Pilots Land Behind Helicopter - Instantly Regret It!

[@b2_flies]

The timing of your video was absolutely great for me. Yesterday, I watched your video and today I went for my 3rd solo flight as a student pilot. While I was doing landing practices at a non-towered airport (E16), I heard a chopper announce they are taking off from the other side of the field. Having a fresh reminder of strong wake turbulence from helicopters (thanks to your video), I held short of the runway for 2-3 minutes before taking off :)

[@lancelotkillz]

Hell yea 😎🦅👽🌎

[@lancelotkillz]

Perfect timing 1:35

[@acasualviewer5861]

I doing touch and goes, and suddenly I see a shadow on the ground of a helicopter on the taxiway. It was a bit above me as I took off. Nothing really happened, but after I saw these videos I wonder why the Tower didn't warn us about this, and why my CFI didn't think much about it. I'm staying away from helicopters from now on. I've also been in the pattern with them in an untowered airport.

[@rya7642]

Hoover out here saving lives

[@andysPARK]

Nice. 👍

[@athanoskerensky6778]

I’m so glad I stumbled upon this video. I’m 41hours into my training and not once have I heard about or considered wake turbulence from a helicopter.

[@chrislau2341]

Could you tell me more about how you started? I’m an Engineering student at Uni at the moment and would love to start pilot training.. but not sure where I can go / do with it

[@athanoskerensky6778]

@@chrislau2341 It's something that I always wanted to do and despite any reservations that I might not be smart enough, I just went for it. I'm lucky because I served in the military so I applied to a College/Flight School and most of the expense is covered by my military benefits. I plan to just fly commercially with smaller planes or maybe cargo transport, but once you start and get all your certificates the sky is literally the limit. If its something you want to do and you think it will make you happy, just get out there and do it.

[@TheJustinJ]

@@chrislau2341 what country? It's different all over. But in the USA, any small airport with airplanes buzzing around has one to rent and an instructor who will gladly take your money to show you a few maneuvers. The process in the USA is three-fold. One, you must learn to actually fly the airplane, understand angle of attack, and how to turn and climb and perform maneuvers. You must also learn to manage systems and ancient engines. Then you need to understand airspace and how to navigate and communicate. This is found in the FAAs AIM Manual, the last half of the FAR/AIM book. Then you also must learn FAA regulations, unlike other areas of life you absolutely must know the rules and regs for flying. In the USA its found in FAR part 61, and Part 91. Front portion of the FAR/AIM manual. "The Airplane Flying Handbook" along with the current year FAR/AIM, is the study prep material for your license. All information is available for free to download from the FAA site. You don't need to buy books. Or bags. Or headsets. You can waste $1,500-$2k on study material and equipment or you can actually SOLO for the same amount, assuming $180-$250/hr rate and how fast you learn, you can solo and fly and land alone in an airplane in about 8-12 hours.

[@lancelotkillz]

Awesomeness 😎

[@sdickinson5234]

@@chrislau2341 Find a small airport in your local area and go ask there. They should know some instructors and usually they have planes you can rent by the hour for training and practice.

[@BTf337]

Thank you for your precious advice. I have 800+ hours on a single-engine plane, and nobody ever taught me about this. Love your videos!

[@lancelotkillz]

Awesome.. be safe my guy🦅

[@johnparish1432]

There are a lot of "not so good" flight instructors out there.

[@justcommenting4981]

​@@johnparish1432it just isn't something most pilots encounter often, unlike wake from larger aircraft.

[@johnparish1432]

@@justcommenting4981 But their CFIs should teach it, they should be aware of it and always be ready ready for it in case it happens. In my opinion there are too many CFIs that shouldn't be CFIs because they are too ignorant, not stupid, but ignorant.

[@justcommenting4981]

@@Badfish988 wake turbulence has inverted an entire business jet. We have separation measures in place to minimize exposure so crashes don't happen. Light trainer aircraft do not commonly operate alongside heavy jets or helicopters which keeps this from being more common. Wake turbulence is just powerful tight wind vortices and many pilots have crashed or bent props trying to land in similar difficult conditions that occurred naturally.

[@Bobm-kz5gp]

I was an ARMY Huey pilot for 10 years, an Army contractor pilot flying a TH-67 and an Air Evac helicopter pilot for 3 years. For 29 years I flew fixed wing aircraft. We were taught from the beginning of our helicopter training they drilled into us to avoid the flow of fixed wing traffic. Helicopters create a lot of turbulence!

[@theaccountant5133]

I fly out of Hammond, Louisiana and there is a National Guard Base on the northeast side of the airport. I have been flying fixed wing aircraft since 1966 and in Vietnam as a Marine Corps CH-46 mechanic and gunner in HMM-262. That is a little background to let you know I know helicopters and their abilities as I was in one autorotating off of Hill 881 South due to being shot down on a resupply out of Khe Sanh in March 1968. Those pilots in Hammond flying Blackhawk helicopters have absolutely no respect for fixed with traffic. They fly left traffic with the fixed wing and have no problem landing and sitting on the runway with fixed with traffic in the pattern. You can imagine how strong a language I have for those bas*@^ds! Problem is the airport management personnel are purposefully oblivious to what these National Guard pilots are doing because they don't know S^&T about aviation. I had to say something as these chopper jocks think the rules don't apply to them.

[@error.418]

@@theaccountant5133 "the airport management personnel are purposefully oblivious" huh? purposefully?

[@theguythattalksshitonyoutube]

Thank You for your service 🇺🇸

[@coolramone]

“Sitting on the runway?” Isn’t that like sitting on I-12? Seems crazy to me.

[@error.418]

@@coolramone Nah, it's not always like that. Depends on how active it is.

[@michaelsuede]

WOW! I had no idea helicopter wash was so dangerous and lingered for that long. Thanks for sharing.

[@lcfflc3887]

it just makes sense, they weigh tons, the amount of push required is astronomical and the tiny airplane behind it with its engine at idle is no match, he was just gliding down like a balloon with no air, it was just the perfect timing and situation, a larger airplane like a king Air 350 would have been shaken but it would probably have survived and landed with no further issues, more weight helps.

[@BoMcGillacutty]

Lesson that student won't soon forget.

[@magcitrate]

Never thought of rotor wash. I’m keeping clear & going around. 😁

[@thor3279]

@@lcfflc3887 certainly it makes sense, but it's not something I would've considered until I was inverted at 50 feet AGL.

[@LuvBorderCollies]

Reminds me of my first solo in Tomahawk. Field looks clear from FBO ramp so I go out toe Rwy 21. Don't know when I noticed the camouflaged A7-D on the crossing runway but it was nearing takeoff. Tower cleared A7 for takeoff. I'm sitting in my featherweight T-hawk having faint knowledge of vortexes. The A7 was off and gone, I've clearance to depart but can't see any evidence in the grass of vortex. But still I decided to play safe as I had nearly 2 miles of runway. So I taxied thru the intersection a good 30 seconds later and boy, I was so glad I had kept the wheels on the runway.!!! It felt like a giant hand came out of the sky, grabbed the T-hawk and shook it side to side, and in a left-right pivoting motion. It was like trying to shake the last coin from a piggy bank, it really did. When it calmed down I powered up and took off. I'm totally convinced if I'd lifted off at my usual spot, those twin vortexes would've picked me up and slammed me into the runway. Follow up note: Later on I started playing golf at a course next to the airport. A bunch of holes were under the short final and ILS.. Many times while on the quiet golf course you'd hear those horizontal tornadoes and the worst were from A7's. Air sounded like it every molecule was being shredded 3 ways. Every flying student should have that experience to put the fear into unseen and make them aware to avoid being a victim.

[@bennettt4404]

During my PPL training out of KFAT, my instructor and I were departing 29L, with a blackhawk hovering at 200-300ft agl, just adjacent to the parallel / 29R. Well, just after I rotated and started my climb out, we saw the blackhawk start to cross midfield, and tower alerted us to the possible wake turbulence. Right about then my CFI took control, nosed it back over to the runway, and remained just above ground effect building up as much speed as possible. I wasnt sure what all was happening, but as soon as we intersected the rotor wash from the Blackhawk, I realized why he had taken control. It felt like a combination of hitting a huge thermal along with windshear. My CFI wasnt happy with the towers decision to allow the Blackhawk to cross just above a departing 172, as you can imagine.

[@deezynar]

It sounds like your instructor wanted to radio the tower and tell them to take down a phone number to call.

[@steve9173]

Great information. Just shared with my son who is a CFI. I'm a sport pilot and never learned this. If I was landing behind a helicopter, that could have easily been me. From now on it will be an automatic go around.

[@adrian7583]

Happened to me just after I got my license. Also a UH-60. I was in a super cub and somehow managed to save it with a hard landing. Had no idea just how lucky I was at the time.

[@weeliano]

This is one of the most educational and lifesaving aviation knowledge videos I have seen! Thank you for highlighting the dangers of rotor wash turbulence. It is quite amazing to see how long the vortices can last to cause the crashes.

[@lancelotkillz]

No kidding. I'm hear reading the comments just as surprised as y'all are

[@GeneralChangFromDanang]

The only helicopters I've ever flown in the pattern with are the local medical helicopters. Every single one of them has always been very courteous about telling people where they are in the pattern and they do their best to fly in from a different direction from other traffic to avoid putting rotor wash over the runway. Great guys.

[@jarrettleto]

They are the same way at my local airport always announcing that they are below and to the side off the approach path to the runways. I appreciate those guys for sure

[@shanesplanetshane3795]

Medivac pilots at my local airport are nice people. However, they dont care at all to overfly me as I try land a ppg. I did ask if I'd get a free ride, if they crash me. At least I was offered that.

[@michaelscott356]

Even if the chopper pilots are trying to be "considerate", if there's rotor wash lingering out there from ANY direction, I'm guessing it can still be an invisible... and deadly... "enemy".

[@sklew]

This same scenario happened to me. I was taking off right after a helicopter overflew the field and landed. Felt like a 40 knot gust, had to get on the rudders and aileron hard to keep me from overbanking. I was expecting turbulence but that was a lot more than I anticipated

[@pilot-debrief]

Thanks for sharing. I’ve never had a close call like that!

[@nealhere]

Holy cow! That is an eye-opener. I am an instructor and I’ve never heard the discussion about weak turbulence rotor wash or anything. Tomorrow’s lesson will include that discussion and I will make my chief instructor aware of the subject. Your video is priceless to me All the best. Neil southwest Florida

[@straatanga]

Instructor? Flight instructor? Holy cow, another disappointment to my myth of America.....

[@theburtseoni]

In the last incident the small taildragger on the far left of the screen taxing up to go out on the runway was piloted by my son in law and our youngest daughter. He is an ER physician and she is an ER NP, so when they say what happened they taxied quickly over to the downed plane and jumped out to see if there was anything they might do to help. Thankfully he just had a sore leg from exiting his plane in a big hurry in case there was a fire, which there was not. This incident was a real eye opener for our daughter, who is about to get her license. And having been a private pilot for almost 50 years, this was an eye opener for me as well!

[@IntheAirwithC]

Awesome to hear your family of first responders were on scene. The fact that rotor wash isn't talked about more is mind baffling. I'm brand spanking new and experienced it already. I went into class the next day making sure everyone knew what and how it happened. Also the fact that helicopters park next to the shorter runway where we practice is nuts.

[@gilbertsoto2472]

👍💯💪 PILOTS ARE THE MOST MOTIVATED🤨 , BRAVE RESPECTFUL HUMAN BEINGS ON EARTH 🌎 , MUCH RESPECT & ADMIRATION TO ALL PILOTS , MILITARY 🪖 & COMERCIAL👨‍✈️💪 🏆 🏅👍🚁🛩 GOTTA LOVE'EM ❤️ FOR THIER PROFESSIONAL SKILLS & BRAVERY 🪂🛫🚁

[@eduardocobian3238]

This video and your comment are priceless.

[@Paul26525]

Well, that is certainly an eye opener. I have over 1200 hours in Army helicopters and I don't remember ever talking about the effect our rotor wash had on fixed wing aircraft. Some mention was made of wake turbulence from larger aircraft, but nothing about our own turbulence on flying aircraft. Could be a couple of reasons for that. First, I very seldom flew into airports where there was anything other than helicopters and the odd fixed wing visitor (95% of all my flying was done overseas at Army airfields). Second, even when we hit other helicopter's rotor wash all we would get is a bump. Still didn't do much formation flying since I flew Cobras and scouts (OH-58) and we tended to spread out. When we did fly formation it wasn't right behind another helicopter. The only time I remember having experienced any thing like wake turbulence was landing in a small landing area with three other helicopters; I was the last one in and the aircraft started to settle faster than normal. A little more power and ground effect took care of the problem. So it is possible that the Blackhawk pilot was not even aware that his rotor wash could have that effect on the light aircraft.

[@AudioFreqx]

wow just wow I knew this before I ended up ay my SAR duty station. Months before the 1100 hours covering the CNATRA region of South Texas started. The tower understood and so did we.

[@daveurquhart477]

As an amateur I was just thinking about the effects when you see a few helicopters flying in a formation. How does that not cause problems? My initial thoughts might be to do with the weight or centre of gravity all being below the source of lift.

[@ED99LAM]

fully agree. Thanks

[@SpaceCadet4Jesus]

Yeah, after reading your first sentence I could tell you only flew Cobras and Scouts. I flew Air Evac so we knew and avoided causing issues at airports, something the combat guys wouldn''t immediately think of.

[@IntheAirwithC]

New guy here with less than thirty hours of flight and already experienced some nasty rotor wash. On my last landing of the day just before round out the plane banked a hard right and kicked the yoke out of my hands. My instructor jumped into action and saved the day. He landed the plane and we both looked at each other knowing how close we came to wrecking. We were so low when it happened we questioned if the wing struck the ground. No helicopter in sight or warning from tower, but my instructor knew exactly what it was. Lets just say i have major respect for all wingtip vortices and wouldn't trade my instructor for anyone. BTW the helicopter parking lot is right next to where we practice landing at KVNY go figure.

[@maskcollector6949]

Talk about poorly designed.

[@sylvainhoude312]

I'm a retired Canadian Precision Approach Radar controller, aka a Talking ILS. The directive we had was to treat helicopters as one category above their actual weight category, ie, treat a light helicopter as a medium aircraft, and a medium helicopter as a heavy one, and we'd increase our separation accordingly. Hence, instead of 3 miles, we would need 4 miles for a light aircraft behind a light helicopter, and 6 miles for a light aircraft behind a medium rotary. In the VFR world, I believe that Tower controllers apply 2-minute separation for a light aircraft departing behind a medium aircraft/light helicopter and 3 minutes for a light aircraft departing behind a heavy aircraft/medium helicopter. Again, love your channel. Cheers.

[@svenf1]

Where I fly we have lots of heli traffic. I've always been annoyed by the long wait times enforced by both Ground and Tower. I will no longer be annoyed :) I much rather wait another minute or two than dealing with the aftermath of a damaged or even destroyed aircraft because of my impatience.

[@superwhuffo1]

My traffic was a small helicopter on my first solo and it was amazing that I pulled it out. The 5mph crosswind was just right to drift the chopper turbulence over to intersect with my plane and I was rotated completely sideways with my wing tip just above the runway! I went instantly full right ailerons to correct and then back and forth to make an incredible landing. The tower came on and yelled, "Congregations 617!!!" and then after I stopped my instructor opened the door with bulging eyes and shook my hand and yelled, "Great job!!!". They said they learned their lesson and would never bring a student on first solo flight in behind a helicopter again.

[@maskcollector6949]

There’s so many dumb pilots and instructors out there… you’re probably better than all of them watching there lol.

[@superwhuffo1]

@maskcollector6949 just aware and responsive .. I see so many die that could have lively lived.

[@maskcollector6949]

@@superwhuffo1 It's especially true amongst paragliders and hanggliding. I've been doing a ton of research for the past couple of years as a hobby over the safety measures - same with static line jumping in the military. They're still using up all of the old model parachutes that end up giving people compressed discs last I knew. It pisses me off, considering going in to change things. There's still a ton of unregulated paragliders on the market that get people killed - even if you do everything perfectly. I can only imagine once you add power to the wings how much that amplifies user error. Solid wings are still way safer than all parachute/paraglider models - hanggliding is safer for the record. Not sure how the statistics compare to airplanes yet but I'm sure with all the videos and stuff coming out this past year (compared to the low number of hanggliders in general) that planes far outweigh the accidents of hanggliders and/or paragliders. I wouldn't be surprised if it surpasses both combined, I'll have to look into the numbers but it surprises me how many do not do their due diligence and take flight non-seriously. The main reason I think planes will always have more casualties is the ability to carry more than one or two travelers.

[@travistibbs1530]

As a student helicopter pilot, I was doing approaches with my instructor to an uncontrolled airport in an R-22. There was a fixed wing student also doing dual time and ended up landing behind us a couple of times. At least one of the times, we moved over and hovered out of their way to clear the runway more quickly. Their approach was pretty wild as they got closer to the runway and my instructor even took the controls and we took off over the trees away from the runway to avoid any possibility of a collision. The R-22 is a small 2-seater - nothing like the Blackhawk or the Huey, but I wonder, now, how much our rotor wash may have been a factor in the student’s wild landing.

[@MeppyMan]

I learned to fly helicopters a long time ago in a small town. At our aerodrome we flew an opposite pattern and would rarely use the active runways. This was in 300s (like the ones on the ground at the start), so not a huge deal for wake turbulence, but we still new to keep good separation. When I saw these videos, it was extremely eye-opening. Large helicopters in the same pattern, close in with light planes and using the same runway... bonkers. Also, a new solo student isn't going to know how to handle that without very specific instruction beforehand. Even then, wake turbulence can last a lot longer than you expect.

[@gzk6nk]

Clearly the Blackhawk pilot was not thinking 'wake turbulence' when he advised the Cirrus pilot that he needn't go around. He was thinking 'runway occupancy'.

[@glennwatson]

I'm primarily a fixed wing pilot but did get to solo level with helicopters. There's a lot of focus in training on being 'respectful' to other traffic around with our wingtip vortices etc. Especially when we are taxing or similar we'll keep a respectful distance from other traffic. In Australia they guide us to take 2-3 minutes separation between helicopter traffic on takeoff/landing.

[@breckenridgerob9679]

Great video sir. Thank you for sharing this kind of quality content... I am 56 now, but as a kid, I dreamed of flying the F15. I went to AFROTC Orientation in 1988 at Lowery AFB and didn't continue after that. Knew I was too immature, at the time, to deal with a military lifestyle. Now, I am working on my PPL and have always loved aviation. I regret not just going the civilian aviation route 30 years ago but I think it all seemed so boring compared to being an Eagle Pilot. Now, I realize the flying bug isn't just about going Mach 2, I love flying small piston aircraft. Thanks for your service to our country and again, great content on your channel.

[@KalebWR]

Yeah, never too late to enjoy the sky. I've been a Crew Chief on fighters for 16 years, with a good chunk of Eagle maintenance under my belt. I'm gearing up to start my PPL for when I retire, and getting into flying here in Alaska.

[@Robinbamv]

A first class video drawing the attention of GA pilots to the dangers of helicopter wake turbulence, flying light aircraft from an airfield that we share with a number of Chinook helicopters has made us very aware of the problem. Helicopters produce much larger amounts of wake turbulence than a fixed wing aircraft of a similar weight so are always best given the a lot of space, we use 2 minutes as a minimum spacing when departing behind a helicopter. For some sobering reading read the U.K. AAIB report on the accident at Oxford airport England when PA28 G-BPJT encounter the wake of a S-61 helicopter. This report will re-enforce the message so well made in this video.

[@su5119]

Really good information. I'm a long time private pilot. On my first solo landing it involved a parked plane on the middle of active while I was on short final. I decided to power on and go around. But, your information is new to me. Never have I had discussions with any instructor pilot or other fellow pilots regarding the danger of landing when helicopters are in the area. This should be added to all CFI instructions to students and pilots of the dangers of helicopters prop wash. Many thanks. Steve

[@gatestpilotpaulmsouthwick7012]

Excellent video. Avoided a similar situation at Truckee when coming in in an SR22 when there was a V-22 Osprey taxiing close to the active runway. We applied power and landed well past the big machine. We had also asked over the radio, and the military pilot complied for him/ her to power down those massive 12m tilt rotors until we passed.

[@chriso847]

I fly a small light sport airplane, and this is definitely always a big concern. Luckily, I don’t often fly around helicopters at the airports I go to. Although on occasion, there are small to large helicopters, taking off and landing at the field, and I am always extra careful to stay as far away as possible. Thanks for the helpful video.

[@zzanatos2001]

If a helicopter taxis down the active and takes off - you might be 45 seconds behind and never even see them. There should definitely be better FAA rules about helicopters operating at uncontrolled airfields.

[@Gary.Holmes]

I only have 3.5 hours, so I'm just starting my flying journey. The first case, where the student listens to the Blackhawk basically saying "It'll be fine" really reminds me of another video I've seen where a test pilot says if anybody (in or out of your aircraft) tries to persuade you to take a risk you run the other way. Pilot thinks they should go around rather than land, but now some guy says go for landing... get out and re-join the pattern. I have so much to learn but lessons like this will stick with me. There are no old, bold pilots... right?

[@steveblack5066]

One of my worst worries as a former Air Force HH3E pilot. Most military pilots operating out of military fields know the tower watches out for this, but since we would land in civilian fields that had pilots with varied flight experience, our heads were on a swivel watching out for these guys. When I taught primary flight instruction in T-41s (Cessna 172s) , I emphasized this to our students since we were visiting Army airfields and other Air Force bases with rotor traffic.

[@rElliot09]

I am a retired Naval Aviator, love your channel. I was flying ISR with L3 on 4 Jan 2014 when an MC-12 went down about a mile short of the runway. Initially, we were not sure if it was downed by enemy fire or something else. My crew was the first fixed wing on scene to video it, not good. It was later determined that the very experienced pilot and crew turned to final, much too close to a C-17 that had just landed. The C-17's wake turbulence caused the King Air to crash. Yes, helicopters can cause much chaos if followed to close, been there done that.

[@Thomson8]

Army Aviation Rule of Thumb: Apply a 10x multiplication for helicopter wake turbulence eg a 10ton UH60 helicopter should be treated like a 100ton fixed wing for separation. This usually means a Light (

[@ED99LAM]

thanks for sharing your information.

[@allenthoe8091]

This is a great video! Thank you for putting the two incidents together. So frustrating for both cases. The most difficult part of wake turbulence is that it's almost always impossible to see. 2 Minutes is my minimum, especially with my little home built airplane of mere 1200 lbs.

[@SkyWriter25]

I am glad that I watched this video. I'm currently working on my license and, and once I get it, will be flying out of a small county airport. The airport runway runs east and west with nothing but fixed wing on the north side. About 300 feet south of the runway at the east end is a single building used as a hanger for a CareFlight helicopter. I often see them hovering the helicopter over there and now know to watch out for their turbulence!

[@cuprum166]

Thank you for bringing this issues to light. Amazing the FAA has no guidance on this type of occurences.

[@DAP-UAV]

I am a PP with Instrument rating. SEL. I do not recall ever being taught about helicopters having “wake turbulence” or that there was a danger if you followed one in the pattern. This is critically important information and it should be it ALL THE BOOKS. IMHO.

[@scarybaldguy]

Same, I've been doing this since 2001 and never had anyone, CFI or ATC, warn me about chopper wake, even at airports with a lot of chopper traffic.

[@utlaw72]

Hoover, I enjoy all of your debriefs, which are mostly commercial, but you are also an excellent advocate for general aviation safety. Keep up the good work!

[@webpilot71]

Good information! In flight school, we are not taught much about separation from helicopters. I didn't know that the wake turbulence was that severe.

[@RocksterSAMA]

Wow that's some serious turbulence, scary

[@pilot-debrief]

Definitely more than what pilots might be expecting!

[@usnpilot203]

Excellent video and many great points that directly apply to me. The University of Michigan Hospital operates a couple of Eurocopter 155 helicopters and a Bombardier Lear Jet 75 out of my local airport, Livingston County Airport - KOZW near Ann Arbor, Michigan. I live directly across the street from the airport, so I see and hear these aircraft at all times of day and night. But to be perfectly honest I did not give too much thought to the possibility of turbulence. And as shown in your second clip, these helicopters at KOZW also operated on a parallel taxiway dedicated for their flight operations. Because of this fact I suspect many pilots dismiss the impact wake turbulence could have on the active runway. After watching this video I will most definitely pay much closer attention to the operation of these helicopters and up my situational awareness game. Thanks again for posting this video.

[@SSGrille]

Thanks for posting this. I am a small UAV pilot, 90% of my flights are not even above the tree line, but on occasion, we will get some military exercises with a Blackhawk or Medical helicopters at just about 400.’ Fortunately you can hear it for miles and as soon as I hear one, I land my UAV. What I did not realize was how long those vortices still swirl around, so even though I am more than 150’ away, especially after they pass, I can’t tell where exactly those vortices are. So thanks for the recommendation of 3 miles of separation, I’ll stay on the ground until I cannot hear them anymore, and even then, just a little bit longer. I don’t need my drone getting caught up in that kind of wash, with only about 20-30 feet to the ground.

[@janncfl]

Thank you for your great videos like this one. I am not an aviator, only an aviation geek, but the insights I get from you are something I do not want to miss anymore!

[@gagewarner6502]

This is great information. I'm 100% one of the pilots that never thought about wake turbulence with helicopters. I'm grateful to have seen this and have a new talking point with my students

[@definitiveenergy1878]

You're a damn good communicator sir!

[@SirCarlosMusicBMI]

Awesome video and explanation to the sequence of events. Thank you and God Bless,Carlos ✝️🙏❤️😊🇺🇸

[@spencereagle1118]

Wake turbulence can be dangerous but in some rare instances it can be useful. I recall a TV interiew with musician and keen pilot, Roger Whitaker. He recounted attempting to land his Rockwell Commander at Stansted in the UK, only the entire area was blanketed in dense fog and he was low on fuel. He was advised to follow a 747 in, sure enough the massive wake of the Jumbo cut a swath through the fog giving him a visual of the runway and a safe landing.

[@stresswes]

I'm a dual pilot, but mainly fly helicopters. This is a video everyone should watch in the beginning of their flight hours/seat time. GOOD INFO, stay safe out there.

[@Norm100ful]

Thanks for this video. I’ve not ever flown around helicopters. These examples have taught me that rotor wash lingers longer than ever I thought. Definitely increasing my distance way more than three rotors widths.

[@jaxonboys3366]

As a retired pilot of large helicopters I can tell you that the vortices created by a nelicopter can remain for much longer than that of a landing fixed wing or jet wash. Especially down wind from the helicopter as in both videos. Badically the helicopter is generating numerous "small cyclones" that only grow larger and retain their velocity as they move downwind. I always made every effort possible to remain downwind of other aircraft. When doing hover work I would attempt to do this well away from the very approach end of the active. Thank you for this video, I am sure that it will save many pilots from possible disister as well as remind rotor wing pilots to be aware.

[@ED99LAM]

Thanks for bringing this out because I was not aware of helicopter to fix wing aircraft turbulence danger and require distance separation. Only aware large plane turbulence before this video. Thanks very much.👍

[@twistedfingersproject]

I've actually had a non-military UH-1 fly directly over me in a Cessna 150 sitting at the runway threshold preparing to take off. Prior to taking the runway, I visually verified that no aircraft was on approach to the runway (conditions were clear), then announced that I would be taking the runway for departure over the unicom. I never visually saw nor heard (over unicom) that the UH-1 was on approach and/or even in the airport area. He just came out of nowhere. I moved into position-hold and was about to throttle up when the Cessna was buffeted by heavy air turbulence as the UH-1 flew directly overhead from behind at about 150 feet at 50-75 knots, proceeded down the runway center-line for about 1500-2000 feet. The UH-1 pilot never responded to my angry protest over the radio and just kept going. I can only assume that his approach to the runway was off the final approach lane just above the treeline (which is out of visual view). I can certainly state that the rotor down-wash was pretty severe. I had no clue what was happening until I saw the belly of the UH-1 in the windshield as he flew over and departed the airport. It was almost like getting into a rain shaft at altitude. I was so pissed off that I returned to the FBO and called it a day.

[@A.J.1656]

One time I was flying in the pattern at night. Some part-timers showed up in a C-130, joined the incorrect pattern and were not talking on the CTAF. Luckily, I saw their NAV lights abeam us and after I couldn't hail them on the CTAF, I tried the UNICOM and found them over there. I scolded them for joining the incorrect pattern and using the incorrect frequency so they pouted and left. lol

[@kurules3072]

Thank you for this. I’m a FW med Evac pilot based with RW. Nowhere in my training was this ever mentioned about rotor wash and distance. I will send all of our line pilots this video

[@geekinatx8176]

When I was a student pilot at Davis-Monthan AFB, I was with my flight instructor whom was an F4 pilot and at thr time a current A-10 instructor. We took off after a C-130 took off and we had probably waited at least 3 min after the controller advised we take off at own discretion following wake turbulence. Well, we still got caught in the wake vortices...had it not been for his years of experience, I would not be here! Je banked almost 90, but he still managed to recover. Scariest experience I have ever experienced in my now 800 hours of aviation! Thank you Dean Dodson for saving our lives!

[@tommysmith7232]

Watched about five videos of yours. My long-term goal is to become a pilot. I’ve learned so much in those last five videos. You’re very very informative and I appreciate you. I’ve learned a lot already. I’ll continue to watch your channel and I hope I can learn enough to fill in those gaps. Thank you.

[@Road_Dawg]

I work for a private fire-fighting helicopter company that operates S-61 helicopters and it never ceases to amaze me how many private pilots in their little Cessnas will taxi right up next to us on the ramp area and park without even tying down. When the helicopter gets a fire mission and suddenly has to leave, things can go sideways....literally.

[@Stoobz]

I love all your videos man, I'm getting ready to go to flight school, and this may sound weird because you talk about mistakes, but you also talk about how to fix them,,,, it has honestly made feel more confident in going! Thank you so much for your work

[@iansampson2492]

So much here....I spoke with an old friend not long ago who I had not been in touch with for years...Hes out in CA...He told me he was 50 hours into his private license and was flying a Cirrus G6 Turbo....Lots of thoughts ...but I held my tongue...I did tell him that he should go and get 25 hours in a tail dragger....I'm a 5000 hour private pilot with mostly tail dragger...I soleod in my Dads C140 which I still have....

[@danpiraino]

That Cirrus held up beautifully & most definitely saved a life.

[@rogertrett406]

I think a lot of people will be extremely surprised by these two examples so it’s good that you’ve highlighted them.

[@btiller44]

I am considering starting up flying again to finish my private, and I used to fly at an airport that had very little helicopter traffic. Now, they have a lot of it both military and civilian. I'm so glad I watched this video before starting back up. Thanks

[@johncgibson4720]

Wow this is one of the best episodes of this channel in relevance to regular people private pilots / nonprofessional watching youtube.

[@rocroc]

Man, this is an excellent video. I would say everyone intending to fly should see this video. It also highlights how dangerous a smaller craft like a rotor plane could be. If you cut shot on a landing, a plane landing behind you could run into some unexpected turbulence.

[@darrenbell3534]

I learnt to fly on an airfield with many mixed types. I had no idea that the wake turbulence from a heavy helicopter was so powerful or persistent. Thanks for the video.

[@scarybaldguy]

A few weeks ago I was about to depart behind a flight of USMC helos and an incoming CH-53. Thanks to you and a few other channels, I knew to stay put, engine off, with the yoke firmly in hand and brakes set. The other bugsmashers on the transient ramp, nobody onboard and control locks not installed, got their control surfaces banged around. During my PPL training, you know how often rotor wash was mentioned? NEVER.

[@ztublackstaff]

Thank you so much for your very insightful vids, as a new student pilot I find each clip brings my understanding of real world situations which I could find myself, and your explanations and critical thinking will hopefully help me avoid making the same mistakes.

[@michaelalphin]

You need a job at the FAA my friend. It's people like you that can help make the difference and change that is needed certain areas. Appreciate the videos!

[@tehKap0w]

2014? The FAA has spent more effort trying to get me to register my drone than they've spent trying to save actual air crew from rotor wash.

[@bobmazone4440]

Thank You for this incredible "Debrief", very informative and safety wise. At our local airport KDEW a little bit of Military practice and a lot of Fire Fighting Black Hawk Helicopters some Chinook Helicopters, and three to five Air Tractor Fire Bosses every summer. Your Debrief 's are true Life and Plane savers.

[@mattcero1]

I flew '53's in the Navy while at sea. We laid down quite a wake and were classified as "Heavy" in the wake turbulence category just behind "Jumbo".

[@davidkavanagh189]

Absolutely crazy stuff. I have to admit, during my PPL and later PIC flying, I never once considered rotor wake and I'm fairly sure I never heard it mentioned by either and instructor or an ATSU/Tower

[@lisakienholz9828]

This is a major concern for me as a small vintage aircraft owner. I friend of mine was fueling his C170 when a helicopter flew over and wreck his plane. At this point I tend to avoid airports with helicopter activity but that is not a long term solution. Better guidance from the FAA would be appreciated.

[@ga1205]

I have to say that this was never mentioned in fixed-wing PPL training. I learned about it from another pilot much later as we were watching some helicopters and he said, in passing, "Those things will f**k you up."

[@rtbrtb_dutchy4183]

Thank you for another great video. After 3 decades of flying, but not having flown a single engine prop (or any prop) since the late 1990’s, due to your videos, I’ve gotten an itch to join some kinda flying club and get back into this kind of flying. Thank you for that. However, my wife isn’t too happy with that idea. 😂😂

[@jameswillis3848]

Fascinating stuff, I've learned something new today. you've really got to imagine an invisible wake (like on a sailing boat) behind these things and stay out of its way.

[@bertg.6056]

An outstanding presentation, Hoover. I recall when I was in pilot training I landed behind a UH-1, and the descent felt like I was sliding down concrete steps on my butt. I was lucky and landed successfully.

[@aktraining3747]

Good lesson, thanks for advising us how to stay safe.

[@blave549]

I am a (lapsed) instrument-rated fixed wing pilot with a commercial heli ticket. I had no idea that a UH-60 could generate that much wake turbulence. Thanks for the vid!

[@F1fan007]

Life saving info! I listen to LiveATC for one of our local airports when my son is flying and heard the controller caution the pilots inbound and on the ground about a Chinook that was taking off. I had no idea how much separation there should be until your video, but I was hoping that all the aircraft were keeping tons of distance from the Chinook. Those things have a massive rotor wash with a max gross weight of 50,000 lbs.

[@Eremon1]

I'm not a pilot, but I've been in a bush plane with my uncle a bunch when I was a kid. I'm at least a little bit aware of some of the forces acting on a plane in particular situations. I had no idea the rotor wash of a helicopter could be so disruptive for so long. Interesting to learn. Cheers.

[@robb1165]

Some pilots don't know that a Blackhawk is over 14,000 lbs. So it is a fairly large aircraft and would have a decent wake just because of the weight, then add in the rotor wash. It's like being in a hurricane standing under one.

[@rayf9194]

That's an eye opener, 40 years flying fixed wing and I was never taught about the dangers of vortices from helicopters, in fact the airport where I usually fly from does helicopter training and I have never had an issue, maybe just lucky!

[@kristamorisen2669]

I didn't learn this until I started studying for my AGI. Thank you for increasing my knowledge on this. Sadly, I don't think this is taught by CFIs during initial training. However, it could be they don't know either.

[@BU_IDo]

This was very informative. I assumed initially that the helicopter's turbulence would have dissipated within that 30 seconds. I was surprised to hear he crashed because of blade turbulence and then I remembered as a kid sitting in my dad's rowboat and how I would observe the vortices from his paddling lingering in the distance behind us.

[@libertine5606]

As a pilot of 40 years I just learned something! Thanks!

[@sunstrafer4167]

I was on final once with a helicopter hovering right next to the touchdown zone. I elected to go-around and the tower controller seemed genuinely surprised we didn't land. There doesn't seem to be enough awareness and guidance from the FAA. Thanks for the video!

[@farmboycharlie6543]

Great video been in aviation since the Wright Brothers and there's a significant shortage of rotor wash training or chat out there for us old timers

[@sparkplugpeggy4910]

I always learn stuff when I watch your videos. just when i think I'm starting to get the gist of all this flying stuff I find there is yet another level of complexity, more variables

[@maleeshapriyanjana7604]

You have emerged a good topic and we rarely come across these kind of accidents.

[@andreasbacher2695]

Thank you so much for this extremeky important advice! I simply did not know this! We all have learned about wake turbulence separation minima behind other aircraft (all those distance and time matrices with wake turbulence classes ....), however, nowheree any suggestions have been made to helicopter time and distance keepng!

[@greglarson1982]

Very eye opening to me, I know the hazard of wake turbulence, and rotor wash but the effects on the T-34 at distance was very surprising! This is a great advisory I hope it gets lots of views

[@XRP747E]

That was an excellent video. Despite many years of flight experience and working near helicopters in fire fighting roles, I had never been aware of any warnings related to helicopter downwash. Mind you, it was about half a century ago. Maybe the FAA mindset is still in that era, too!

[@Wingless_Oracle]

Thanks a lot for this. The first time someone has ever pointed this risk out to me. It was definitely not part of my flight training (ppl under easa).

[@gapster46]

The only time I remember being in the pattern with a helicopter was going into PDX. If you are coming in from the south, they take you right over the tower then you turn downwind for runway 28R over the river. As I approached the river, tower advised me of a helicopter at same altitude. I almost became a nervous wreck as I never saw the helicopter and had no idea how close we were. I just had to trust the tower that we had safe separation. Rotor wash is no joke. Great video.

[@ThomasTroesch-c4t]

Great topic. Never heard about this in training. Or anywhere else. Thank you.

[@nancykaufmann3993]

Hoover, I hope you will cover the fatal crash of the 6ABC Action News chopper yesterday. We in the Philadelphia area are devastated as the Action News team is like family to us. Thank you so much.

[@dr_jaymz]

Under ideal conditions rotor vortices can persist for a very very long time many minutes. Its very difficult to predict. Helicopters operate around our airport all over the place, they produce large vortices when hover taxiing which can drift across runways some time later. No amount of education is going to stop people getting caught out by it.

[@danhair3959]

Talk about great timing for this video to show up for me on here. I just read in the Pilot's handbook of aeronautical knowledge about the vortex's created by rotor blades and air craft wings and this further hits it home about the dangers and distance one should take to fly safely.

[@chrismaley339]

I saw this happen twice in one day in Marion, IN. During the annual labor day fly-in, rides were being given in a Huey. I observed pilots on short final right behind the Huey. Fortunately they both avoided catastrophe but not by much. One, a C182 was about 60-75 degrees from horizontal, 30 feet above the runway. For both pilots, I'm sure it was a lesson they will never forget. I know it's not necessary but it would be helpful if the pilot of the Huey just reminded everyone of the wake turbulence for those light planes lined up on final.

[@andersoncroydon5281]

Thank you from a student pilot who's close to first solo. So far, there's been no discussion in my training of helicopter separation. What'd we do without KZbin!?

[@danharrodian]

Had a similar to the last example flying a 172. A Jet Ranger cut into the circuit on final when I was downwind in the circuit. I extended my downwind. However, when I was over the threshold prior to landing at about 50 feet the right wing dropped. Immediately I banged in full opposite rudder and got wings level with a heard landing. Those two decisions saved me from turning over into the runway like your last example. Now I give inconsiderate helicopters a very wide berth.

[@RPSchonherr]

When I was a student we used KLEE often and they had a helicopter school there. One day while practicing there a Robinson was using the cross runway while I was getting ready for takeoff on 13. My instructor told me to wait 2 minutes after the copter crossed my runway because of the turbulence.