Death before Altitude!

[Gyronaut]

I thought I would share this with the other enthusiasts on here.

As Gyro pilots, most of us suffer from "Death before Altitude" syndrome. I am one of them... I find my sphincter muscle involuntarily contracting at anything over 1 500' agl. If I am not just above the highest pylon I get scared.

So today, two of my students, Patrick and Kobus (and me in the backseat with Patrick) flew in formation from 390' AMSL to 11 500' to get rid of the syndrome as part of their training syllabus. Man did we have fun! Cape Town approach was most accommodating and allowed us to climb in the TMA and even the BIG TIN guys were accommodating in relaying messages when we lost comms temporarily. I could hear the controller think "yeah right, pull the other one" when he said "say again the flight level requested...?" and "Say again your aircraft type?"

It was hot when we took off, we calculated the lapse rate and knew it would be cold up there... but man oh man, even a sheep-skin jacket didn't prepare me for the + -7 degrees sitting in an open gyro! It was cold, it was exhillirating and it was wonderful! What an experience. Took us about 45minutes to get there and another 45minutes to get back down.

What a blast! Well done to Patrick and Kobus for some excellent flying as students just approaching their flight tests.
(See, the ATC guys are there to help us, not to humiliate us and police us)

Remember, altitude is nothing, it is your friend... its just the length of the scream that differs

Len

[saraf]

Jy kry my nie so hoog nie al betaal jy my

[Ou Man]

So???? do you think it helped you out on your problem?
I get the same spasm over 1500 . Every now and then I force myself to go higher with the idea to get "use to it" .
But oh my .......the next time round I make so many excuses why I don't need to go there " it is to expensive, it takes to long, I can see better whats goeing on on the ground etc. etc
I dread the day that ATC instructs me to "clime FL 40" or that the weather might force me to go there.
Any help out there?

[Gyronaut]

Nee, Ou Man, ek knyp nog steeds

What this exercise does do though is make students aware that in the event that they have to climb that high, for example to get over a standing wave over mountains or reach preferential winds, its ok and it can be done safely. While doing this they have to consider factors such as the risk of over revving an engine with a fixed-pitch prop and the effect of indicated airspeed as opposed to true air speed etc.

The reality is that in the event of an emergency you have much more time so altitude is truly your friend. Catastrophic airframe failure will kill you as dead from 500' agl as from 11500'.

I still prefer being between 500' and 1500' AGL for sure. Interestingly, fixed-wing pilots automatically fly much higher than heli or gyro pilots. Jabi430 (Paul) was a classic example. On a long dual cross country I had to keep asking him to fly lower because I was getting scared (which he found quite amusing). Before long he was scud-running and commented that now he also disliked flying high.

My instructor, Ralph, always said... "You'll have enough time to fly amongst the angels when you are dead"

Ebie, ek doen dit bloot ter wille van my studente se ondervindingvlak en soos jy weet betaal dit maar swak. Ons vlie mos want ons kan en wil

[FLYNOTE]

Goeie moer len !!! I remember flying my Baron from Cape Town to Lanseria at night and how very 'funny' those engines started to sound over the dark Karoo. But nothing , absolutely nothing beats the weird phenomenon that starts happening the moment your open gyro reaches 4000 ft AMSL. You find that The fibreglass pod suddely starts to shrink. And your gyro gets smaller and smaller inside untill you are convinced that you are going to fall out at any moment. You do not , I repeat , you do not look down ! Only straight ahead at the distant horizon and you do not under any circumstances attempt this feat without a fresh set of underwear waiting for you in your kitbag back at the hangar. And then as you decend ,the inside of the pod for some weird reason starts to extend again.
Well done Patrick. So when is Len taking the back seat in the "Falcon " ?
(11500 !Hel maar dis hoog ...)

[Low Level]

Death BY altitude - that is what I will call this.

You will kill me by pushing me to this heights.

You find that The fibreglass pod suddely starts to shrink. And your gyro gets smaller and smaller inside untill you are convinced that you are going to fall out at any moment.

Daar is nie 'n meer raak beskrywing nie. Steep turn at 500 feet - no problem. Straight and level( is there such a thing above 2000' AGL) - dan wil ek uitval. Snaakse geluide wat daai demmin airframe nou maak, en my rotor skud verskriklik bokant 1500' - anyway my gyro se service ceiling - irrespective of ground level.

11 500' - no way Jose

[FO Gyro]

What has helped me combat this fear of heights in an open cockpit is to do some steep turns at high altitude. This has helped prove to my fickle mind that I will not fall out, and that the machine doesn't really behave any differently at a slightly higher altitude.

From a psychological point of view, it does help to expose oneself to the "fear" as many times as possible, and through a process of desensitisation, one will gradually become more accustomed to flying high.

The steep turn thing really has helped me. Try it out...

[brigg]

Well done guys that is bravery at its best! Please advise what Gyro you were in and what power setting you had for the climb and indicated air speed. One day when i get old i may be brave enough!

[THI]

Good experience!

Maybe I should do this when I do my conversion...

[Low Level]

As julle my so hoog wil vat, en steep turns laat doen, vat ek vir Riekie Louw saam.

[bryan]

Guys
What should I comment when I sit on an open " bicycle frame " regularly at 4000ft and above . I fly an Aquilla trike !!!!!!! No bodywork and a thin seatbelt at the waist . Try doing steep turns like that . For some unknown reason left hand turns steeply do tend to frighten me slightly.
Regards
Bryan
ZU BFR

[gertcoetzee]

Yes, nothing beats a bit of altitude for a great view. This one at Aurora @ around 5000ft above, see the little spot on the mountain - the radar dome.

[Tumbleweed]

Or climbing from near a warm Clarens over the Drakensberg to an icy Katse Dam at 11500ft, via Champaigne Castle before shooting over the ridge to drop a coupla 1000ft to a hot Dragon Peaks for a lekker breakfast.

[Gyronaut]

Did it again today with another student, almost ready for his flight test.
At 10 500' we decided to turn back since neither of us could feel our fingers - even with gloves on. Snow so far below makes it WOES colder up there I tell you!

Shrinking the pics to upload here is a mission so I put them on Facebook. Sorry.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6 ... =719543746

Rgds

Len

[THI]

Nice pics! One way of keeping the beers cold