The walkaround

Before you touch it

The walkaround starts with the paperwork: open defects, inspections and airworthiness directives due, and the last flight's report — an exceedance recorded yesterday is today's problem.

Then stand back and look at the whole aircraft. Does it sit level on its skids? Is there fluid on the ground underneath? Are the blades tied down, the covers on, anything parked too close? A first look from a distance catches what close-up inspection walks straight past.

Sources 1, 2

Nose and cabin

• Windscreen and chin windows — cracks and crazing; the chin windows are how you see the ground in a hover and on a long line.
• Pitot and static ports — covers off, openings clear. A blocked pitot gives an airspeed you will believe.
• Doors — hinges, latches and any jettison mechanism.
• Cabin — loose items secured, belts fastened on empty seats, and the floor-mounted levers (next card) where they should be and free of anything that could catch them.

Sources 1, 3

Down each side

• Skids and cross tubes — cracks, bends and the attachment fittings. Damaged gear changes how the aircraft behaves on touchdown, including its resistance to ground resonance.
• Cargo hook, if fitted — security, and that it opens and closes as it should.
• Baggage hold doors — closed and latched, contents secured.
• Fuel filler cap — secure. A loose cap can siphon fuel.
• Antennas, lights and access panels — present, secure, undamaged.

Sources 1, 5

The engine bay

Open the engine cowlings and look for what shouldn't be there: fuel or oil wetness, chafed lines, loose connections, signs of heat. Check the engine oil level — the engine has its own oil system, separate from the gearbox.

Look into the intake for debris, birds' nests and anything left behind, and at the exhaust for cracks. A turbine ingests whatever is in front of it.

Every cowling you open is a cowling you must close and latch. Make that part of the zone, not something to come back to.

Sources 1, 5

The deck and the head

On the transmission deck: oil levels in the sight glasses, signs of leaks, the hydraulic reservoir, the servos and their attachments, the swashplate and pitch links, and the main gearbox mounting.

Why these: the servos and pitch links are the only path from your hands to the blades, and the gearbox mounting carries the whole aircraft in flight. There is no second path for either.

Sources 1, 6

On the rotor head

On the head: the Starflex star, the spherical bearings and frequency adapters, the sleeves and the blade roots. Look for anything that differs between the three — the odd one out is usually the fault.

The elastomers are what you're there for: cracks, bulging, separation from the metal, and any deposit that looks like the rubber is breaking down. Their condition is what keeps ground resonance away.

From the ground, sight along each blade for damage and look at the leading-edge strips. Trim tabs are a maintenance setting — look, never touch.

Sources 1, 6, 7

The tail

Along the boom: skin damage, the drive shaft covers and bearings, the fin and horizontal stabiliser, and the tail skid.

A dented or scraped tail skid means the tail has been on the ground hard or nose-high — and the tail rotor may have been close behind it. Treat it as a clue, not a cosmetic item.

Sources 1, 5

Tail gearbox and tail rotor

Check the tail gearbox oil level and look for leaks. Then the tail rotor: both blades for nicks, cracks and erosion, the hub, the pitch-change mechanism and its links.

The tail rotor is the part most likely to have been hit by something on the ground — a cart, a cone, a careless hand — and the part whose failure is hardest to fly. It sits at head height for some people and out of sight for the pilot. Check it every time.

Sources 1, 5

Pilot item or maintenance item

The pilot's job is to look, judge whether the aircraft is fit to fly, and report. Assessing damage against limits — elastomer condition, blade damage, cracks, a leak rate — and signing the aircraft back into service is maintenance's job.

The line is simple in practice: if you find something and you're not certain it's within limits, it's a maintenance call. Write it up, even if it turns out to be nothing. The next pilot reads the same log.

Sources 1, 8