NCHF Ground School — One-Pager
Area IV · Hovering Maneuvers · print-friendly
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Quick-reference memory items — carry this to the cockpit.
One-Pager — Area IV Hovering Maneuvers (Lessons 14–15)
The hover (Lesson 14)
Collective
= power/height ·
Cyclic
= position over ground ·
Pedals
= heading. Move one, you disturb the others.
Look
well ahead
; make small, anticipatory corrections; learn one control at a time, then combine.
Ground effect:
within ~1 rotor diameter, an IGE hover needs
less power
than OGE. Plan for OGE/high-DA limits.
Taxi types (Lesson 15)
Hover taxi (IGE):
in ground effect, slow, < ~25 ft AGL — short moves; high fuel burn, strong downwash.
Air taxi (OGE):
out of ground effect, ~
40 ft AGL
(AIM ceiling 100 ft), may exceed ~20 kt — greater distances; avoid overflying others.
Surface/ground taxi:
on the surface via taxiways (wheel-equipped) — least fuel & downwash.
Choose by distance, surface, traffic, and density altitude; request/accept with correct phraseology.
Risk & performance
Dynamic rollover
lives near the ground: keep level & drift-free; if a skid-pivot begins,
smoothly lower collective
.
Before air-taxiing, clear the path
and
the downwash footprint — no overflight of people, vehicles, or parked aircraft.
Air taxi is low/slow flight near OGE limits — hot/high or downwind segments can exceed power available.
✍️ Your aircraft (N-________) — fill in & confirm with your CFI
Key limit / speed:
Key limit / speed:
R44 POH section:
Look these up in your R44 POH and confirm with your CFI before flight — leave blank until verified.