WARNING: Flight conditions causing vortex ring state should be avoided at which altitude because considerable altitude may be lost before recognition and recovery?

WARNING: Flight conditions causing vortex ring state should be avoided at which altitude because considerable altitude may be lost before recognition and recovery?

• A. High
• B. Low
• C. Mid
• D. Very high

Answer: (B)

Vortex Ring State occurs when the rotor is in its own downwash during a descent with low forward airspeed, causing the lift to collapse and the helicopter to descend more rapidly than you can control. The key danger is the amount of altitude you can lose before you recognize the problem and perform the corrective actions, and that window is smallest near the ground. If you are at a low altitude, you have little vertical room to recover before contacting terrain, so this condition is most dangerous there. At higher altitudes there’s more time and space to identify the situation and execute the needed maneuver to regain lift and climb.

Vortex Ring State occurs when the rotor is in its own downwash during a descent with low forward airspeed, causing the lift to collapse and the helicopter to descend more rapidly than you can control. The key danger is the amount of altitude you can lose before you recognize the problem and perform the corrective actions, and that window is smallest near the ground. If you are at a low altitude, you have little vertical room to recover before contacting terrain, so this condition is most dangerous there. At higher altitudes there’s more time and space to identify the situation and execute the needed maneuver to regain lift and climb.