Fixed to rotor wing transition...

[Stone Cold]

I'm sure there are many of us fixed wing guys/gals looking at this forum and wondering, so I'll get the ball rolling with it's own thread.

I've done some research a few years back and seem to remember it wasn't too many hours to go from fixed to rotor, but the cost was very expensive.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the requirements for the transition are as follows:

PVT helo add-on:

-40 hours TT, 20 hours dual, 10 hours solo (no requirement for 40 TT in helos, that I see).

-3 hours x-country flight training in helos

-3 hours night training in helos with 1 x-country over 50 NM and 10 t/o, landings to full stop

-3 hours prep for the practical

-10 hours helo solo, with 3 hours being x-country and 1 x-country being 75 NM, etc., 3 landings being at an airport with control tower.

Total price I remember to be around $10K

COMM helo add-on:

-150 TT, 100 hours powered flight, 50 in helos

-100 hours PIC, 35 in helos, 10 hours x-country in helos

-20 hours of training in helos, including 10 hours of instrument training

-1 x-country of at least 2 hours day VFR over 50 NM

-1 x-country of at least 2 hours night VFR over 50 NM

-3 hours prep time for practical

-10 hours solo in helos, with 1 x-country over 50 NM, 5 hours night VFR with 10 t/o, landings

Feel free to add to it if I missed anything. Also, what prices should we expect to see out of this training

Thanks for any info

TX

 

[scottyboy75]

Sounds about right. You have to look at SFAR 73 part 61 also. The R-22 runs about $225- 260 an hour. Most of the insturment ships are R-44s which run about $450 an hour. There is no stipulation that the inst time has to be in rotors for the comm.

 

[UH60driver]

Bummer!
I had my commercial MEL before I went to helicopter flight school and the Army made me go through the entire training. Soooooo unfair

 

[VicariousLiving]

I'm sure there are many of us fixed wing guys/gals looking at this forum and wondering, so I'll get the ball rolling with it's own thread.

I've done some research a few years back and seem to remember it wasn't too many hours to go from fixed to rotor, but the cost was very expensive.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the requirements for the transition are as follows:

PVT helo add-on:

-40 hours TT, 20 hours dual, 10 hours solo (no requirement for 40 TT in helos, that I see).

-3 hours x-country flight training in helos

-3 hours night training in helos with 1 x-country over 50 NM and 10 t/o, landings to full stop

-3 hours prep for the practical

-10 hours helo solo, with 3 hours being x-country and 1 x-country being 75 NM, etc., 3 landings being at an airport with control tower.

Read 61.109(c) paying particular attention to the phrases "flight training" versus "flight training in a helicopter" and "solo flight time" versus "solo flight time in a helicopter". The absolute minimum hours required to add HEL to an existing PVT ASEL certificate is 19 hours in a helicopter.

 

[scottyboy75]

Heres the catch most flight schools have R-22s. The SFAR requires 20 hrs of dual before recieving the solo endorsement. According to the FAA you could get by with 19 hrs, if you do not fly a Robbie. 92% of schools of schools fly them. Also I have talked to the owner of a school that flys 300 CBi and his insurance won't cover students to solo without 20- 25 hrs of dual.

 

[Airdale]

Ha, I knew there was a thread about this already. I was going to start a new one but figured I'd search first.

I might have an opportunity to fly helo's for the Coast Guard, hence my cool avater which by the way, I shot that photo from the deck of a 47' MLB (Yeah I was a Coastie-enlisted). Anyway, being that I have 400TT fixed wing, Commercial license and my CFI's, they (the CG) told me that more then likely I'd be transitioned into a C-130 Herc. Now that is cool, but honestly, I think I'd rather fly the Helo's in the Guard. If I can get my Commercial Helo license, I might have a good shot to fly whistling sh*tcans - aka HH-65 Dolphins. My favorite in the Guard actually.

Think its worth a shot? How hard would the transition be and cost wise on average what would it be? If I could get accepted into the CG's OCS Aviator program, there's a chance I could get helicopter school anyway, but having the helo license might give me a better edge.

I always said the only thing I would do besides fly for the airlines, is fly a rescue chopper for the Coast Guard.

 

[Low_Level_Hell]

txpilot,

Realistically you'll quite a bit more time. It takes an average student at least 6-10 hours in a helicopter to learn how not to kill himself in it and at least 15 hours to even be considered for being able to take it out solo. Unless you're Jake Preston, you'll have to plan for at least another 20 or so hours for the rating. Of course this is only my experience with learning to fly choppers in the army where we are all mildly retarded.

I had my Multi-Comm fixed wing before I started Army flight school. Didn't help an increadible amount except for instruments and innitially knowing how to make radio calls and what a traffic pattern was. In truth I had a lot of negative habit transfers, such as applying pedal in the direction of the turn, you don't want to do that in a helicopter.

Best of Luck!

 

[UH60driver]

txpilot,

In truth I had a lot of negative habit transfers, such as applying pedal in the direction of the turn, you don't want to do that in a helicopter.

Best of Luck!

Why not? That's the whole point of it being a helicopter. Slow the aircraft, apply pedal in the direction of the turn (basically a skid), complete the turn and fly out. You'll do that when making tight patterns into an LZ. Just make sure you don't exceed any limitations such as torque and abrupt pedal inputs.

What you're referring to is descending turns to the left and climbing turns to the right. You lower the collective and apply right pedal on a left turn and you raise the collective and apply left pedal on a right turn.

You want to make all turns coordinated (ball centered) but, if in a tight pattern, pedal turns (skids) are fine as long as you don't exceed limitations. The type of aircraft might have something to do with it as well.

L.S.

 

[Airdale]

I flew a helicopter a few times on flight sim. I did pretty good getting the thing around and figured out how to hover, but then all of a sudden I screwed up and did something weird and the helicopter twirled and spun out of control. Nothing I did stopped it. It was almost like the fuselage was spinning around the rotor instead of the rotor spinning around the fuselage. Does that make sense? Whats that all about?

 

[scottyboy75]

If it was a FlyIt sim, Check your airspeed and make sure it is trim. Those sims do not hover well. Don't know why but you can't pedal turn them.

 

[Low_Level_Hell]

What you're referring to is descending turns to the left and climbing turns to the right. You lower the collective and apply right pedal on a left turn and you raise the collective and apply left pedal on a right turn.

L.S.

Yes, that what I was refering too. Learning to fly the -67 At the stagefields I always got out of trim on turning from downwind to base, it took a while to learn that the pedals are called anti-tourqe pedals for a reason.