Starting maneuver by assuming negative translational lift
~ wind is calm
~ helicopter is not in translational lift at a hover
~ power setting will normally be very high
~ takeoff can be initiated by lowering nose slightly (a couple degrees)
~ a very slow acceleration should take place, with skids still basically level with respect to the ground
~ some altitude will normally be lost as the front vortex is overrun by the rotor system
~ collective should not normally be raised
~ if the pilot is patient and uses good technique, translational lift will be achieved before the helicopter touches down
~ there should be no problem if the helicopter does touch down assuming a normal surface, because the skids are level
~ during this acceleration, anti-torque pedals should be manipulated such that the skids remain alighned with the ground track
~ this insures that a touchdown onto the landing gear will not result in a rollover
~ as helicopter accelerates into translational lift, an aggressive lowering of the nose with cyclic will be required to avoid initiating a climb
~ also, as tail rotor goes through it's own effective translational lift, anti-torque thrust will increase greatly,
~ and pilot will have to make a pedal adjustment to maintain his skids aligned with ground track

Starting maneuver by assuming effective translational lift at a hover
~ wind is strong enough that the helicopter is in effective translational lift at a hover
~ power setting will be quite low
~ pilot will want to increase power as he lowers the nose to begin the takeoff
~ power should be brought up to a normal power setting for takeoff
~ skids should be maintained alighned with the ground track using pedals
~ nose will be lowered more than for the previous case,
~ since translational lift is providing an excess of vertical lift,
~ and we still want to avoid begining the climb too early

The rest of the maneuver
~ helicopter is accelerating well past effective translational lift
~ the trick is to prevent an early climb
~ before the flight, examine the manufacturers H/V curve in the performance section of the pilot handbook
~ there will be an airspeed at which you can start gaining altitude without entering the shaded areas of the HV curve
~ this should be your target airspeed on a normal takeoff
~ you can choose to accelerate to a faster airspeed, as long as you don't hit the high speed shaded section of the H/V curve
~ aso, it usually does not make sense to accelerate much past the minimum sink airspeed
~ while helicopter is accelerating from low airspeed to high airspeed,
~ transverse flow effect will require lateral cyclic adjustment
~ at very low airspeed the cyclic will have to move to the left,
~ and then as airspeed is gained the cyclic will move back to the right again
~ ss you encounter the target airspeed, bring the nose up until the helicopter is in an attitude
~ that will eventually result in the target climbout airspeed
~ holding the nose down until the airspeed indicator reads the target airspeed will almost always result in an airspeed overshoot
~ by rotating to the target attitude, the helicopter will slowly gain airspeed until it stabalizes at the desired airspeed
~ as the helicopter begins to climb out, trim the aircraft into the wind with the anti-torque pedals
~ continue the climb out until you reach your desired altitude

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