Minot Huey Emergency Landing

[stract]

can't speak to the Hueys, but we have a 3 month EP sortie currency requirement. Mandatory items include a hydraulic malfunction, stabilator malfunction, engine malfunction, single-engine approach/landing, and straight-ahead/low altitide autorotations. Besides the fact that helo sims are only at Kirtland (24 month currency for sim refresher), the sims do a very poor job of modeling takeoffs, landings, and autorotations. That stuff HAS to be flown for realz. So landing from a Boost/SAS off situation, when the helo is statically/dynamically unstable, needs to be done in the actual aircraft.

We actually allowed to log one EP sortie per 12 months in the sim, but our next EP sortie MUST be in the actual aircraft and MUST include autos.

[MD]

Besides the fact that helo sims are only at Kirtland (24 month currency for sim refresher),

I thought the -60 sims up at Silver Bell/Pinal can be used for every other sim refresher? Or is that only for AFRC?

[Breckey]

In addition the autorotations that are flown in the aircraft are nothing like the real thing that was performed by the Minot crew. All of our autos are to a power recovery and, IMHO, the hardest part of an auto is the final flare and touchdown. Once a helo pilot leaves Ft. Rucker, they will never accomplish another touchdown auto unless they go back as a SUPT-H instructor or have a malfunction that requires one.

[stract]

or something happens during a practice auto that leads to an inadvertant touchdown (wind shift to a tail wind during the flare makes the level/cushion sporty...as does a water bottle jamming between the collective and the armor wing on the seat).

re: WAATS sim, we have permission to use it and log currency for Contact, EP, and 50% of our Instrument approach requirements from ACC. Trying to get permission to do every other DLQ there to reduce trips to NASNI, but ACC won't currently accept the Navy paperwork allowing the Army sim to be used for this purpose IAW the DLQ MOU, because the Navy paperwork isn't dated. Even though it's attached to the most current MOU. We cannot log sim refresher at this sim b/c we don't have the capability to conduct the rest of the sim refresher syllabus, namely CRM refresher (systems and tac academics aren't cosmic), since no one in our community is a certified CRM facilitator.

The WAATS sim only benefits the DM units anyway, since everyone else would still have to go TDY to use it. Plus, since it's not our cockpit or systems setup (the Lima had differences in the hydraulic system), so it's not a perfect solution. No collective trim, our nav system replaced with the IFR-certified GPS, buttons on the cyclic and collective are different, no FLIR/HDD, etc. We'll send a crew up there occasionally to keep the hands warm, etc, but it definitely doesn't replace flying in the real bird. Even with the Sikorsky aero package (unlike the bastardized T-38 aero package we have in the ones at Kirtland), it still doesn't feel right.