ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Ever been in a Helicopter?

No, I haven't. The wife works at our state fair and the State highway patrol keeps offering to take her up in theirs,they do all it for all of the dept supv., and she won't go. I keep telling her to tell them that if you give my husband 10 minutes he can be here and he will go in my place. It hasn't happened yet though.

I fly as a passenger about once a year for work often at altitudes with landing pads at over 8000 feet. To take off some days you hover about a foot off the ground and float towards a cliff or other major drop off which the pilot dives off of to create a cushion of air to lift the copter.

The worst experience I have had with one of these was living through a migraine headache during one of these trips. Otherwise, copter rides are about like riding an escalator but with a much better view.

Shane

I have travelled in a few as part of the job – which is a good thing as I could never afford to do it privately! I remember well one time flying low over high ground at speed and passing over the very high cliffs at the end of the plateau. Fantastic feeling as the earth just disappeared below you. The pilot of many years flying looked at me and said that sort of thing still gave him a thrill.

That said, climbing in and out of them with rotors running can be a bit scary. BTW Trumpy which way round is a Kiwi helicopter. Australian and US pilots sit on opposite sides and the disk rotates in an opposite direction likewise.

However, just in case you think you may want to travel in something with the inherent aerodynamics of a brick, check out this thread on PPRUNE

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=19766&referrerid=30158

Hutch,
Pilot sits on the left side, over here.
Behind the steering wheel, the clutch, brake and accelerator pedals!.
Ever wondered why taking a helicopter flight costs so much?, it's not because of silly things like Av-Gas and Machine Maintenance, it's because the Pilot is trying to pay back the 5 mortgages on his house, that he used to pay the Tuition fees to get him where he is today!.

You learn something new every day: I never realized that helicopters came in left- and right-hand drive versions!

Paul,
Yeah mate,
It's one of the few vehicles that I have been in, where the Drive train goes through the roof!.
But I have flown the odd BK-117 Turbine Helicopter, just trying it out for Rescue purposes and they are a lot easier to handle than a standard 4-blade chopper.
All up Guys, it cost me NZ$54,000 to sit my Rotary Wing Pilots licence to Commercial Pilots Rank + Instrument Rating and Night Rating.
I enjoy flying and I like each and every person that I have conveyed in the chopper that I fly most weekends.
BTW, Tips are not expected over here, either!.

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 08-30-2003).]

We get to fly in the Maryland State Police helicopters once a year. They require a yearly recert that allows us to hoist down to victims or on a fire if we were needed. The pilots only go 2-300 feet up and then lower us from about 100 feet. The view sure is good when there is no door to get in the way.

I wish I could see how it feels to go 200 mph in the helicopter, but don't want to become a patient to find out. They use these for flying patients to the trauma centers.

Are they still around? Those are cool looking. They resemble a big bug with one eye.

What's the deal with the helicopters with the two big rotors (one at each end) -- they look like a big bus...with two egg beaters on the ends.

I remember as a child my grandmother once took me to a hill overlooking a small base where they kept and landed helicopters..but these were all the "standard" one big rotor type.

Who remembers "Airwolf"? That was an awesome TV show!!

My squad and I got shuttled around some in the Army in Hueys. The seats in the back were arranged four to a side facing the large side doors which were usually removed. When the chopper banked we were looking down at the ground, being held in our seats by centrifigal force. We wore seat belts also. Most of the flights were nap of the earth, and we would practically brush the tree tops. It was exciting, but sometimes I couldn't help but wonder and hope the pilots were good, experienced, and well rested. There was little room for error at low altitude.

AC,
I've flown a Huey, when I first got my ratings as a Fully Qualified Pilot.
Darned thing was ex-military and was stripped down to the bare minimum.
Taking off was OK, but, you want to try and land one of them bad-boys on a un-even bit of ground.
BTW, we still use the Iraqiuos(sp?)Military helicopter here, I have flown one of these too, never again, for a Gas Turbine Helicopter, the ride was a shocker, it was worse than the Huey! and that wasn't the
best.
My Helicopter of choice is the BK-117 (a Composite Chopper that is made by a German company and a Japanese company), hugely expensive, but a joy to fly!!.
I can fly one of these machines sideways, as in the rotor perpendicular to the ground!.
Us chopper pilots are an intrepid bunch.