Monthly Archives: October 2011

Interesting Links, October 26, 2011

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Here are links I found interesting on October 26, 2011:

Run-On Landing to Avoid Brown-Out?

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Was this really the best decision?

Although I don’t usually comment on accident reports until the Probable Cause is released, this one seems pretty cut-and-dried. It’s also a good discussion topic. And, best of all, no one was hurt — which also leads me to believe that there won’t be many more facts about it published.

Here’s what happened:

The pilot and the border patrol agent had been dispatched to provide aerial support for an on-going border patrol mission. When the pilot realized there would be a delay in time for when they needed to engage in the mission he decided to land in a grass field and sit idle (to conserve fuel) until their assistance was needed. He said he made a run-on landing to avoid creating a brown-out condition. However, as the helicopter touched down and moved forward (approximately 34 feet) it nosed over and the main rotor blades struck the ground. The helicopter subsequently nosed over and traveled another 34 feet before it came to rest on its right side.

I question the decision to do a run-on landing on dirt/grass. (I suspect the pilot is also rethinking that decision right now.) Would it really reduce the amount of dust blown around enough to justify the added risk of forward motion in contact with the ground on a rough surface?

Brown-Out Landing
Military photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Boitz of a HH-60G Pave Hawk doing a brown-out landing. (A run-on landing would probably be a piece of cake with wheels.)

I’ve landed [too] many times in dusty landing zones. The dust starts to rise about when I get into ground effect. The longer I’m above the ground pulling pitch, the more dust flies — unless it’s just surface dust and not really deep. The key, it seems, is to get the collective full-down as quickly as possible. When you stop pulling pitch, the dust settles.

When I was trained to do run-on landings, I was taught to make a shallow approach at a speed right around ETL and then slowly lower the collective once contact with the ground was made. So not only is pitch pulled during that shallow approach — when you’re close enough to get the dust flying — but it’s not full down for at least a few seconds after making contact. I can’t see how that would reduce the amount of dust on landing. I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t tested this theory — we always practiced run-on landings on pavement — perhaps a reader can offer some insight from experience?

I’m thinking that a better way to handle this particular landing would be to make a straight in approach to the ground, thus minimizing the amount of time you’re pulling pitch while in ground effect. It would be important to assure that the touchdown spot was appropriate before committing. Then fly it right to the ground and dump the collective as soon as you’re on the ground. This is the way I try to handle my dusty LZ landings, usually to avoid kicking up dust around spectators or taking even more paint off my rotor blades. (Dust is nasty shit; I’ve already had my main rotor blades painted twice in 1,350 hours.) I admit I’ve never landed on dust so thick that true brown-out was possible — although I’ve come pretty close a few times.

What do you think? How would you handle landing at a LZ where brown-out was possible?

Interesting Links, October 25, 2011

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Here are links I found interesting on October 25, 2011:

Two Ways to Hasten the Demise of Groupon and Its Clones

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Enough is enough already.

I hate Groupon. That should be clear by now. I think that any business that can bring in more revenue than the businesses that it “serves” is a leech and not a “marketing partner.” While they’re telling merchants how they’re getting “risk free advertising,” they’re selling to cheapskate customers, most of whom will only buy at the 50% (or more) discount Groupon requires. Good luck selling again to those folks at retail.

So it pisses me off to no end when I get a call from yet another Groupon clone. This one, based in Scottsdale (supposedly; it’s more likely a franchise set up by someone suckering work-at-home dreamers) claimed to be different. I let the sales rep stumble through an explanation of how they were different before asking her (1) how many helicopter tours a person might want and (2) whether their friends would buy at retail if I’d established a history of offering 50% discounts through companies like hers. Then I told her I wasn’t interested and not to call me back. And I added her number to my growing list of telemarketer numbers on my cell phone so if she does call back from that number, my phone will ring silently and I’ll know not to answer if I happen to notice it ringing.

And after hanging up, I thought of two ways we can all work together to make Groupon and its clones go away. Be advised that I’m in a foul mood so my language is a bit NSFW in this piece.

  • Just Say “Fuck Groupon” This is the method I use. I refuse to be a Groupon (or clone) merchant and I refuse to buy Groupon (or clone) vouchers. I’m not giving them any business in any way, shape, or form. I’m also making the sales rep go through a bunch of their bullshit sales pitch when they call just to waste their time and increase the marketing costs before explaining, in no uncertain terms, what I think of their business model and “service.” (I can be a real bitch.) I’m also spreading the word about how bad they are for business and consumers by sharing links to fact-based reports from actual Groupon merchants, customers, and business analysts. (Seriously: there’s enough info out there to make one wonder how Groupon has managed to survive this long. Are there really that many suckers out there?)
  • Just Say “Fuck the Groupon Merchants” This is the method people who aren’t small business owners can easily use. Just buy as many Groupon (or clone) deals as you possibly can and then use them all up as quickly as possible — keeping in mind that a good percentage of Groupon merchants are already on the verge of bankruptcy and may not be in business if you wait. Be sure to come at the businesses’ most crowded times and complain loudly when you don’t get the service you might get if there wasn’t a half-off deal filling the place with other cheapskates just like you. Whenever possible, break the rules and use multiple vouchers to increase your discount potential. Then, if the buying experience isn’t perfect, go on Yelp or some other online rating service and give the business just one star with a review that exaggerates how crappy it is.

Now, in my opinion, small businesses already have enough grief that they really don’t deserve to be fucked over by Groupon (or clones) and cheapskate customers. So I’m really hoping you go with the first method.

Enough said.