First Helicopter Flight

PhilosopherPilot

Well-Known Member
I took my first flight in a helicopter yesterday, and it was awesome. It was not as hard as I thought it would be to hover. Don't get me wrong, it was a challenge for sure, and the instructor did have to recover me several times, but for some reason I thought it would be impossible to coordinate so many different controls at the same time.

The instructor said that it is relatively simple to get the commercial add-on, with as few hours as 50. I thought for some reason that I would have to start from scratch! Did anyone else out there do the add-on? What sort of maneuvers are required on the check ride?

Thanks,

G
 
Yeah and flying an airplane is just like driving a car.

a little sarcasm because I doubt very much that at any one time you actually were in full controll of the cyclic, collective and anti torque pedals all at the same time. You probably were with an excellent instuctor who allowed you to feel as though you were controlling the machine and thereby bitten by the hover bug, it is a feeling unlike (almost) anything out there.

You can find the required manuevers in the PTS. I am curious if you are considering purseing helicopters as a hobby or a possible career.

I have been "out" of helicopters for over 1.5 yrs. now and am somewhat missing it. I talked to a local operator the other day and I might start doing a little Helicopter work on weekends.

Good Luck with it, you will really enjoy it.
 
Wow, I've got 20 hours in Helicopters and still can't hover the things
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. Who'd you go with? Was it Horizon Helicopters out of North Delaware?
 
Well, at first I wasn't, but he did take his hands off and put them in his lap at the end. As I said, he did have to recover me from time to time. I didn't mean to make it sound simple. I just figured it would be impossible, thats all.

G
 
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Wow, I've got 20 hours in Helicopters and still can't hover the things
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. Who'd you go with? Was it Horizon Helicopters out of North Delaware?

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To call it hovering is very generous. I think it looked more like one of those paddle balls, bouncing around in every direction possible. My point was just that I think that I could get the hang of it after a while.

To answer your question about the place, I am at my parents home in South Carolina right now, so it was at MG Aviation in Greenville, SC

G
 
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To call it hovering is very generous. I think it looked more like one of those paddle balls, bouncing around in every direction possible. My point was just that I think that I could get the hang of it after a while.

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When I "learned" how to fly helicopters I learned in the UH-1 Huey at Ft. Rucker, AL. We would go to the stage fields and would occupy one corner. They called it the WOC (Warrant Officer Candidate) Rodeo because we had those Hueys bucking and a rolling. Earth, sky, earth, sky, grass, sky, other huey, earth, sky. I'm sure my recolections are a little more vivid than the reality the instructor saw. The day I found the hover button was like the day I rode a two wheeler for the first time. since then you just don't think about it.
 
That sounds like a lot of fun. I was very glad I had nothing within 500 yards to hit. I was concerned about the tail rotor. I had no "feel" of how close it was to the ground. Hover button...missed that one. LOL Maybe someday.
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Take care,

G
 
Congrats on the helicopoter flight. I tried 3 hours in a HELO, but for some reason helicopters scare me. I quit after we went over the local lake and did an autorotation over a local lake, and man I was scared to death. I told him to hold off on the next lesson and then called him the week after telling him I was just going to quit and that I appreciated his instruction skills. I'll tell you one thing though. A fixed wing aircraft is a little easier to control and a lot less stressful than flying a HELO...Or at least thats my opinion.
 
[quoteTo call it hovering is very generous. I think it looked more like one of those paddle balls, bouncing around in every direction possible. My point was just that I think that I could get the hang of it after a while.



G

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Haha yeah my first couple tries I used up all 5,000' of runway in like 10 minutes.
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