learning to fly a helicopter

i know NOTHING about helicopters. but generally the thought of flying them interests me. what is involved with getting into it? and are helicopters generally a safe form of travel?

 

Remember: helicopters don't fly; they just beat the air into submission.

 

they are very complex machines that need to do a lot to fly, thing with helicopters is they take a huge amount of money to fly, they are absolute maintainance hogs ( in a good way , they need a lot attention ), lots of moving parts that work hard at what they do.
Their complexity drives up operating costs, review the depth of the budget vs costs. There are less complex helicopters with lower operating costs. Helicopters are fun and useful, but make airplane ownership like being in the cheap seats.

 

Go to your local airport and take a lesson.

Safe? It depends.

Travel? Across town yes. To the beach? Hell no. Soo slow. Too much gas.

 

Yes, not especially practical, but a huge amount of fun!

 

big pile of money.
go get your fixed wing first then add the rotary wing to that. not necessarily cheaper but at least the radio work,navigation,far's etc you would already know and can concentrate more on the helicopter flying and have a tad bit more air sense built up.

 

I did 3 lessons here in Atlanta - and then stopped (My dad got pretty sick so been doing family things).

I was learning on a Robinson R44... which to me was pretty easy to actually fly ( I have about 120 Hours in fixed wing VFR flying - 20 + years ago)....Hovering - that takes some skill and lots of practice.

Ground effect - which kind of helps you when you flare in fixed wing becomes an entirley different propostion in a helo...

the Robinson to me was easy to fly once out of ground effect. take off & hover... tricky. I did a couple of takeoffs and landings, but really needed my instructor to help with hover... there is a LOT going on pedals, collective, cyclic all going at the same time.

Its kind of like a coordianted turn in fixed wing - all the time. the easiest part is to actually fly and talk to control... takeoff and final & landing ... massive concentration.

Frankly I just never got comfortable handling the chopper in ground effect - granted not much practice - 6 hours... but in fixed wing - you dont really get the flying backwards thing ( not normally ) hovering you are doing those adjustments all the time and it takes a lot of sensitivity to master it. My instructor just did it naturally- but he was a German Army Chopper pilot with 1000's of hours in the cockpit.

 

I just started my heli lessons a few weeks ago (Enstron F-28; rents for $305/hr wet, instructor $40/hr) and am having a blast. I go my fixed wing license 20 yrs ago but stopped flying once kids and bills got in the way. I always wanted to get back into it but I realized that , since I dont fly for business ,doing the $100 hamburger run every weekend would get old fast. IMO planes get boring unless you've really got somewhere to go which I dont. So I turned to helis- max range is only a few hundred miles so it fit my mission profile perfectly, that is, burning holes in the sky on sunny days for fun. Helis are a different animal and much harder to master than planes but that much more gratifying once you figure it out. Your first hour you'll never believe you'll ever be able to fly the thing yourself but with a little time it starts to become second nature. I strongly encourage you to take a into flight and see what you thin.- my guess is you'll be hooked like I was.

 

For what it's worth, I know a helicopter pilot who says his experience flying R/C heli's made learning to hover the real thing easy.

Dave

 

The only thing about an RC chopper is you are not in it when you make a mistake!

My longest hover was for about 2 min... before wind and or input make it go out of hover and you have to be FAST to catch it....

 

i'll look into both fixed wing and heli lessons. it looks like either way i am 10-20k into it. and its not like i could ever afford a helicopter.

i guess i just always thought that helicopters seemed more interesting. i've always wanted to fly in a huey, little bird, or cobra. but obviosuly that is no longer an option. guess i'll have to settle for a more "domesticated" form of travel

 

I love helicopters. I took a wild lesson once which included a small peak landing followed by a low-level "ski run" down the slope.

You should at least give it a try and see how you like it.

Also: A helicopter is a collection of components trying to fling themselves apart.

Also: Helicopters are for people who want to fly, but don't want to go anywhere.

 

thats what i want to do.

 

Heli private has same requirements as fixed wing, as far as hours, ground school, etc.

If the flight school is upfront they will tell you that most people need 50 to 60
hours of flight time before they get their rating.

Expect to pay $250 to $350 per hour, with instructor, depending on what you train
in - R-22, Enstrom F-28, Schweizer 300/ Hughes 269.

Bottom line will be $12k to $20k depending on aircraft and actual hours.

 

Agreed. That's why I want one. But when I'm done, I can hop in my airplane and fly to the islands. I wouldn't get only a helicopter license. I'd get frustrated. 90% of my flying happiness comes from going somewhere.

 

whirlys make nice dinghys...

 

Even moreso if you use one of these to control the RC heli I imagine:
http://www.heli-chair.com/index.html

I hope to someday get my fixed-wing license, but realized early on piloting a helicopter just wasn't in the cards.
But, for <$150 I can still have lots of fun flying a little one around the backyard:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6poprOq2wk[/ame]

Jerry Wilson, inventor of the SoloFlex and experienced pilot of numerous aircraft, had a blast zipping around in his Mosquito ultra lightweight chopper, until last April....
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfqclk0awAk[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL48WyO7JwQ[/ame]

 

Even if you you do not buy a helicopter or get your cert it will teach about proper pedal control.

I learned to fly in a Bell 206B-3 Jet range and have about 800 hours in rotors. As has been mentioned, very costly to learn, lots of PM, and they do not go fast or far until you have a "high end" copter. (I have myIFR and commercial rotor with heavy endorsement)

They are are a blast to go sight seeing and for short trips.

Let me know if you hvae any specific questions.

 

is it normal to learn in such a large helicopter? also, how big of an issue is weight. I am currently just under 270lbs and noticed a few local places make you fly in the much more expensive r44 instead of the more affordable r22. i'll probably never be able to spend the $20k for the license any time soon so maybe ill just take a tour for now and maybe an intro class or two.

i see a lot of people that say that you cant go fast or far until you go "high end". i'm wondering what that actually means. What is the general cost for a "first" helicopter? something where you take off, fly around a bit, and land in the same place. and what is the normal range. 100 miles? 300 miles?

 

size of helicopter directly equates to cost...

the larger, the more complex it becomes, the more power it requires, the more fuel is consumed, the more expense

there is no advantage in learning basics in a larger more complex helicopter

don't know the reason for using a R44 vs R22, most likely the answer is in the specs centering on gross weights and available power for extra margins for safety

flying fixed wing aircraft is expensive, flying helicopters is even more. Getting a basic licence requires a lot of resources. The learning does not stop with the basics, it only allows one train further and gain proficiency. One must look beyond a basic licence, most rentals require time beyond getting licenced. The regulations also have requirements for staying current... a licence "expires" if not kept current, then there are the recurring medical exams to maintain flight status. You mention your weight... hypertension and certain medications can ground one and prevent flying. You need to review your medical situation. In order to qualify for student licence, one must also pass the medical. The "all in" financial commitment is considerable and on going.

Helicopters are very limited in their speed. It's about the physics of what they are. A good working number for most higher end helicopter speed is to use 100-120 KTAS. ( yes, there are some that can go faster, but most are slower ) Their slow speed, limited fuel capacity, and high maitainance expense keeps them being used for their original design profile of verticle lift with out runway.

 

I learned to flight rotors in the Military so a 206 is "small" helicopter for the military equal to a OH-58A/C model. internal combustion engine and turbine are very different. I do not know if the R22 or 44 has a FEDEC engine control or at least a governor on the engine... ie. do not have to twisit the throttle every time you touich the collective or cyclic.

As for weight the weight and balance will tell if you can fly SAFELY in a R22 with an instructor and enough fuel to do anything. even a Bell 206 is limited to 85 knots above a certain power setting. The eurocopter is a much better light weight copter.

For helicopter the range is not a normal measure. The measure is normal fuel burn. This is because you hover, fly slow, fast, high, low etc. They all have a different fuel burn. a 206 can fly for about 2 hours depending on what you are doing so somewhere between 125 to 200 nauticle mile range. The costs are very different for every frame as fuel is only one part mainenance is a lot bigger part on a copter than a plane. you have many TBO parts (Time between overhaul) that MUST be replaced on a schedule whether they look bad or not. Even Blades, couplings etc. are TBO items.

Look at at least $250 an hour for a piston driven and much more for a turbine per hour. Even then you still have your requirements to fly every so often fromt he same rental company to maintain currency for insurance reasons (usually 1 to 2 hours every 90 days with 3 take offs and lands durring the day and the same for night flight) otherwise you have to go up with an instructor and get signed off again! (it can get expensive fast)

Helicopters are lots of fun and much more fun the airplanes, but it does cost much more. If you have the money go for it, otherwise take a few tries at it, but go for the fixed wing cert.

 

thanks for the info. i'm working on my health, but besides being overweight i have relatively good checkups. blood pressure is good and overall health is not bad. plus im running 3x a week and losing weight regularly. it looks like there is a lot involved. i definitely wont have the funds to continue keeping my stuff current at a few thousand dollars per year, so i guess this will have to hold off.

i guess ill start off with a tour. i just dont want to take one around NYC. ill find one in NJ

 

What part of Jersey are you from. I am from Northern Jersey. There are lots of Airports to choose from. If you like the tour I would take a lesson or two if they allow it without your medical (class III) which runs about $100-$180 depending on where you are.

 

im from Northern NJ as well. Near ringwood. do you have a recommended place to check out.

 

I started going for a career as a helicopter pilot over half a year ago, and I'm loving it! I'm at about 65 hours right now, and it's getting to be a lot of work. They're definitely a lot more of a handful than a plane, but that's what makes them more fun