Settling With Power

Settling with power can be a dangerous condition that any pilot may face, and if he or she is not on their toes, it may cause a serious uncontrollable situation. Settling with power is basically when the helicopter settles into the rotor wash produced by its own main rotor system. It requires 3 key elements to occur, and these conditions should be avoided in combination with one another.

These are: A near zero airspeed, up to 100% power applied, and a better than 300 foot per minute rate of descent. Once you have all of these situations in occurrence, the aircraft will settle in its own down wash from the rotor system. The only way to recover is to gain forward airspeed and allow the rotor system to fly into "Clean air". Once the rotor system is clear of the rotor-wash, it will become efficient again, and the settling with power conditions will cease to exist.

This can become a real problem at an out of ground effect hover (Above 10 feet from the ground), and during landings.

'Settling With Power' or 'Settling in your own downwash' is a dangerous situation that any rotary wing machine can experience. The term "Vortex Ring State" is used to describe the actual swirling of the air within the rotor system itself that causes "Settling With Power". Vortex Ring State can begin to occur when you have 300 Feet per minute (FPM) as a rate of descent. Pilots need to be aware of the situation and avoid it at all costs.