Robinson R22: Lesson 25 "Slope Landings" (Full Lesson)

In this lesson I learn how to land and take off from slopes. The biggest risk here is even the slightest tilt on the rotor disk will cause lateral force on the helicopter. When coupled with a pivot point (such as a stuck skid), this can lead to dynamic rollover.
Dynamic rollover is where the helicopter rolls beyond the point where full opposite cyclic will save you and the vehicle destroys itself. As such, this is one of the more dangerous lessons students can undertake.
When approaching a sloped LZ, it is best to do so at a 45 degree angle to best gauge the degree of slope as it is hard to judge
The safest slope landing is side-on with the pilot side uphill. This is because disembarking/boarding passengers moving around the downhill side of the helicopter are less likely to contact the main rotor. The helicopter is also already in a left skid low condition when hovering, so the landing process is easier.
The procedure is as follows:
Maintain a steady hover over the landing spot. Slowly lower altitude until the uphill part of the skids contact the slope. Continue to fly the helicopter.
Slowly lower the collective while keeping the rotor disk level with the horizon. Do not allow the helicopter to slide. In practice, this is done by lowering the collective and pushing the cyclic ‘into’ the hill. So for example, a nose-in landing, the cyclic is pushed forwards or for a right-side up landing, it is pushed right. Once the downhill part of the skids contact the ground, maintain the cyclic level with the horizon and increase the weight on the skids. Once landed, raise collective slightly and wobble the cyclic to test ground stability. Return all controls to neutral when satisfied. The rotor disk will be level with the hill when this is done.
To abort a slope landing, say if cyclic range of movement runs out before the skids are flat on the hill, the pilot should lead with cyclic away from the hill and raise power to prevent any sliding on the surface which may snag the skids.
Embarking or disembarking passengers should be instructed to walk directly to or from the helicopter along the hill, rather than uphill or downhill from the helicopter. This is the safest route as moving uphill poses the risk of rotor strike and downhill is the danger zone in the event the helicopter slides or needs to take off. The pilot should instruct passengers to disembark directly towards an easily identifiable landmark and not deviate until they are outside the rotor disk. The passengers should embark or disembark in full view of the pilot, so this will change depending on whether the helicopter is orientated left, right or nose up hill.
Takeoff is the reverse of landing, only now the pilot should observe any changes in weight and balance due to passengers embarking or disembarking. Start by levelling the rotor disk with the true horizon then slowly raise collective. As the body of the helicopter tilts up to hang under the rotor, the cyclic must be pulled back towards typical hover position to keep the rotor disk level with the horizon which will keep the helicopter stationary. Pause once the helicopter is balancing on the uphill portion of the skids then raise collective to bring yourself into a 1 inch hover. If skids are clear, continue up into a standard hover and pull away from the slope in one motion. All movement should be slow in order to check for stuck skids.
To abort a slope takeoff, say if a skid is stuck, the pilot should lower collective while keeping the rotor disk level with the horizon. This is similar to any dynamic rollover event; always lower power as increasing collective will only increase the moment of rotation around the stuck skid, accelerating the rollover.
Landing left skid uphill requires the most amount of cyclic movement as the helicopter will naturally hang left skid low. The procedure is the same. Note that due to the setup of the rotor disk (tilted relative to the body of the helicopter to prevent lateral drift due to the tail rotor) mast bumping is more likely to occur with extreme right cyclic movement than left.

[@masonsanders1101]

Yep!