ANAC Commercial Pilot Helicopter (PCH) cheat sheet

RBAC 91 governs general operating and flight rules; RBAC 135 governs commercial air transport operations with helicopters; RBAC 61 covers licences and ratings including the commercial pilot helicopter licence (PCH).

VFR meteorological minima in uncontrolled airspace below 900 m: minimum flight visibility and cloud clearance per RBAC 91; in controlled airspace the minima are generally higher and clearance from cloud is mandatory.

Commercial operations require an operator certificate (COA) and operations specifications; a pilot may not carry passengers for hire without the aircraft and operator being approved for the operation.

Fuel reserve for VFR day flight: enough to fly to the destination plus a defined additional time (commonly 20-30 minutes depending on category); night or IFR reserves are greater.

Crew duty and rest limits are set by the operator's approved scheme; flight time, duty period, and rest minimums must be recorded and available for inspection.

Aircraft documents carried on board: registration certificate, airworthiness certificate, radio station licence, weight and balance record, and insurance evidence.

Pilot documents: valid licence with the correct class/type rating, valid medical certificate appropriate to the privileges exercised, and a current logbook.

Maintenance is controlled by an approved maintenance programme; the aircraft may not be dispatched with an expired airworthiness item or an unresolved deferred defect that affects safety.

Notification and reporting: accidents and serious incidents are reported to ANAC/CENIPA within the required timeframes; occurrences are recorded in the aircraft technical log.

Main rotor types: fully articulated (each blade has flapping, lead-lag, and pitch hinges), semi-rigid (two-blade teetering head with a single flapping hinge), and rigid (hingeless, using composite flexure elements).

Lead-lag (drag) hinges or elastomeric bearings accommodate Coriolis-driven in-plane blade motion; failure or degradation of dampers produces vibration and can cause ground resonance.

The swashplate converts non-rotating control inputs into rotating blade pitch changes: collective raises/lowers the whole swashplate, cyclic tilts it.

Tail rotor configurations: conventional single tail rotor, Fenestron (ducted fan), and NOTAR (no tail rotor, using circulation control and directed air).

Turboshaft engines deliver power through a free power turbine to the main transmission; the N1/Ng section is the gas generator, N2/Np is the power turbine and rotor drive.

Torque limits, T4/ITT limits, and N1/N2 limits are the primary engine protections; exceedance requires entry in the technical log and may require inspection.

The main transmission has a torque limit and a time-limited power rating (5-minute or 30-minute contingency power) that must not be exceeded outside the approved duration.

Freewheel unit (sprag clutch) allows the rotor to autorotate without driving the engine when engine power is lost or the engine is shut down.

Weight and balance: total weight = empty weight + crew + passengers + fuel (density × volume) + baggage/cargo; the centre of gravity must lie within the fore and aft limits for all phases of flight.

Moment = weight × arm; CG position = total moment ÷ total weight. Loading must be checked for takeoff, in-flight (fuel burn), and landing configurations.

Hover performance depends on density altitude, gross weight, and wind; use the hover ceiling in ground effect (HIGE) and out of ground effect (HOGE) charts.

Density altitude = pressure altitude + 120 × (OAT − ISA temperature at that level); high density altitude reduces both power available and rotor thrust.

Takeoff and landing performance charts account for headwind, tailwind, slope, and surface; a tailwind component degrades performance significantly and is often prohibited above a limit.

Maximum takeoff weight and maximum landing weight may differ; the limiting factor is usually hover performance out of ground effect at the destination.

Fuel planning must include taxi/hover, trip, reserve, and contingency fuel; fuel weight = volume × density (typically 0.72-0.80 kg/L for Jet A-1).

Load sheets must be verified before flight; a load shift in flight changes CG and can cause controllability problems, especially in forward CG (nose-heavy) conditions.

Hypoxia: at 3,000-4,000 m without supplemental oxygen, night vision degrades first, then cognitive performance; time of useful consciousness falls rapidly above 7,600 m.

Spatial disorientation is common in helicopters during hover, transition to forward flight, and inadvertent IMC; trust the instruments, not sensations.

Fatigue degrades reaction time, vigilance, and decision-making; cumulative sleep debt cannot be fully offset by caffeine or short rests.

Carbon monoxide from heater/exhaust leaks causes headache, dizziness, and confusion; suspect CO if symptoms improve with cabin ventilation.

Decompression sickness and trapped gas expansion (barotrauma) apply to unpressurised flights; avoid flying soon after diving per the applicable table.

Illusions: black hole approach (featureless terrain at night) causes a low approach; somatogravic illusion during acceleration mimics a nose-up attitude.

Stress and workload: high workload reduces scanning and error detection; use of checklists and standard calls reduces omission errors.

Vision: dark adaptation takes 20-30 minutes; scanning should use off-centre viewing at night, since the fovea is poor in low light.

Standard atmosphere: sea level 15 °C and 1013.25 hPa; temperature lapse rate 2 °C per 1,000 ft up to the tropopause; pressure lapse roughly 1 hPa per 30 ft near sea level.

QNH is the altimeter setting that makes the altimeter read elevation above mean sea level; QFE makes it read height above the reference point; QNE/standard is 1013.25 hPa.

Wind shear and microbursts: sudden changes in wind speed/direction with height; a microburst can produce a headwind-then-tailwind reversal and a downdraft exceeding helicopter climb capability.

Mountain waves and lee rotors produce severe turbulence and downdrafts on the lee side of ridges; avoid the lee side when wind is strong across the ridge.

Icing: carburettor icing can occur at outside temperatures between about −10 °C and +25 °C with high humidity; airframe icing requires the aircraft to be approved and equipped.

Thunderstorms: avoid by at least 20 nm; hail, lightning, and severe turbulence can extend well beyond the visible cloud; never fly under a cumulonimbus.

Fog and low stratus form when temperature reaches dewpoint (spread ≤ 2 °C) with light wind; radiation fog typically dissipates after sunrise.

METAR/TAF decode: wind direction/speed/gusts, visibility, present weather, cloud base and amount (FEW/SCT/BKN/OVC), temperature/dewpoint, QNH, and trend.

True course vs heading: heading = true course ± wind correction; magnetic heading = true heading ± magnetic variation (east is least, west is best).

Dead reckoning: distance = groundspeed × time; fuel required = hourly fuel flow × time, with reserve added separately.

VOR provides magnetic bearing from the station (radial); track guidance is affected by wind, so a wind correction angle is required to hold a radial.

GPS/RNAV: waypoint navigation with RAIM integrity monitoring; the pilot must confirm the database is current and the approach is approved for the aircraft.

Map reading: identify features by shape, size, and relative position; contour spacing indicates slope steepness; use time-distance checks to confirm position.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the wind circulates clockwise around a low and anticlockwise around a high; this affects drift and fuel planning.

1-in-60 rule: a 1° error over 60 nm produces 1 nm off track; use it to estimate correction angles for track errors.

Altimetry: flying from high pressure to low pressure without resetting the altimeter causes the true altitude to be lower than indicated - a terrain-clearance hazard.

Autorotation: lower collective immediately, maintain rotor RPM, establish 60-70 kt glide, select a landing area, flare at about 15-25 m, and cushion with collective at touchdown.

Confined-area operations: reconnoitre at altitude, assess wind, obstacles, and escape route; approach and depart into wind where possible, using a steep approach and vertical departure.

Hover and translational lift: effective translational lift occurs around 15-25 kt; below that, power required increases and hover out of ground effect may be impossible.

Slope landings: approach uphill/downhill with the rotor disc clear of the slope; the upslope side of the disc has less clearance and the downslope side more.

Dynamic rollover: caused by a pivot point (skid/wheel) and lateral force; lower collective immediately if a roll begins; avoid lateral drift during pickup/landing.

Emergency procedures: engine failure in hover - cushion with collective and land; engine failure in forward flight - enter autorotation; tail rotor failure - reduce power and maintain directional control.

Pre-flight and run-up: check controls full travel, rotor blade condition, fuel quantity and type, and instrument readings; confirm no unserviceabilities before departure.

Night operations: use of landing light, avoidance of black-hole approaches, and recognition that depth perception is degraded; maintain instrument reference during departure.

Bernoulli and Newton: lift is produced by pressure difference and by deflecting air downward; total rotor thrust acts perpendicular to the tip-path plane.

Induced flow and induced drag: induced drag decreases with airspeed, so total power required has a minimum at a specific airspeed (the power curve's low point).

Translational lift: at about 15-25 kt the rotor escapes its own downwash and efficiency increases sharply; this explains the power reduction in forward flight.

Dissymmetry of lift: advancing blade sees higher airspeed than retreating blade; flapping (or cyclic feathering) equalises lift across the disc.

Retreating blade stall: at high speed or high load, the retreating blade's low relative airspeed causes stall, producing vibration and pitch-up; recovery is to reduce collective and airspeed.

Autorotation aerodynamics: the rotor is driven by upward airflow; the inboard region is the driven region, the mid-span the driving region, and the tips the driven/stalled region.

Ground effect: near the surface, downwash is restricted and induced velocity drops, reducing power required; it is lost at roughly one rotor diameter above the surface.

Coriolis effect and coning: increasing collective increases coning, shortening the effective blade radius and requiring more power; lead-lag hinges absorb in-plane Coriolis forces.

Standard call sequence: station called, own call sign, position, altitude, and intentions; read back clearances and hold-short instructions.

Distress call: MAYDAY (three times), station addressed, call sign, nature of distress, position, altitude, and intentions; urgency call is PAN-PAN.

Phonetic alphabet: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie … Zulu; numbers are spoken digit by digit, with nine as 'niner' and decimal as 'decimal'.

Altitudes and flight levels: state altitude in feet with 'feet' or flight level with 'flight level'; pressure settings are given as QNH/QFE values.

Radio failure: squawk 7600, continue per the published procedures, and attempt contact on the last assigned frequency and the emergency frequency 121.5 MHz.

Transponder codes: 7700 emergency, 7600 radio failure, 7500 unlawful interference; standard VFR squawk as assigned by ATC.

Position reporting: report over compulsory reporting points with time, altitude, and next position and ETA; use the standard phraseology for clearances and read-back.

Frequency discipline: listen before transmitting, keep transmissions brief, and use the correct phraseology; do not use the emergency frequency for routine calls.