If there is one thing that I learnt from the backwards bicycle experiment

Is that knowledge is not understanding

So a couple of years ago when I made the YouTube series about helicopter physics

I gained the knowledge of how they worked, but not really the understanding

so today on Smarter Every Day I'm going to try hover a helicopter

I've heard its the hardest thing you can do, specifically the Robinson 22

because it's a pure helicopter, there is no augmentation

So today on Smarter Every Day, we're going to learn what goes into doing that

and what her brain is doing

It's really quite incredible

Let's go get Smarter Every Day

I'm going to be straight up with you

I'm convinced that helicopter instructor pilots are either complete idiots, or incredibly brave

I mean think about it

They get into a helicopter with someone they've never met

and give them the controls

(Destin) This is my first rotary - (Brandon) crash course

No! I don't want to take a crash course

Notice that the controls are actually connected together

which means if I do something stupid

Brandon has to wrestle the controls out of my hand

Or just trust that I'm going to let go

That's crazy

Anyway, watch how bad I fly every single time he gives me the controls -

- and you can easily tell when he takes back over

(Brandon) Almost got it, there you go Pedal to your heading

(Brandon) laughs (Destin) crap

(Destin) So I'm going to try that, we're going to taxi down (Brandon)Yep

(Brandon) So you have the controls (Destin) I have the controls

(Destin) okay you got it - laughs

(Brandon) Alright so you have the cyclic, alright just try to hold this in this spot

(Destin) Alright (Brandon) Alright lets get us back over to that left...

(Destin) Good grief man

(Destin) Alright you're going to have to take over

(Destin) You got it? (Brandon) Yep I got it

(Brandon) A little forward

(Destin) My bad

(Destin) Jeez...Whoop, let's don't hit that sign I say

(ATC Chatter) Destin and Brandon laugh

(Destin) Yep you have the craziest job in the world

(Brandon) Yep, it has it's ups and downs

(Brandon) Most...(laughs)...that's an awful joke

(Destin) So there is a moment when it clicks? (Brandon) Yeah

(Destin) How long does it normally take? (Brandon) 6 - 8 hours

Destin laughs (Destin) How long is it going to take me?

(Brandon) 6 - 8 months Destin and Brandon laugh

My next instructor was Tommy We went in the R44 because the R22 was down for maintenance

I started to watch how they teach

And I noticed if I was starting to do something stupid their hands would get closer to the controls

- and when I was doing something easy, like flying straight and level, then they get more relaxed

Anyway, instructors call this part, when we're learning how to hover, the 'rodeo'

One of the best things that Tommy did for me was to teach me how to chill out

The thing I was doing was called a:

I was basically freaking out and over controlling, which made the whole aircraft wobble

Once I chilled, I was able to stabilise

Tommy got this to click in my brain by first teaching me how delicately to operate the controls

- and then showing me how two controls interact with each other

(Tommy) If you've moved the control, you've moved too much

(Destin) If you've moved the control... (Tommy) Do you see what I'm saying though? (Destin) Yeah

(Tommy) It's that whole thought process of it all

(Tommy) Alright, using the left pedal and only left pedal again, point me at that tree over there

(Destin) It's like...not even...a thought

(Tommy)Right! There you go, so something just clicked in your brain I can tell (Destin) Okay

(Destin) Okay, I have collective, I have pedals, I'm going to try point at the stop sign -

- I'm going to raise and I'm going to keep pointing at the stop sign (Tommy) Oh yeah, look something else just clicked

(Destin) So why do you have to move multiple controls to do one simple maneuver?

Turns out, THIS is the secret of hovering a helicopter

Okay, you've seen Rubik's cube solvers right? These guys that like have it stored somewhere in their brain stem

- and they can look at it and just instantly understand what they need to do right, to solve the thing

Well that's exactly what helicopter pilots are doing because if you think about it

- every time you change something, on a Rubik's cube, multiple inputs are changing all over the thing

It's a whole system, that's the way helicopters work

You have to come up with the most efficient and effective solution instantly to arrive at that perfect solution right of the bat

That's something you have to get in muscle memory somehow

Okay there are three main controls for a helicopter The first one is what we call: collective

Collective is your power that you are applying to the rotor system

Basically the swash-plate moves together and it rotates those rotor blades so that they're taking more or less of a bite out of the air

Now if you think about that, when you do that it applies more torque or less torque to the body of the helicopter right

So you have to counter-act that with the pedals

When she moves the pedals back and forth, that, of course, gives you more or less counter-torque on the body of the whole aircraft

Another thing that you need to think about is that tail-rotor is blowing air, so it's pushing the whole helicopter to the side, right

- so the way you counteract that is what? Cyclic

Cyclic is similar to collective in that it moves the rotors in the swash-plate, only it does it independently

You can see that it is changing the swash-plate so that the rotors are moving independently of each other

What she has to do, is she has to take all three of these inputs, make them work together

Now imagine that happening several times a second, and you have kind of an idea of what's going on in Michelle's brain. Right?

(Destin) No? (Michelle) This takes way more brain power (Destin laughs)

Alright the next flight is with Michelle, who happens to be really sassy

When we got into the R22, she says "just so you know I'm a little bit more hands off"

Which basically meant if I got into a pilot induced oscillation she was going to make me recover

(Destin) Am I doing this or are you doing this?...Okay, thank you (Michelle laughs)

I kind of didn't believe her though until she let me take off this horribly

(Destin)Golly (Michelle laughing) That's one way to do it (Destin laughing) You're awful

(Destin) So you ARE hands off (Michelle) And we're off (Destin laughs)

She basically forced me to straighten up by taking away my safety net, but I had gotten better really fast

(Michelle) I thought you said you sucked at this? (Destin) Ah, I do suck at this (Michelle) Eh, looks good to me

(Michelle) Alright you have the control (Destin) So, first I'm going to take off, so that's the first thing you have to do?

(Destin) I'm teaching you how to do this now right (Michelle laughs) I appreciate that

(Michelle) Perfect, there you go

(Destin) Alright...so there we are...we're hovering

(Michelle) We are hovering (Destin) Poorly, but we are hovering (Michelle) It's happening

(Destin) I want to try land over there (Michelle) Okay

(Destin) And act like I know what I'm doing, even though I dont

(Michelle) I believe in you (Destin) Okay, here we go

(Destin) I'm looking outside, looking outside, looking outside, looking outside

- I'm starting to commit, starting to commit, starting to commit, and we're down

(Destin) AH

(Michelle) I appreciate you teaching me that (Destin laughs)

(Destin) Oh okay, I want to hold this...BOOM

(Michelle) Very nicely done

Okay so Brandon was crazy enough to start with me, and I decided to end with him so I could assess my progess

By this point I could take off, navigate to where-ever he wanted me, shoot an approach and even land

But remember, my goal was to be able to hover, and do it well

Brandon had a test for that

(Brandon) There is this stick over here, I want to see if you can land on it

(Destin) Oh you want me to land with the skids ON that stick?

(Brandon) Am I on it? (Destin) Yeah you are!

(Brandon) I can't even... (Destin) You're on it!...Impressive!

(Brandon) I want to see you put it down on that same spot

(Destin) Okay, is this like the test? If I can do this, then I... (Brandon) You go solo right

(Destin) Dude! We're touching the stick (Brandon laughs)

(Destin) BOOM! Touching the stick (Brandon laughs)

(Destin) I'm very excited

(Destin) That's a big deal to me (Brandon) Yeah, that's actually really good

- it just helps teach you precision

So there you go, hovering a helicopter is hilariously hard

I thought it was up for up, down for down, left and right

Oh no, it's a complex coupled control system and you have to rewire your brain to make it happen It's pretty awesome

Anyway, thank you to the cities of St. Petersburg and Clearwater, Florida

They invited me down and sponsored this video to let me do this, it was amazing

I got to hover a helicopter, while my kids were playing on the beach below That's amazing

Also there is plenty of other stuff you can do

They didn't tell me how to promote them so I'm just going to tell you what we did

We went to the Chihuly museum, which is one of the most famous glass artists in the world

There's a museum down there Also the Salvador Dali museum

You know the guy, melting clocks, burning giraffes There is a huge museum of nothing but awesome art

Also there's an MC Escher traveling exhibit when we were there

We got to meet Winter the Dolphin, you've heard of this dolphin

The dolphin that's missing its tail and they're working with it

We had a blast

If you are looking for a place to take a vacation please consider the St.Pete Clearwater Florida area

It's a great place just to go chill on the beach

If you get a chance, visit St. Pete Clearwater

Please consider it, I'll leave a link in the video description

Ah, thank you for sponsoring this, I appreciate that

Anyway, I'm Destin, you're getting Smarter Every Day, have a good one

(Destin) So you don't think hovering is like that?...well you're already messing it up I can tell you that right now

(Destin) Are you going to be a fixed wing instructor? (Brandon) No, I have no desire to be a fixed wing instructor

(Destin) Why is that? (Brandon) I don't like flying airplanes

- think about it...can you do this right here in an airplane?

(Destin) No

(Brandon) Alright then

We're here with Winter, the dolphin, at Clearwater Marine Aquarium and her trainers

- and your names are? Cammy...and Julie

Alright and this is Winter's prosthetic tail

So this is were I practiced some helicopter maneuvers

And this is the Dali museum

(Destin) But you can do that with a helicopter quickly

(Destin and Michelle laugh)