JULY 2018 71
on the high side to protect the Arrius
engine – if you keep demanding power
above the published limits then it
will keep trying to match should you
decide that’s the most important thing
at the time.
I loved the checklist actions for an
inflight restart: bleed air (heater) –
off; throttle switch – fly; engine switch
- off; then back on again. Simple.
Engine shutdown is on a 30 second
idle cool down timer and ‘OK for
shutdown’ is displayed on the MFDs
to let you know when you are good to
select the engine to ‘off’.
Garmin glass
Transitioning to the G1000H from
steam-driven cockpits will be the
main gap training required for many
Australian pilots given our aged light
helicopter fleet. The aircraft is quite
straightforward but the multifunction
displays are a big jump from the B206
(even if the G1000 itself has been
used in the fixed-wing world for over
a decade!).
The right hand display was set
to show an artificial horizon above
a horizontal speed indicator with
airspeed and altitude ticker tapes to
the side. This was overlaid on top of
a 3D terrain representation from a
map database which gives a ‘synthetic
vision’ (an optional upgrade) look
ahead of the aircraft. Looking between
the terrain in front outside the aircraft
and at the graphical representation it
matches it very closely.
The left hand display was set
to the engine page most of the
time providing a large digital
representation of a power gauge and
rotor RPM. Power is displayed on the
digital arc (power situation indicator)
as per cent with 100 per cent being
max continuous power and then a
yellow arc showing five minute takeoff
power range. As soon as you pull into
the yellow a timer appears showing
the elapsed time in the arc.
Torque, MGT (measured gas
temperature) and NG figures are
shown with a green box around the
current limiting parameter. The power
display smoothly blends between
whatever is the engine limiting
number at the time, making power
and engine management incredibly
easy.
At other times in the flight we used
the map mode to skirt around Evans
Head and Williamtown airspaces, pull
up airfield frequency information, look
at weight and balance scenarios and
used the terrain database to visualise
higher terrain ahead. Future versions
will have external data capability to
pull in weather.
It almost feels like cheating after
coming from older machines when
the MFDs continuously display your
fuel burn, expected landing fuel in lb,
expected landing weight and the fuel
margin. But I’m not complaining!
Finally, a radar altimeter is another
optional extra that is available but not
fitted to this 505.Flight controls and handling
The collective head is a very simple
affair. It has the two position throttle
switch – idle/fly – and that is it. The
cork looking handgrip where the
throttle normally would be located is
purely a handgrip and doesn’t twist.
The cyclic heads on this machine
just had a ICS/radio trigger and on
the right hand side a TCAS warning
cancel button. Hook or float-
fitted machines would have their
appropriate switches modded on.
The controls are... well... firm. You
can release your grip on them and they
don’t feel like they are going to move
away (yes – friction was off). They are
noticeably firmer than anything I’ve
flown before. It is not that they are
hard to move but you do have to push
it to make an input rather than using
your fingertips (cyclic).
In cruise I would sometimes
get into a wallowing motion in roll
where I was looking for that middle
position but just overshooting each
time. Similarly with pedals vs power
changes there is not a lot of control
feedback through the feet.
There were times I was still
overshooting for balance or not
putting enough pedal in even
approaching Sydney at the end of the
day. I’m sure you would get used to it
and it makes for a stable platform forthe most part. I just wouldn’t mind a
little bit less resistance.
As a counterpoint, a pilot that
jumped in at our transit point of
Armidale apparently had no problems
keeping it in balance, so maybe that
just talks to my skills! But a Nautilus
pilot confirmed the stiff control feeling
in its 505s and in the machines used at
the Bell factory course.
There is no cyclic trim motor, the
firmness of the controls masks any
pressure that you would need to trim
out is my guess. Dan indicated an
autopilot is a future planned option.
I didn’t fly in the hover or make
any of the approaches so I can’t talk to
those regimes but in flight it handles
pretty standardly as far as rates of roll,
pitch and yaw go.
Dan demonstrated a practice
forced landing prior to arriving at
the Armidale circuit. Again it feels
pretty standard for a B206 with auto
speeds in the flight manual of 60-70kt.
Entering auto is done by selecting the
throttle switch on the collective to idle.
There is a fair displacement of right
pedal needed in the entry, and I didn’t
see what the rate of descent stabilised
at. As it is a B206L4 drivetrain with
a lighter helicopter underneath the
autorotation characteristics should be
quite docile.
In our case switching the throttle
back to ‘fly’ joins the needles in about
two seconds and Dan climbed away.
The stop at Armidale provided a
chance to see the 505’s power margin
at work, given Armidale is Australia’s
highest city airport at 3,556ft
elevation. Temperature on the ground
was 13 degrees and the locals had
much thicker jackets on than the one I
brought with me!
With full fuel and four POB the
aircraft was approaching maximum all‘The controls
are... well...
firm.’
The G1000H is a big advance
on the panel found in the B206.
MCIK CULLEN