Anti-Shake Technology

There's a story I have heard more than once about training helicopter pilots to hover. Hovering in an unstable device like a helicopter is comparable in its technical challenge to balancing an umbrella standing up on your outstretched open hand. If a trainee has difficulty getting this necessary step, the instructor may offer to switch on the hover-stabilization control system, which has a large toggle on the central panel. This usually results immediately in a smooth, controlled hover for landing or taxiing. After a while, the trainee finds that he no longer needs this aid. The switch, of course, is connected only to the landing light.

Posted by: SCOTT KIRKPATRICK