PLT341: Power Settling Characteristics
What code PLT341 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Power Settling Characteristics before your checkride.
Recall power settling - characteristics
What this means for your checkride
Power settling is the older name for vortex ring state, a condition in which the helicopter is in a vertical descent with roughly 20 percent up to maximum power applied yet has little or no climb performance because it settles into its own downwash. The recirculating air greatly enlarges the tip vortices so most of the engine power is wasted circulating air in a doughnut pattern around the rotor. A fully developed vortex ring state brings uncommanded pitch and roll oscillations, little collective authority, and a descent rate that can approach 6,000 feet per minute. It requires a vertical descent of at least about 300 feet per minute, some engine power in use, and horizontal speed below effective translational lift.
Pilots must recognize the characteristic signs and the conditions that produce this hazard to avoid or recover from it.
The term settling-with-power suggests a lack of power, but the condition occurs with power applied; the problem is descending into disturbed air, not insufficient power.
Where to study it
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.