Interesting case: Leeds Crown Court

[Old Pilot]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... ments.html

[Flintstone]

Psssst! A Daily Mail link so not as classy as yours though

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=80171&p=1131907&hilit=unlicensed#p1131907

[Timothy]

How can both refer to "amount of hours"?

[gyrotyro]

What exactly is an "Official" log book?

I don't recall any such thing having to be sent out before training could be logged. As far as I am aware all you need to do is purchase a logbook from the usual suppliers and off you go.

A tragic case which apparently happened during a period of extremely high and gusty wind conditions. I can't believe how someone would possibly put so much at risk by not flying a few more hours and then being legally qualified....Allegedly.

[gyrotyro]

How can both refer to "amount of hours"?

Should it be "number of hours? Amount is time isn't it?

[peter272]

AAIB Report here makes interesting reading

http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cf ... 011-09.pdf

[Old Pilot]

A tragic case which apparently happened during a period of extremely high and gusty wind conditions. I can't believe how someone would possibly put so much at risk by not flying a few more hours and then being legally qualified....Allegedly.

As the Colin McRae tragedy demonstrated if someone wants to fly in challenging conditions you can't stop them.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-g ... t-14803595

Same here http://www.aaib.gov.uk/publications/bul ... ha_lfb.cfm

It's only after an accident that the paperwork is checked and often found to be lacking.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Still, you could teach a whole course in flight safety on this one - the holes in the swiss cheese were many and glaring, but as is so often the case, no individual one seemed that serious on its own.

G

[JoeC]

Do any of the helo pilots on the forum know if the Gazelle is an easy aircraft to transition on to post PPL? I can't work out from the AAIB report whether the pilot did his PPL(H) training in the Gazelle or bought it afterwards.

[Paul_Sengupta]

I'm not a heli pilot, and as a plank driver, I've only ever flown one heli - the Gazelle...but it seemed pretty easy to fly, but with all these things I expect there are a couple of gotchas in there somewhere.

[Dave Phillips]

I would say it takes a reasonable bit of conversion because:

a. The big fan on top turns the opposite way (French).

b. The little fan is actually a fan and not a propeller.

c. It is a turbine aircraft.

There is a small trend developing as far as Eastern European registered helicopters are concerned.

[Old Pilot]

He did all his training on the Gazelle I believe. In my opinion a much easier and stable helicopter to fly than the R22 on which Igained my licence.

Helicopters do not have "propellers" but the anti torque rotor on the Gazelle is ducted.

The wind would have been a challenge for a much more experienced pilot.One of the problems of turning
near the ground in the hover in strong winds is the tendency for the machine to weathercock.

The Alpha male syndrome is a common strand running through many aircraft accidents.

[pembroke]

A couple of points. Did the "Tech" or aircraft log reflect the hours flown that are now in question? Did the examiner concur with the instructor and candidate that the hours were correct? Did the candidate know the hours to be false, and signed the PPL application anyway?
Any pilot that passes the PPL skill test ,and as such, may crash the next day, or never crash at all. The "school" records should be accurate, but I would always rely on log book evidence, particularly when about to conduct an initial PPL skill test. (FE)

[Flintstone]

...the holes in the swiss cheese...

That's it, you're now on The List.

[Rotorboater]

Gazelles are known to get a fenestron stall, it will start spinning for a few revs if you are not quick enough with your feet, the Mil train for it and the answer is just to keep your foot hard down until it stops but it usually involves a change of underwear!

Gazelles are the equivalent of a Ferrari and things can happen very fast, not the ideal machine for a low hours pilot, Jet Rangers on the other hand are like big comfortable safe Bentleys, much better for a PPL