Each helicopter pilot learns gas administration, however someplace alongside the best way, the self-discipline of monitoring time in flight has began to fade.
We’re speaking about one thing easy — urgent the timer at engine begin, noting your burn fee, and holding monitor each 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes. It’s old-school, sure. But it surely’s additionally saved lives.
In in the present day’s episode, Kenny Keller revisits a lesson too many trendy pilots are forgetting — one which’s nonetheless costing check-rides, and within the worst circumstances, costing pilots their lives.
What Occurred to the Clock?
Years in the past, each teacher drilled the behavior into their college students:
“Oil stress up? Timer on.”
That straightforward routine taught pilots to suppose forward, plan diversions, and calculate gas with confidence.
However over the previous few years, Kenny’s seen an increasing number of college students — even commercial-level pilots — displaying as much as their Closing Strategy Course with out this behavior. Some rely solely on digital gas gauges or iPad estimates. Others admit they’ve by no means been taught to begin a timer in any respect.
It’s not only a missed step. It’s a harmful one.
15-30-45-60 — The Math That Nonetheless Works
Kenny’s longtime DPE, Gerry Ventrella, has mentioned it for years:
“The diversion is the place most pilots bust their check-rides.”
Why? As a result of with out energetic time monitoring, gas math turns into guesswork.
By checking at 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes, a pilot is aware of precisely how a lot gas has burned, what’s remaining, and whether or not the diversion nonetheless is smart. It’s not difficult math — nevertheless it’s essential consciousness.
When the timer isn’t began, your complete system breaks down.
When Pilots Cease Timing, They Begin Failing
Throughout current check-ride preps, Kenny has observed a transparent pattern: The extra reliant a pilot turns into on automation, the extra their consciousness fades.
Gas exhaustion and hunger stay among the many main causes of helicopter accidents every year. Working out of gas isn’t only a mistake — it’s preventable tragedy. And it begins with one thing as small as forgetting to begin a timer.
Previous-College Habits That Nonetheless Save Lives
Some habits aren’t outdated — they’re timeless.
That’s why at H.O.G.S., we educate college students to return to fundamentals. Begin the timer. Monitor your burn. Examine your math. Don’t let the simplicity idiot you — that’s what retains you sharp, conscious, and protected.
As a result of on the finish of the day, expertise can fail, gauges can glitch, and gas doesn’t forgive errors.
End Robust with the Closing Strategy Course
In case you’re working towards your subsequent ranking and need to make sure that your coaching, procedures, and check-ride habits are strong, our Closing Strategy Course is constructed to get you there.
📍 Now reserving for October. 👉 Go to FinalApproachCourse.com or e mail [email protected] to order your spot.
