¶ Introduction
During straight and level flight, there are basically two reasons why the pilot must reduce the speed:
- to reduce cruising speed in straight and level flight
- to reduce cruising speed to achieve an optimal speed of descent in order to land
Helicopters have a throttle, but it is not used to change their speed as is the case on airplanes. Reducing the speed requires using another method
Do not use the throttle to change the speed of the helicopter. The throttle is used to increase or decrease the rotational speed of the main rotor. By reducing the throttle, the rotational speed of the main rotor will decrease, and the helicopter will not have enough lift to fly
It is mainly the Cyclic Pitch Control that will be used to reduce the speed of the helicopter, associated with good management of the other Helicopter controls and good observation of the attitude
¶ In Practice
- Apply backward pressure on the cyclic → the helicopter speed decreases
- As the cyclic is pulled backward, the altitude increases → push down the collective to adjust it
- Anticipate the moment when the helicopter will reach the desired speed by checking the speed indicator
- Before reaching the desired speed, apply forward pressure on the cyclic to find a good attitude of flight and resume a straight and level flight with the new speed
- adjust the collective if needed
During the entire maneuver, it is necessary to make corrections with the pedals every time the collective is raised or lowered.
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