Gunship Academy

by Richard Sheffield

Tutorial 8: Autorotation

The term autorotation is often used to mean both the act of autorotating to maintain flight and the performance of a power-off landing. Above 100 feet, you're autorotating, or using the forward speed of the aircraft to keep the rotor spinning to provide lift without the help of the engines. Once you're below 100 feet, you shift from autorotation to power-off landing procedures. If you lose both engines below 100 feet, you can forget about autorotation and concentrate on landing in one piece.

Student pilots in the Army have this skill constantly drilled. They know that the IP (Instructor Pilot) is likely to shut down the engines at any time and any altitude and that they must react quickly and instinctively to maintain control of the aircraft.

If you can master the skill of landing with no power, you have greatly increased your chances of living through some very tough missions. Even the best Gunship pilots occasionally get shot down, so take time to practice this skill, and you'll walk away from a pretty badly damaged aircraft to fly another day.

Table of Contents
Previous Section: Tutorial 7: Air-to-Air Combat
Next Section: Attack Helicopter Basics: Ten Rules to Live By