,
baker, etc.) opened shops where the
skilled artisan was also the shopkeeper.
Still more and more emigrants arrived
and, as folks are wont to do, more and
more babies were born. Populations burgeoned and gathered into cities. All these
people needed more and more stuff so
Still, everyone got along. The employer was still a skilled master, intimately
acquainted with the skills of the job and
the journeymen’s mindset. And, since
competition between shopkeepers was
almost entirely local, owners and journeymen cooperated to maintain and grow
their businesses, easily recognizing the
need to work together for the common
good.
Editor’s Note: This is not unlike the situation
the helicopter industry has found itself in. At
one time, most of the operators were, themselves,
pilots. Then they became owners and managers
and hired pilots as employees. These new owners knew the “job” and “knew” what was best
for pilots, too. Didn’t they?
There were two classes of laborer:
indentured servants, who worked for their
masters under long-term contracts in
exchange for payment of their passage to
the colonies, and free labor, which
included both skilled and unskilled
employees.
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Special Section - Helicopter Pilots and Unions
Collective Bargaining
The collective bargaining process,
established by the Railway Labor Act, is
the centerpiece of a statutory scheme
designed to preserve labor relations harmony. Its two facets have been characterized by the Supreme Court as an
“almost interminable” collective bargaining process and a corollary requirement
that the parties refrain from self-help
(strikes on the part of the union and lockouts on the part of the employer) during
the course of collective bargaining. The
employer is required to maintain the “status quo” before, during and for some
ORIGINS OF ORGANIZED LABOR
CONTINUED
Quick Aside: The indentured
servant story is a fascinating
one. At one point, over 50% of
the total white population came
to the colonies as servants. An
indentured servant was bound to
his master for an average period
of four years though some contracts were for periods of seven
years or greater. In exchange
for their labor, servants received
food, clothing and shelter.
Servants were considered private property. They could be
bought and sold and passed
along in a will. The law gave
masters the authority to administer corporal punishment as
necessary. “Whipping, branding, and laboring in irons were
imposed upon the comparatively
mild conspiracy of refusing to
work; imprisonment and hanging were common punishments
for the greater crime of desertion.”(1) Sign me up!
time after the period of formal negotiations. The union and employees have a
corresponding obligation to refrain from
economic action during the same period.
Interestingly, the courts have ruled that
the “status quo” requirement is not
enforceable in cases where a collectively
bargained agreement is not already in
place.
The formal collective bargaining
process is highly structured by the RLA
and, in general, the formula applies
equally to both railroads and airlines.
The parties are required to serve written
notices (Section 6) of proposed changes
After the period of the revolution
(1775-1783), however, the biggest division came between skilled and unskilled
labor. Skilled laborers commanded higher salaries due to their higher skill and
training levels and they sought to preserve this edge through affiliations that
came to be known as trade unions. Only
the highly skilled need apply. Trade
unions collected dues and provided benefits to members: widows and orphans
benefits, education, and loans. They also
served to influence employment opportunities and wages.
You can see where this is going. Trade
unions ultimately gave way to unskilled
labor unions and the whole thing ebbed
and flowed between pro and anti-labor
sentiments with public opinion, economic
prosperity and depression and politics all
serving as tidal influences. Key laws
were passed to define, redefine and refine
the labor-management relationship.
As I read through these books and
slowly began to create a “picture” of the
labor movement from the 1600s up
through today, two facts emerged very
clearly. Labor movements thrive during
good economic times and deteriorate during economic down turns. And, once
born, labor organizations have a tendency
to self perpetuate.
in rates of pay, rules and working conditions. Collective bargaining is required
to commence according to a particular
time schedule. If, during the course of
direct negotiations between the parties,
an agreement cannot be reached, either
party or the National Mediation Board
can initiate mediation. The NMB has
great flexibility in applying its mediation
efforts in a way that will encourage an
agreement. The duration, location and
format of mediation are left to the
informed judgement of the NMB to
decide. Mediation under the Act can be a
lengthy process, encompassing more than
When times are good, labor is usually
in short supply. Companies want to
“make hay while the sun shines,” so to
speak, and the potential of a strike
impacting cash flow can serve as a powerful incentive to work with the union.
At these times, money is more available
and labor organizations have a better
chance of snagging a bigger chunk of it
for their members. Compare this to times
of economic depression. Job cuts are
common, jobs are scarce and everyone’s
happy just to be working. Money is in
short supply and it is generally a good
time to keep your head down and not
rock the boat.
I would go so far as to say that in nearly all cases, unions were formed out of
some profound need; some significant
disparity between management and labor.
But, once that disparity is resolved
unions do not simply go away. Once created, unions, like any other life form,
tend to perpetuate. I’m not saying
whether this is good or bad. But, history
shows that it is so.
1 “A History of American Labor,” Joseph G.
Rayback, 1966, The FREE PRESS, New York,
N.Y.
END
7
Special Section - Helicopter Pilots and Unions
a year, although the NMB has been making an effort to shorten the duration of
mediation.
The character of collective bargaining
under the RLA for air carriers is similar
in form to collective bargaining under the
NLRA. Labor and management periodically engage in negotiations to reach a
comprehensive collective bargaining
agreement that will remain in effect for a
specified period of time, usually three
years. The Railway Labor Act requires
that both parties make and maintain previously collectively bargained rates of
pay, rules and working conditions while
they negotiate a successor agreement.
This requirement has the effect of
extending the status quo for months after
an existing agreement becomes amendable.
If mediation proves unsuccessful, the
NMB is required to proffer binding interest arbitration to the parties as a means to
resolve their dispute. Either party may
reject the proffer, thereby triggering an
additional thirty-day delay (30-day cooling-off period) which is ordinarily
accompanied by a final NMB-initiated
attempt to mediate an agreement. There
can be no lawful self-help by either side
during this period. Even after the end of
a thirty-day cooling-off period, the selfhelp option is not guaranteed.
If a dispute threatens to substantially
interrupt interstate commerce to a degree
likely to deprive any section of the country of “essential transportation services,”
the President, upon notification by the
National Mediation Board, is empowered
to create an Emergency Board to investigate the dispute and to issue a report that
is followed by an additional thirty-day
period for final negotiations. Since 1997,
the President has exercised this privilege
a number of times associated with major
airline negotiations. Prior to that, the
Presidential intervention option had been
unused since the mid 60s.
8
Once this process is completed, the
parties are left to self-help and further
negotiation to reach an agreement. The
only other alternative is a Congressional
action which has never occurred in the
airline industry. The RLA’s collective
bargaining processes use economic selfhelp measures as a last resort for the
negotiation of a collective bargaining
agreement and the resolution of a “major
dispute.” In contrast to the NLRA, the
collective bargaining procedures of the
RLA are structured to make strikes and
lockouts the least favored method for
resolving disputes.
Consistent with the RLA’s policies of
avoiding disruptions to commerce, the
courts have the authority to enforce the
RLA’s collective bargaining requirements
or work disruptions. In the airline industry, the RLA mandates the establishment
of boards of adjustment to make final and
binding determinations of minor disputes.
This grievance arbitration procedure,
whether called an adjustment board, special adjustment board, a public law board
or a system board of adjustment, has
broad “subject matter” jurisdiction.
Disputes arising out of grievances, or out
of the interpretation or application of collective bargaining agreements, are subject
to resolution by this procedure.
There’s something else I want to get in
here somewhere and this is as good a
place as any. Many states have a great
deal to say about employees’ rights as
well. Each state has its own labor laws,
frequently monitored by state labor
boards and authorities, that enforce a
State’s laws about discrimination, harassment, wages and overtime. See
Autorotate Volume 3 Issue 7 SeptemberOctober 2003, “CJ Pilots Win
Judgement” (Pg 18), to read more about
California’s Labor Commissioner’s
involvement in helicopter pilot overtime
related issues.
Forming a union?
and to require the parties to “keep the
peace” during the negotiating process.
The Supreme Court accommodated the
Railway Labor Act and the NorrisLaGuardia Act’s limitations of federal
court injunction jurisdiction. This means
that the obligations of the RLA may be
enforced by the federal courts.
Grievance Disputes
The third threat to labor peace specifically addressed by the Railway Labor Act
involves disputes triggered by grievances
emanating from the interpretation or
application of agreements covering rates
of pay, rules and working conditions.
These areas of controversy are commonly
called “minor disputes.” Minor disputes
cannot provide a lawful basis for strikes
Photography: Crew change at Allen Stagefield during IERW training; Autorotate Staff.
Unions are formed when a National
Mediation Board recognized election
takes place and more than 50% of the
voting body (let’s just say pilots) agree to
form a collective bargaining unit. This
process is frequently a rancorous one
since both management and pro-union
pilots feel strongly about making their
case. While the NLRA defines the highlevel rules under which these elections
may take place, there’s still lots of room
for tactical maneuvering. Management
will frequently agree to meet a number of
the pilots’ outstanding demands and will
frequently go so far as to issue memos to
company employees and families predicting the ultimate demise of the company
should the company be forced to negotiate with a union.
CONTINUED PAGE 10
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Special Section - Helicopter Pilots and Unions
A Profile of Four Helicopter Pilot “Unions”
though that was a factor, and included
the desire to change a pilot’s employment status from “at will” to contractual.
The union now represents the approximate 540 Gulf of Mexico and EMS
pilots of PHI and the EMS helicopter
pilots employed by North Texas
Services, Inc. (dba CareFlite).
OPEIU Local 102—Ft. Rucker,
Alabama
OPEIU Local 102 is the longest lived
helicopter pilot union in the United
States. It was originally formed in 1973
to address the issues faced by the civilian instructor pilots training new U.S.
Army pilots at Ft. Rucker, Alabama.
According to pilots around at the time,
the union was formed to address “the
usual issues…the company would give a
small raise then take it back a year or so
later saying the contract was in jeopardy,
benefits were inadequate or non-existent,
pilots were afraid to point out problem
areas because of fear for their jobs.”
According to union president Steve
Ragin, the pilots have experienced a
range of important improvements since
the union movement was first initiated:
• Wage improvements in excess of 65%
• Company matching on 401K
has doubled
• Written, fair procedures for
determining open job assignments
• Improvements in accommodations
for crews
Local 102 has approximately 385
members and recently built a new facility right outside one of the main
entrances to Ft. Rucker. Their most
recent round of contract renegotiations
(2002) have resulted in significant pay
increases according to the president of
the local.
President Local 108—Steve Ragin;
sdr1@ix.netcom.com
OPEIU Local 109—Air Methods
President Local 102—Steve Rush;
rushsj337@hotmail.com
OPEIU Local 107—Air Logistics
The pilots of Air Logistics (Air Log)
voted to become organized in October of
1997 and their first contract with the
company was ratified in May of 1999.
Air Logistics’ primary business involves
servicing oil company rigs in the Gulf of
Mexico. Approximately 285 pilots are
represented by the union. The Air Log
pilots formed the first union representing
Part 135 helicopter pilots and view
themselves as “groundbreakers.”
The union movement began to take
solid shape over a number of issues
including a feeling on the part of the
pilots that they were not participating in
the company’s significant growth and
increased profits during the 90s. In fact,
they had not received a pay increase for
years.
Air Log pilots just recently completed
extremely difficult new contract negotiations with the company. See the related
piece in this issue.
President Local 107—Ken
Bruner;KEBFlyer@cox-internet.com
OPEIU Local 108—PHI
A majority of PHI’s pilots voted to
become organized in March of 2000.
Two prior elections were close but failed
to capture a majority vote. Reasons to
push for organization went beyond pay,
Photography (from top to bottom): courtesy Offshore Logistics; Jack Bowers; Air Methods
The pilots of Air Methods voted to
form a union in September 2003. Air
Methods primary business involves EMS
air operations. According to pilots
involved at the time, the primary issues
associated with a union vote involved
“the failure of the company to provide
realistic, fair or timely solutions to
workplace problems: structured salary
scales including “workover” and “overtime”; job protection rights; and a “just
cause” review system and general
improvements in benefits.
Air Methods is still in the midst of the
negotiation process for their initial contract. 55% of the pilots voted in favor of
collective bargaining and there are
approximately 600 union eligible pilots
at Air Methods.
END
9
Special Section - Helicopter Pilots and Unions
8
Pro-union pilots may seek some assistance from existing and experienced
union groups. OPEIU (Office &
Professional Employees International
Union) is such a group and it has supported the efforts of all of the existing
helicopter pilot organizations. Highpriced legal assistance frequently
becomes involved on both sides and prounion pilot leaders may even face
increased job-performance scrutiny and
pressures. Initial union formation battles
take courage to enjoin and I have a lot of
respect for those employees willing to
lead them.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE
OK, there’s a vote and more than 50%
of the pilots decide to bargain with the
company as a group rather than as individuals. They decide to form a union.
Now what?
Since the company, to date, does not
have a contract with its pilots, the first
step is to create one. This requires that
management and pilot representatives sit
down together to hammer out an initial
agreement. This contract process frequently takes several years and usually
proves to be even more tumultuous than
the initial union vote. The company usually has some advantage because they
know, in infinite detail, the financial
statements of the company. A great deal
of homework must be done by both sides
and a regulated series of negotiation
meetings take place. The RLA defines
the framework for this process, including
10
cooling-off periods and mandatory mediation, if required. It is a laborious, stressful process with much at stake. But
finally, a contract is created, and this contract, usually good for 2-3 years, defines
the working conditions, pay scales, benefits, and expectations for all of the pilots
in the company. This is what collective
bargaining is all about.
Do I have to join?
Suppose you decide to go to work for
an operator whose pilots belong to a
labor union, do you have to join? Do
you have to pay dues? Well, that
depends upon whether your operation is a
“closed” shop, a “union” shop, an
“agency” shop, or an “open” shop. In
labor parlance, this topic is known as
union security.
Nothing’s ever simple anymore, is it?
What ever happened to plain old yes or
no answers?
A closed shop is one in which the
employer agrees to hire only persons
who are already members of the union
and to discharge anyone who is not.
The Taft-Hartley Act (1947) eliminated
closed shops for nearly all intents and
purposes (construction labor is a notable
exception).
A union shop agreement requires the
employer to make union membership a
condition of employment for all employees in the bargaining unit. A new
employee does not have to be a member
when hired, but the worker must join the
union after the 30 day probation period
and remain a member in good standing or
be discharged. Labor law is somewhat
ambiguous on the legality of union shops.
Consequently, most union shops actually
function as agency shops.
An agency shop is a modified union
shop. Though employees are not
required to join the union as a condition
of employment, they are required to pay
the union the equivalent of initiation fees
and dues in return for the union’s services for acting on behalf of all the employees as their bargaining agent.
In an open shop, unions are required to
represent fairly and equitably all members of the bargaining unit, whether they
are union members or not. In other
words, the union negotiates for all the
workers, but no worker is required to join
the union or pay dues. Further, the union
cannot refuse to process a grievance for a
nonmember. Open shops are more likely
to be found in the 20 or so states with
“right-to-work” laws.
Too many pilots
If helicopter pilots have a problem, it
began in Vietnam. The Vietnam war created an army (no pun intended) of helicopter pilots. Many of those that survived their war experience wanted to
continue flying in the civilian world upon
their return from combat. In many cases
it was a simple matter of they didn’t
Photography: TH-67s ready for early morning launch at Cairns Army Airfield, Ft. Rucker; Autorotate Staff
www.autorotate.com
Special Section - Helicopter Pilots and Unions
know what else to do. This created a glut
of well-trained, experienced pilots. The
natural law of supply and demand used
this fact against them and us.
If one pilot didn’t want to work for an
offered wage, there would be ten pilots
behind him in line who would. Wages
were suppressed, benefits were limited
and pilots didn’t have a full voice regarding working conditions and safety issues.
We were just too easy to replace.
Any objective article has to contrast
the helicopter pilot’s position to that of
an airline pilot with similar qualifications. The airline pilots were largely
organized under the umbrella of the
Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) way
back in the early 1930s. Shortly after
World War I, the nascent aviation industry emerged not to carry people, but to
carry the mail. Nearly all of the major
air carriers we’ve known: United,
American, TWA, Delta, Western,
Northwest, etc. were formed as mail carriers and later realigned to carry passengers. It is a fascinating story if I say so
myself. (See Autorotate October
November 2002 and January February
03; “FARs, Can’t Live With em, Can’t
‘Live’ Without em” and “The History of
Aviation, Part II” at www.autorotate.org).
Airline pilots, a long time ago, found
themselves in a similar position and
organizing helped them in many ways.
And we’re not just talking wages, we’re
also talking safety.
The end or just the beginning?
So now we’re at the end of the article.
I can’t help but feel like I’ve left some
loose ends untied, and indeed I have.
Are unions good? Are unions bad? Is a
union right for you? That’s for each of
us to decide in light of our own situation.
There are, however, some observations
that can be made in an objective fashion.
Have helicopter pilots historically been
underpaid and undervalued? The only
honest answer is yes. No matter where
we worked or what type of work we did,
the pay we received is historically not
commensurate with our level of skill,
training, and risk when compared to comparable jobs both within and without the
aviation industry.
Have unions been effective in raising
the standards of living of pilots who
belong to union shops? The evidence
says yes—in some cases, dramatically.
Will unions undermine the survivability
of a sometimes fragile industry over
time? I don’t know. I can’t see into the
future. But, are they something we need
to understand and be informed about?
Absolutely. I hope this issue of
Autorotate has helped.
Editor’s Note: Much of the legal information
and labor terminology and definitions that
appear in this article were taken nearly verbatim
from “An Introduction to Labor Law,” by
Michael Evan Gold. 1998, Cornell University
Press, Ithaca, NY. Second Edition. Paul
Bohelski contributed to the legal content of this
article.
END
Air Logistics Pilots Ratify
New Labor Agreement
After a two-year
struggle involving
more than 70
negotiation sessions, the 287 helicopter pilots of OPEIU Local 107
employed at Air Logistics Inc., operating in the Gulf of Mexico, and Alaska
(Air Logistics of Alaska Inc.) both subsidiaries of Offshore Logistics, Inc.,
voted to ratify an industry-leading contract on April 4, 2005. The new fortytwo month labor agreement, unparalleled in the U.S. helicopter industry,
raises wages 15%-45% based on skills
and years of service.
The original contract in May of 1999
between labor and management resulted in a 34% wage increase as well as
improvements in benefits and working
conditions. In fact, since 1997, entry
level wages for VFR GOM (Gulf of
Mexico) pilots have gone from
$21,000 prior to the initial contract to
$51,184 today. Entry level wages for
IFR pilots have gone from $32,000 to
$52,511. Wages for pilots with 20
years of service have gone from
$35,000 to $74,197 and wages for
pilots with 29 or more years of service,
flying under IFR have gone from
$45,000 to $100,000.
Though the negotiation process has
been very difficult and at times very
contentious, Air Logistics President,
Drury A. Milke, praised Air Logistics
employees for “continuing to perform
their duties in a safe and professional
manner” throughout the process.
OPEIU representatives including
President Michael Goodwin; Director
of Organization and Field Services,
Kevin Kistler; attorney Jim Hicks; and
International Representative Paul
Bohelski provided a great deal of assistance to the Local throughout the negotiations.
END
11
A Fireside Chat about
Autorotations with Pete Gillies
Imagine sitting in an easy chair in
front of a roaring fire on a quiet winter
evening. Sitting across from you is
Pete Gillies of Western Helicopters in
Rialto, California; friendly, open,
knowledgeable—just the kind of guy
you’d like to chew the fat with in front
of a crackling fire. Western Helicopters
could also be called Autorotation
University—it’s their specialty and Pete
is the Chief Pilot. Western teaches a
course on precision autorotations.
Graduates include the DEA, U.S.
Customs, FAA, BLM, U.S. Border
Patrol, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s
Dept. and the list goes on. If they produced a course catalog, this course
description might read something like,
“How to autorotate precisely and
repeatedly to a small square of land
from a variety of altitudes, locations
and airspeeds.”
Pete and I have had numerous conversations discussing the nuances of
autorotations and a recent question
from me, “When is the best time to
bring the throttle back in, in a power
recovery autorotation in a turbine helicopter?” prompted a lengthy exchange
about the entire topic. “Why not put
this in the magazine,” I thought? So
here it is.
Tony: Pete, I recently asked you about
power-recovery autos (PRAs) in turbine
aircraft. There seems to be some controversy over this subject, some pilots
feeling that PRAs are a waste of time
and are abusive to the machinery, while
others say that there is a very definite
benefit to doing them. What do you
think?
12
www.autorotate.com
Photography: Tom Magill; Composite by Studio 33
13
Pete: Tony, this PRA thing is a question
without a perfect, totally correct, answer.
Let's skip the flight-school end of the
training scenario, where PRAs are the
norm, and should be. Except for taking a
CFI checkride, PRAs, properly done,
meet the requirements given in the
Practical Test Standards. So for training
to the PPL and CPL levels, PRAs are
fine. Nothing more is needed. Do them
right and pass the flight check!
But, in the event of a real engine or
drive-line failure you will have to make
the best landing of your entire career.
That is going to be a touch down auto
(TDA). The PRAs learned in flight
school are nothing more or less than a
flat-pitch descent followed by a smooth
transition to a hover. Yes, the pilot will
learn the glide characteristics of the helicopter, and how wind, or lack of it, will
affect the accuracy of the flare, but he
won't learn much beyond that. Most
flight-test examiners don't want the student to perform any abrupt maneuvers on
the way to the flare. They really don’t
want to see any major changes in attitude
or airspeed, so the student should practice
and practice getting the entry point just
right, so the flare occurs within an
acceptable distance from the requested
flare point, or the target.
All this looks real good on paper, so to
speak, but in the real world we sometimes have engine or drive-line failures
without any warning whatsoever. When
this happens, the pilot is called upon to
fly "those last three feet" without busting
up the helicopter so badly that someone
is hurt, or worse. And this is where
going all the way to the ground or water,
in training, is so beneficial. The pilot
learns how to successfully perform the
second most important part of the autorotation.
Tony: What do you mean, "the second
most important part of the autorotation?”
Isn't the landing the most important part?
14
Pete: Not at all, Tony. Not at all. The
most important part is the entry to the
autorotation! If you blow that, the flight
is all over at that point, and you are nothing more than a falling object all the way
to the ground.
I'm talking about getting the cyclic
back very quickly at the first sign of a
power problem. And I mean NOW.
Collective down? Sure. You bet. As
rapidly as you can. But unless and until
the cyclic is moved aft such that the
oncoming air is flowing upward through
the rotor system, you are not in an
autorotation, and the rotor rpm is dropping rapidly. And when it is just a few
percent below the lower red line on the
rotor tach, you enter a mode of flight
where the rotor rpm can never be brought
back into the operating range, regardless
of how much altitude you have, what
maneuvers you do, or anything else. The
drag of the rotor system cannot be overcome by the autorotative forces trying to
increase rotor rpm.
Putting the pitch down is very necessary, of course. This reduces the rate of
decay of the rotor rpm, but it also causes
the whole rotor disc to pitch down at the
front, making it even more imperative to
bring the cyclic back asap! I cannot
over-emphasize this, Tony. Most pilots
don't have a clue about this. They think
all they have to do is slam the collective
down, and this will guarantee that they'll
make a successful autorotation to the
ground. Not so! Unless the cyclic is
brought back immediately upon a power
failure, the flight is probably over at that
point. Cyclic back, cyclic back! This
must be a "default" movement of the
flight controls whenever something "big"
happens to the helicopter and the pilot
doesn't know what's going on. Start the
cyclic back NOW, with whichever hand
you have on it. If you can move the collective down at the same time, fine. Do
it. But if not, give the cyclic the top priority, over the collective.
Tony: But, what do you recommend
when you’re going too slow, less than 60
knots and you need to enter an auto?
Pete: The entry into the autorotation,
whether it will be a PRA or a TDA, is the
most critical phase of the whole maneuver, as I've already said. The entry must
NEVER be a push-over maneuver, which
usually gives the crew a "whee" feeling
as they experience less than 1-G on their
bodies. Don't do that! If the engine really quits at the start of the autorotation,
pushing the cyclic forward might well be
the last time you ever do that! Pull the
cyclic back! Get the rotor rpm back into
the "green," and then carefully move the
cyclic forward if you need additional airspeed for your flare.
We forget that we are flying "rotarywing" aircraft. The airspeed indicator is
connected to the pitot tube, not the rotor
blades, and airframe airspeed is of
absolutely no value at all when the
engine quits and the rotor rpm is falling
like a stone. What IS important is the
airspeed over the "wings," which is represented by only one indicator on the
panel: THE ROTOR TACH. Unless and
until the rotor rpm is back in the green,
nothing else matters. Cyclic back, pitch
down, and hope you've done both things
in time.
So, a PRA is beneficial because it
gives the pilot a chance to practice the
right way to enter an autorotation. Never
less than 1-G until the rotor rpm is back
in the green! Once the rotor rpm is
happy, then the pilot can do any sort of
maneuvers needed to make the landing
spot, but keep in mind that hard
pushovers will cause the rotor rpm to
quickly drop below "low red" on the
rotor tach. Airspeed is important, but it's
never more important than getting the
rotor rpm back into the operating range.
One more thing about letting your rotor
RPM go too low in an auto. If it happens
to you, your helicopter will turn left or
www.autorotate.com
right all the way to ground contact. You
cannot control the direction of flight.
Why is this?
Well, it's a flight limitation that we normally associate with high-speed flight.
It's called retreating blade stall!
If your rotor turns counter-clockwise as
seen from above, the helicopter will turn
left all the way to the ground. If the rotor
turns clockwise as seen from above, the
helicopter will turn right all the way to
the ground. The Vne charts we're all
familiar with don't mention the fact that
the numbers on the chart assume that
rotor rpm is "normal." Of course they
do!
But Vne can occur at much lower
speeds if the rotor rpm is below normal.
And that's what's happening when the
rotor falls below the critical point and the
pilot can't get it back into the green. The
rotor rpm keeps on falling and falling,
too, and the left or right turn gets tighter
and tighter.
Then, contact with the surface is made
on the left side or right side of the helicopter, and HARD. The crashworthiness
of the helicopter is greatly compromised
by this, of course, as is the pilot's
restraint system. Major injuries, or
worse, are the norm in this type of a
"landing."
A final point is this. How slowly the
rotor blades were turning when the aircraft hit the surface is shown by the
amount of damage they sustain. Often
only one or two of the blades show significant damage. Some of the blades of a
multi-blade system may not even make
ground contact during the crash! And
this is with the ship essentially on its
side!
Tony: “Cyclic Back,” the Western
mantra—got it. Okay, so we know that
the primary benefit of practicing PRAs is
that the entry can be fine tuned. How
about the descent to a hover?
Pete: Assuming that during the descent
the needles are split, or just barely touching each other, a lot can be learned and
practiced about the way the helicopter
glides and how it can be maneuvered on
the way to the eventual flare. Engine or
no engine, when the pitch is full down,
the rotor system is totally on its own, and
how the ship flies is determined by the
way it is designed and the way it is being
flown. Sure, the weight of the helicopter
and the density altitude and the effect of
externally mounted things such as FLIR
balls, searchlights, antennas, etc., all figure in to the glide performance of the
helicopter.
But, the point is that yes, what will
become a PRA at the bottom can help
teach the pilot all sorts of things about
how his helicopter flies when the engine
is not delivering any power to the rotor
system. Good stuff, and well worth the
time to explore and practice.
Tell us who you are in
Autorotate’s Member
Profile
Autorotate would like to profile
YOU in one of our next issues. All
we need is a good photograph of
you and your helicopter; your
name, e-mail address, and PHPA
member ID; and a brief write up
about you, your location, and your
photo. Send the information via
e-mail to Tony Fonze, the editor at
TonyFonze@autorotate.org.
Tony: Pete, you mentioned the needles
being split and the engine not delivering
any power to the rotor system. What is
behind those comments?
Pete: Tony, in 1989 we discovered what
we named "The Best Kept Secret in
Helicopters," or the BKS. And this is the
benefit that an idling turbine engine can
provide to the helicopter's rotor system
during practice autorotations. Let me
explain:
Live and Learn—
More than just
entertaining reading
We can all learn from the experi-
First of all, the BKS does not apply to
any piston-powered helicopters or to helicopters powered by fixed-shaft turbine
engines, assuming that the throttle in
these types of helicopters has been
retarded such that the only two tachometer needles on the instrument panel are
"split" during the entire autorotation, be it
a PRA or a TDA. In piston-powered helicopters, we usually have a dual tach or
individual tachs, that give the rpm of the
engine and the rotor. This is also true in
the three models of turbine helicopter
referred to above: The Lama, the
Alouette III and the Gazelle.
ences of each other. It is something
we can give back to our pilot community. Your story may even save a
life. With that in mind–
Get Off Your Butts and Send
Me Some Live and Learns!
They can be brief or long, rough
drafts or well crafted. Don’t worry
about your English or writing skills—
that’s why we’re here. Submit your
Live and Learn stories to Tony
Fonze, editor at
TonyFonze@autorotate.org.
You’ll be glad you did,
and so will we!
15
When the needles are split in this type
of helicopter, the engine goes to idle and
stays there until the ship is on the ground
(TDA) or until the pilot rolls the throttle
back on (manually, or by correlator, or
both). Therefore, at no time during the
maneuver does the engine assist the rotor
in any way, no matter what the pilot does
with the controls.
For "engine failures in a hover," aka
hovering autos, the engine provides no
assistance at all after the throttle is rolled
to idle.
Now, let's take the other case—a helicopter powered by a gas-coupled compressor and turbine assembly (a "free turbine engine"), typically represented by a
tachometer dedicated to the gas-producer
rpm (N1 or Ng), and another tachometer
dedicated to power-turbine rpm (N2, Np,
etc.) along with rotor rpm (Nr, etc.).
Here we are talking about every turbinepowered helicopter being produced today.
And the engine just about everyone is
familiar with is the well-known and popular Allison/Rolls-Royce C20 series; the
C20, C20B and C20R. Let's use helicopters powered by this engine as an example, and this would include the Bell
JetRanger and the MD500.
Let's do a PRA in, say, an MD500D.
Enter the auto by retarding the throttle to
idle and moving the cyclic aft promptly,
to keep Nr from dropping below the rotor
operating range. And yes, pitch down
promptly, too!
During the descent, notice the dual
tach. Are the needles split? If so, what
you are experiencing during the glide is
exactly what you would experience with
the engine shut off, as in a "real" autorotation.
But, the flight manual tells you that the
maximum glide distance for a MD500D
is obtained by dialing in two parameters:
80 knots IAS and the rotor rpm at 410,
which is the bottom of the operating
16
range. Are these numbers correct? I
have no reason to doubt them. Will the
helicopter glide the farthest? Yes, it will.
But, guess what? When you pull the
rotor rpm down to 410 by raising the collective, you are also dragging N2 down
to the same spot on the dual tach. And
when you do that, the engine is still
delivering approximately 17 horsepower
to the rotor system! And the result is that
(a) the helicopter glides farther than it
would if the engine were not there at all,
and (b) the pilot thinks that he/she is
obviously the "ace of the base."
It's an illusion. With the engine flamed
out, the glide distance is reduced, and
this is noted in the MD flight manuals
being printed today.
The really big surprise comes when a
pilot is used to performing touchdown
(full down) autorotations with the turbine
engine at idle, and then finds out the hard
way what the rotor really is like when the
engine is flamed out. For most pilots,
this is a BIG shock! Where did all that
inertia go? Well, there never was any.
“Most of it was the engine, stupid!”
What you see and feel when you do that
final pitch pull in a real (engine out) auto
is what I call the "naked rotor." No assistance from the idling engine. And how
much assistance are we talking about
here? Well, for C20-series engines, when
N2 is pulled down to 65% by Nr, which
is the point where the rotor runs out of
everything and the ship makes ground
contact, the engine is delivering 35 horsepower to the rotor! Now, imagine how it
feels when you pull that same pitch at the
end of an autorotation, and the engine
isn't there at all! BIG SURPRISE!
Tony, I apologize for drifting a bit off
the subject here. But, all helicopter pilots
need to know that a free-turbine engine
can provide some very useful (and critically important) assistance during a practice autorotation, both during the descent
and during the touchdown if one is done.
The assistance occurs when N2 and Nr
are joined and N2 is being dragged down
by Nr. The more N2 is dragged down,
the more horsepower is transferred into
the rotor system.
So, PRAs are very useful if Nr and N2
(or the engine tach needle) are split during the descent. The pilot will experience performance identical to what he
would get with the engine completely off
line.
Tony: Okay, Pete. Sounds like we are
coming to the point where we will begin
the flare. How do you feel about PRAs
at this point in the autorotation?
Pete: Tony, the big discussion at this
point is this: Just when does one roll the
throttle back on? And what are the pro's
and con's involved?
Some operators roll the throttle back
on when the helicopter is still well above
ground level and well before the flare
should begin. Many government agencies make a practice of this, hoping to
avoid at least two things: (1) the pilot
forgetting to roll the throttle back on in
time to prevent ground contact, (2) the
pilot rolling the throttle back on late in
the flare, resulting in one or more
exceedances during the recovery.
Well, how about rolling the throttle
back on during the flare but before the
final pitch pull begins? The timing is
often the tricky part, and the pilot's concentration is on "engine management"
instead of flying the helicopter. It has to
be done fairly quickly and correctly. If
not, things like engine overspeed, over
temp and over torque can easily occur,
and if it happens on a check ride, the
examiner will often stop the check ride
then and there. You busted it! So for
check rides not requiring touchdown
autorotations, my feeling is that the throttle should be smoothly rolled on before
the flare begins. But again, watch out for
www.autorotate.com
overspeeds! Marry those needles such
that the engine rpm doesn't go above
engine redline while chasing after Nr.
With a little practice, one learns to ease
the collective up, causing Nr to drop
slowly as engine rpm is rising, with the
needles joining within the engine operating range.
With the throttle rolled back on before
the flare begins, the maneuver is no more
than a flat-pitch descent followed by a
smooth transition to a hover. These are
two very normal procedures that hardly
qualify as an "emergency procedure,"
except for the benefits already discussed
above; practicing the right way of entering an auto, and practicing the gliding
and maneuvering portions of the descent.
There certainly is benefit to be had by
performing PRAs, but the mistake is to
think that this automatically qualifies one
to handle a real autorotation, should one
be necessary.
around and around the airport, high
enough to easily glide to a runway or
taxiway or big parking area, always
anticipating an engine failure, you will
find that PRAs just don't cut it for the
serious, professional pilot. But to keep
as sharp as possible between TDA recurrency sessions? Sure. Every little bit
helps.
But, if you really want to earn the title
of Ace of the Base when you have an
engine or drive-line failure, get some
real-world experience with full touchdown autorotations in the make and
model you fly. And if you fly turbines,
get some TDA training in a piston-powered helicopter. You'll then have a much
better understanding of how much inertia
is in a "naked" rotor.
And remember the BKS (Best Kept
Secret): When you pull pitch at the bottom of an autorotation in a helicopter
powered by a free-turbine engine, the
more you drag down N2 with Nr, the
more assistance the engine is giving to
you, and it will NOT be there when you
pull pitch at the bottom of a real autorotation.
That's all I can think of for now, Tony.
Thank you for letting me share my
thoughts with you. I hope all of your
Autorotate readers will find some useful
information in our conversation.
Tony: I’m sure they will Pete. And, I’d
be the first to suggest that if they’d like
to go out and practice the real thing, the
right way, they should give Western
Helicopters a call.
Pete Gillies may be reached at
WesternOps@aol.com or telephone,
909-829-1056.
END
It's those last three feet that count,
when it's all said and done. Just about
anyone can get down to the three-foot
point, assuming they don't blow the initial entry into the autorotation. But, the
metal often gets bent when the pilot has
to go from three feet above ground to full
ground contact. How well the helicopter
and its contents make out depends on
what happens to the cockpit when touchdown occurs. Was the pilot able to
reduce ground speed to a minimum?
And height above ground also? And was
he able to control the descent so the
autorotation terminated at the best landing site available?
Only by practicing touchdown autorotations can one experience the challenges
of hitting the spot with minimum altitude
remaining and the slowest possible
ground speed. Sure, when the engine
failure happens right over the airport, and
one has a virtually unlimited smooth,
hard surface to land on, it's as easy as it's
gonna get. But unless all you do is fly
17
Live & Learn
26,000 Hours and Counting
divorced my first wife. I’m not sure
those events were related, but I’m not
sure they weren’t, either. A helicopter
pilot’s life can be bad for a family and at
least 99% of the blame lay with me.
My name is Jimmy Shuler, actually,
James P. Shuler, Jr., and I’m a logging
pilot living in Spirit Lake, Idaho with my
wife Rhonda. Rhonda is my “CoPilot in
Life,” as I like to call her. We do everything together. If I work away from
home, she goes with me. If the job is
just too far, I won’t take it. My job will
never be worth more than my family
again. Rhonda is my second wife and I
don’t need to learn a harsh lesson twice.
I’d like to pass this bit of information on
to the younger pilots entering the field
along with a few other things I’ve
learned about life, flying and logging.
In 2000 I moved to Idaho to do timber
logging for Alpine Helicopters and now
Precision Helicopters of Bonner’s Ferry,
ID. Logging is my specialty. I love
Huey and Lama logging. Some people
think logging is hard and unsafe, but to
me it’s no different than flying air conditioners.
Editor’s Note: Yes, I think flying air conditioners is dangerous too.
This all might work a little better if I
told you just a little bit about myself, to
kind of set the stage. I was born in
Bronx, N.Y. from which we promptly
moved upstate to a dairy farm. I played
football for the Oneonta Yellow Jackets
and in 1969, I joined the Marines. I was
sent to Vietnam and served with the 1st
Recon Batallion, 1st Marine Division.
My “sheer fear” tour of duty ended and I
was honorably discharged in 1971.
Shortly thereafter, I moved to Portland,
Oregon where I attended helicopter
school at Columbia Helicopters.
My 1st flying job was flying canceled
checks around Seattle, Washington for
the local banks, but the nagging fear of
having an engine failure over the city
became too much for me and I moved
out to a little town called Forks,
Washington, along the coast. Here, I
learned to do external loads in a Hughes
500C. I had found my place in the helicopter world. I was doing shake block
logging. I’d fly cedar shakes all winter
and fly in Alaska all summer. In Alaska
we were tagging polar bear, brown bear
and caribou.
In the 80s I started doing some oil
exploration seismic work all over Utah,
18
By Jimmy
Shuler
Carl
Neubig
The secret to being a good logging
pilot is to know your limits and the limits
of your aircraft and do not exceed either
one. “It’s better to sit in the coffee shop
and tell everyone what a chicken you
were today, than to have everyone else
sitting in the coffee shop tomorrow talking about how stupid you were yesterday."
The next day, there will be another
pilot to take your place and you’ll never
be remembered as long as Elvis. A lot of
pilots have pasted one in the logging
world and the rest of us can only learn
from their mistakes, and not repeat them.
Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. Lama’s
were the aircraft of choice, “over 10,000
ft. you should be speaking French.” In
1990 I went to South Carolina to learn
how to log timber. These timber turns
were a little bigger then the cedar shake
blocks I was used to. I got my first Huey
(205) time here logging the Hurricane
Hugo blow down—the worst storm I’ve
ever seen or hope to see. Shortly afterwards, I went back to Washington where
I endured three mechanical-related accidents in quick succession: two tail rotor
gear box failures and an engine failure. I
Flying logs is like a good 8 oz. glass of
water. If you try to put any more water
in the glass you’ll only make a mess.
I’ve logged 26,000 hours so far and I
haven’t lasted this long by only listening
to myself. I got a lot of good advice
from a lot of good pilots: Mark Fisher,
Jim Mott and Bud Chitdick to name just
a few. These pilots have helped keep me
alive. I hope to do a little of the same for
others before Alzheimer’s settles in.
Be safe, Jimmy Shuler
END
Photography: Jimmy Shuler
www.autorotate.com
Pilot Profile Darron A. Adams
Chief Pilot, Metropolitan (D.C.) Police Dept. (MPD)
I am fifty-one years old, and I have
been a police officer for almost twenty
seven years. I became a member of the
aviation unit in 1988 as a tactical flight
officer. Becoming a pilot in the unit was
the realization of a childhood dream. I
did not know how at the time, but I knew
with hard work and focus, God would
help me find a way. In 1990, the former
commander of the unit, Lieutenant Don
Pope, initiated a pilot development program in house. Lt. Pope then heard
about a government program involving
The Department of the Army, Drug
Enforcement Administration and the
Department of Defense, where the Army
would train civilian police officers to
become pilots. Officer Thomas Hardy
and I were the first two chosen to complete the whole program. We were in
Purple Flight, 91-24 and graduated June
10, 1992. I officially became a police
pilot August 20, 1992. MPD pilots have
now been historically trained at Fort
Rucker, through an abbreviated, 3 month
course. With the exception of the two
newest pilots, all of our pilots are Fort
Rucker graduates. I went through the
Scout track in 91/92 and really learned a
lot about how to fly the scout helicopter
mission. Things I still use today.
Photography: Chief Pilot/Officer Darron Adams and Chief Tactical Flight Officer James Haskel; Darron Adams
The MPD mission differs from that of
the U.S. Park Police, who also fly in the
area, but occasionally our missions cross
when they chase a wanted suspect in
from somewhere inside or outside of the
beltway. We have a professional relationship with the Park Police.
END
19
Back to Basics
A Mighty Wind:
Wings, propellers, and helicopter rotors
create lift or thrust in one direction by
pushing air in the opposite direction. A
helicopter’s main rotor creates thrust by
accelerating the mass of air above it from
zero to some final velocity below it. By
adding energy to the air stream in order
to maintain the required mass of air flowing through the rotor disc every second,
or mass flow rate, the rotor is able to produce thrust via this acceleration of air
from above to below. This is Newton’s
Second Law: force (thrust) equals mass
(of air) times acceleration (of that air
mass), or F = ma.
All of this accelerated air results in a
wind that can be annoying, even dangerous, or at times very useful. But what
determines how much downwash a particular helicopter will create? Why are
downwash and disc loading design considerations for engineers? And, what do
they tell pilots about their aircraft?
Using momentum theory, an expression can be derived for the velocity of the
main rotor downwash. This downwash
velocity, called the ideal induced
velocity, is given by the equation:
where T is the rotor thrust in pounds, A is
the rotor disc area in square feet, and ρ,
the Greek letter rho, is the air density in
slugs per cubic foot. This gives a downwash velocity, vi, in feet per second. In
this equation we can see the relationship,
T/A, the thrust divided by the area, which
is the term for disc loading. Recalling
that in a hover, the rotor thrust equals the
aircraft gross weight, the induced velocity can be further written as:
THRUST
ROTOR DISC
vi
2vi
figure 1
This vi is the induced velocity right at
the rotor disc itself, while in the fully
developed slipstream the velocity of the
air is twice the downwash velocity in the
equations above, or 2vi. Figure 1 illustrates the rotor slipstream.
What does this tell us about the relationship between rotor size, disc loading
and downwash? A given amount of thrust
requires a certain mass flow rate, and a
smaller rotor will have to pass this mass
of air through it at a faster velocity. An
example of this is two hoses of different
size each delivering the same amount of
water per second. In order to keep up
with the flow rate from a larger hose, the
flow velocity must be faster from the
smaller hose. For higher disc loadings,
higher downwash velocities are produced, while lower disc loadings produce
lower downwash velocities.
For a given helicopter, the downwash
will increase or decrease with gross
20
weight. Also, as the density of the air
decreases, as with increasing density altitude, the rotor will have to push the
available air faster to maintain the same
mass flow rate.
A comparison of downwash velocity
versus disc loading for several rotorcraft
is shown in Figure 2. The comparison is
made at sea level on a standard day using
each aircraft’s maximum gross weight.
To provide some perspective, two horizontal lines denote the thresholds of both
gale and category one hurricane winds.
As the downwash reaches its maximum
velocity between one and two rotor diameters below the rotor disc, it is worth noting the altitudes at which it can still reach
the ground with considerable energy.
Consider the diameter of the rotor on the
helicopter you fly, and its downwash, and
this will give you an idea of where you
might be likely to experience brown out
or white out. It will also give you an
Diagrams: Courtesy of Eric Scheie
www.autorotate.com
Downwash and Disc Loading
By Eric Scheie
95
V-22
85
D o w n w a s h V e l o c i ty ( m p h )
BA 609
Category 1 Hurricane
75
CH-53E
65
S-92
CH-47D/F
55
Bell 412
EC-135
S-76
Mi-8
MD900
MD500E
45
Gale
300C
Bell 206B-3
35
R-22 Beta II
25
0
5
10
15
20
25
Disc Loading (lbs/sq ft)
figure 2
appreciation of the potential hazards to
people and property from flying debris
created by rotor wash in and around a
landing zone. During an approach, you
can also end up blowing FOD onto your
landing zone as well as away from it.
For those with wheeled landing gear,
even ground taxiing can pose a hazard,
something to be aware of if you are
asked to taxi near light aircraft.
Why is disc loading important? A primary design consideration affecting disc
loading is whether a helicopter is going
to be used mainly in hovering applications, or will it spend more time in cruise
flight at higher speeds. Another design
consideration is the power available from
the power plant to be used – will it be
able to provide enough power to the
desired rotor system to lift the helicopter?
Power plant fuel consumption will
affect the amount of fuel needed to be
carried, which in turn affects range, pay-
load capacity, and gross weight. There
are also structural issues to consider
regarding the stresses the blades will
have to withstand, along with something
very basic – will the rotor even be able to
fit on the helicopter?
Any increase in rotor radius will
improve its efficiency in a hover due to
the decrease in induced power as a result
of the decrease in induced velocity.
However, simply increasing the radius
without addressing the tip speed and
chord length of the blades can lead to a
situation where the increase in profile
power negates much of the benefit of the
decreased induced power.
Disc loading also influences a helicopter’s autorotation performance. A helicopter with a higher disc loading will
require a higher descent rate for steady
state autorotation. For aircraft with very
high disc loadings it may become difficult to achieve acceptable autorotation
characteristics. These characteristics will
also help determine the shape of a particular helicopter’s height-velocity diagram.
By now it is probably evident that
changing one aspect of a design can
require changes in other areas. Nearly
everything is inter-connected in some
fashion. This is why aircraft design is an
iterative process and one involving making compromises.
Understanding disc loading, downwash, and a simple equation derived from
momentum theory, illustrate relationships
that can tell us quite a bit about our helicopter.
Eric Scheie flew helicopters in the U.S. Navy
and now flies for a major EMS provider. Look
for future “Back to Basics” columns in
Autorotate. If you have a “Back to Basics” area
you’d like us to explore, or if you’d like to pass a
message on to Eric, please let me know at
TonyFonze@autorotate.org
© Eric Scheie, 2004
END
21
(This month’s questions were derived from “The Principles of Helicopter Flight” by W.J. Wagtendonk)
A. Flapping
B. Coning
C. Bernoulli’s Principle
3. Which of the following statements
are true about “blow-back”
A. Blow-back causes the nose of the aircraft
to rise and the thrust vector to shift backwards
B. Blow-back is a reaction to dissymmetry of
lift and flapping
C. All of the statements are true
D. The cyclic must be moved forward to
overcome the problem
5. Flying for maximum range
requires
9. In autorotation, the driven region
can be found
A. Flying for minimum drag for the horsepower required
A. Closest to the main rotor hub
B. Flying at the highest TAS
C. Flying at the highest reasonable altitude
6. An object traveling on a curve
must have a force pulling it
towards the center of the curve.
This force is called
A. Centripetal force
B. Coriolis effect
C. Centrifugal force
7. Rotor RPM may increase in a flare
because
B. In the center of the rotor disc
C. Near the outside of the rotor disc
10. The requirements for entering
vortex-ring state include
A. A low or zero airspeed, some use of
power, a rate of descent in the range of
400 fpm depending upon the aircraft
B. A low or zero airspeed, a tail-wind, a rate
of descent in the range of 1000 fpm
C. High gross weight, high rate of descent,
low airspeed
A. Lowering of the collective if a height gain
is to be avoided results in increased RPM
B. The increasing rotor thrust causes coning
angles to increase which shifts the center
of gravity of the blades inward (coriolis
effect) resulting in increased rotational
velocities
C. Both A and B are true
4. B. Induced flow (the amount of air being pulled down
through the rotor system) is inversely proportional to
the angle of attack (more induced flow, less angle of
attack). This phenomenon can be used to explain
many helicopter aerodynamic observations: ground
effect, transverse flow effect, etc.
2. Dissymmetry of Lift, the difference
in lift between the advancing and
retreating blades is alleviated by
C. Make you a lawn dart
5. A. Flying for range requires deriving the greatest usefulness for the power utilized. This occurs when we use
the least amount of power to achieve the greatest
amount of TAS to minimize drag. Increases in altitude
( C ) will also yield improvements in range.
C. The air in a tight confined area continues
to recirculate at ever higher speeds
increasing induced flow and decreasing
the angle of attack resulting in continued
collective increases.
B. Worsen the situation
B. False
6. A
B. A pilot inappropriately increases collective during low rotor RPM (frequently
when approaching a hover at altitude)
causing further rotor rpm decay.
A. Improve the situation
A. True
7. C
A. The pilot advances the cyclic too far forward during take-off and the front of the
skids hit the ground.
8. Moving the cyclic aft during
retreating blade stall will
8. B. Moving the cyclic aft worsens the stall. Aft cyclic produces a flare effect, reducing inflow angles and
induced flow and increasing angles of attack. Easing
the cyclic forward also worsens the matter because forward cyclic produces blade angle changes with the
greatest increase in blade angle on the retreating side.
Any recovery from retreating blade stall must involve
reducing the angles of attack by lowering the collective, then aft cyclic can be used to slow down.
1. Over-pitching occurs when,
4. Induced flow is directly proportional to angle of attack
9. C. The stalled region is closest to the rotor hub and the
driving region is found between the stalled and driven
regions.
Editor’s Note: The physics of helicopter flight
can get somewhat complicated, as we all know.
I think the Wagtendonk book does the best job of
any I’ve encountered of explaining these complicated phenomena in a way that most of us can
still understand. I’ve read it twice and am still
learning from it. I hope you’ll indulge me in the
next few quizzes as we review some of the physical principles of helicopter flight.
10. A. A is the most correct answer though the presence of
a tail wind and high gross weight can be contributors
Test pilot
3. C. During the initial stages of takeoff, the disc is tilted forward by the cyclic. As airspeed is gained and flapping eliminates dissymmetry of lift, the front of the disc
shifts up and the back of the disc shifts down. This
reorientation of the disc is called blow-back. As soon
as the disc experiences blow-back the cyclic must be
moved forward yet again to overcome the problem.
2. A. Flapping. The advancing blade flaps up, resulting in a
decrease in angle of attack and the retreating blade
flaps down, resulting in an increase in angle of attack.
1. B. As the collective is increased, the coning angle on the
blades increases, effectively decreasing the disc size
and the rotor thrust vectors point more inward, further
reducing effective vertical thrust.
C is called recirculation.
Answers
22