Summary of Robert Mason's Chickenhawk

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

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#1 I had dreams of flying as a child. In 1962, after two years of sketchy attendance at the University of Florida, I dropped out to travel around the country. In 1964, I applied to be a pilot candidate in the army.

#2 The flight program was nine months long. It began with one month of preflight training and four months of primary flight training at Fort Wolters, followed by four more months of advanced flight training at Fort Rucker, Alabama.

#3 I had to go before the board, which was made up of other officers, to be evaluated for flight school. I had failed the first week of preflight training, and my instructors said I wasn’t interested in participating seriously when I was selected to be the student company commander.

#4 I was called back to the office after the first round of preflight. The board’s decision to reinstate me had ruined the student-instructor ratio at the flight line. I was told to start preflight all over again with the next class.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669374640

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Insights on Robert Mason's Chickenhawk

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I had dreams of flying as a child. In 1962, after two years of sketchy attendance at the University of Florida, I dropped out to travel around the country. In 1964, I applied to be a pilot candidate in the army.

#2

The flight program was nine months long. It began with one month of preflight training and four months of primary flight training at Fort Wolters, followed by four more months of advanced flight training at Fort Rucker, Alabama.

#3

I had to go before the board, which was made up of other officers, to be evaluated for flight school. I had failed the first week of preflight training, and my instructors said I wasn’t interested in participating seriously when I was selected to be the student company commander.

#4

I was called back to the office after the first round of preflight. The board’s decision to reinstate me had ruined the student-instructor ratio at the flight line. I was told to start preflight all over again with the next class.

#5

I had spent many evenings in my room reviewing the flight controls and how I would have to move my hands and feet. I could hear the ground school’s aerodynamics instructor in my head. The names of the controls in a helicopter refer to their effect on the rotating wings and the tail rotor. The disk formed by the rotor blades is what really flies.

#6

The orientation instructor was a civilian who had been in the military. He was a cynical teacher, but he taught me how to control helicopters. I understood the theory of controlling helicopters, but I couldn’t keep the tree in front of us most of the time.

#7

The next control we tried was the cyclic grip, which was the top part of the stick that vibrated in agi. tated harmony with the shaking machine. It looked like it was moving a lot to me, but the IP said I didn’t move it much. The H-23 was famous for its excessive motion of its cyclic.

#8

The army taught us to fly the machine as if the engine would quit at any moment. We learned to react automatically when the power quit.

#9

In order to autorotate, you had to hold the collective where it was when the power was cut until the skids were six inches from the ground. In flight, you immediately pushed the collective down to neutralize the pitch angle. With the pitch flat, the rotors would continue spinning, providing lift.

#10

The instructor pilots were very strict, and they used bad grades to underline bad performance. They would shout over the intercom at every repeated mistake. One week before I was to take my primary check ride, Anderson cut the power as I cruised toward the stage field. I bottomed the