Airplane To Helicopters

[NW_Pilot]

Any good books or videos on this subject? or should one just go and give it a try?

 

[JB Bus Drvr]

Before investing in any books, find a local school and get an intro flight. It may seem like you have two left feet and hands when you start, but once you get the hang of it, helicopter flying is unlike anything you've ever done before. It's actually the most fun you can have with your pants on!

 

[spudskier]

What's typical time for a commercial pilot (airplane) to get a rotocraft? One guy said 10 hours (obviously depending on the person/conditions)?

 

[YGBSM]

Before investing in any books, find a local school and get an intro flight. It may seem like you have two left feet and hands when you start, but once you get the hang of it, helicopter flying is unlike anything you've ever done before. It's actually the most fun you can have with your pants on!

Actually, it's pretty fun without pants too.

 

[sardaddy]

It does depend on the pilot but in all seriousness, it will take an airplane pilot a lot longer to learn to fly a helicopter than it takes a helicopter pilot to fly an airplane. Not that helicopter pilots are flying gods, well ok we are but besides that, it is just that there is a little more to think about when learning to fly a helicopter.

I have had to teach an airplane pilot to fly a helicopter and it was a bit of a challenge. He did fine. It took about 15 hours for him to settle down and get comfortable. I have also seen seasoned airplane pilots not make it through helicopter training. The hardest part is hovering, in the case of the student I trained it was still a challenge when he left the program but flying around wasn't too bad. Once we had forward motion in the aircraft it didn't take him too long to get the idea.

As for reading a book about it, go ahead but it won't help too much. You can get an understanding of what goes on but there is no substitute for the real thing.

There is an old saying that goes: give a helicopter pilot a 10 minute course on flying an airplane and on his first flight he will be able to do it. Give an airplane pilot a 100 hour course on how to fly a helicopter and on his first flight he will get in and crash it.

Again, it is only because a helicopter has a few more tricks it can throw at you than an airplane but once you get the hang of it you can do it without thinking which is a good thing for most of us.

 

[Rick1128]

What I have found out so far in my helicopter training is that you have to throw out much of what you learned to fly an airplane. Plus many things you were told to disregard in an airplane, you have to pay attention to in a helicopter. What is one of the biggest problems is when landing and your instructor is telling you to fly slower, HE!! I taxi faster than this!

 

[Fly2AK]

spudskier What's typical time for a commercial pilot (airplane) to get a rotocraft? O

The min time to get the Comm. RW is 55 hours. Look at the break down 150 hours total time in powered aircraft 50 hours of that in RW 100 hours PIC of which 35 hours has to be RW, in addition to this you have to have 20hours dual. So add the 35 to 20 and you get 55 hours minimum. You can get the private with a min of 30 hours RW. Like you said depends on the person.

 

[slackass]

I'm a regional airline Captain. Did my commericial add on and it cost me about $15,000 about 40 hours. Quantum helicopters in Chandler, AZ. Could have bought two 737 type ratings with that. All that being said I would do it all over again! All you do in airplanes is land and takeoff. You fly a helicopter! Whatever you would do in a fixed wing to get out of trouble will kill you in a helicopter. Lot of bad habits to break. Especially the sight picture on landing. I'd love to find a job where I could use both skills.

 

[Sim Sweat]

I'd love to find a job where I could use both skills.

I did, finally.

But what he says is true, sort of. I wouldn't necessarily say it quite that way, but fixed-wing pilots have to be particularly attentive in a helo ... certain fixed wing reactions have no place there.

Still, do it if you can. How cool is it to just say, what the h=ll, I think I'll land by that stream there and have lunch.

 

[Lostdog65]

Damn...I need to get me one of those whirly bird ratings!

Eric

 

[XBOEINGDRVR]

I did the helo thing after fix wing flying, and found the pay to be very low. It sure is fun and challenging.

 

[Spike from flyi]

I can think of very few things crazier than buying a helicopter rating. I cherish my helicopter time, and most of what's been written here by the RW guys is true, but you have to be one affluent, bored SOB to go out and spend that kind of money to get a rating where you won't be making any real money for a long time, and you're basically qualified to rent your own helicopter for astronomical prices in hopes of gaining enough experience for a job that makes flying for Johnny Ornstein look attractive. But if that's your dream, go for it. But as my instructor at Fort Rucker told me daily, "I give you a 'C' for planning and judgement."

 

[RichardRambone]

I did an intro flight in an R22 just to see what it was like and it was the most fun 0.5 hours I've yet to log. If I had sums of money to dump I'd definetely go get my private. 1 hour of ground, .5 helo= $250.

 

[Spike from flyi]

1 hour of ground, .5 helo= $250.

And that's for an aircraft powered by a Volkswagen Bug engine, driving a transmission by rubber bands and instrumented with a rotor tachometer and an oil pressure gauge.

 

[NorthShore]

Funny. Most of us try like hell to get OUT.

And he wants to get into a chopper.

Takes all kinds, huh?

 

[Lead Sled]

What I have found out so far in my helicopter training is that you have to throw out much of what you learned to fly an airplane. Plus many things you were told to disregard in an airplane, you have to pay attention to in a helicopter. What is one of the biggest problems is when landing and your instructor is telling you to fly slower, HE!! I taxi faster than this!

Rick1128...
Let us know if they are successful in teaching an old dog some new tricks. I've been toying around with the idea of getting the add-on - just for grins. (There's no way that I'd want to try and make a living in one of those whirley things.) What are you training in?

'Sled

 

[PilotoHalcon]

I have taught both FW and rotorcraft. I still maintain if you had 40 average students and 10 average instructors and split them in the middle, half in helos and the other half in FW and all will solo about the same time. One is not harder then the other, but they are different for sure. Yes hovering can be a handfull but that can be taught basically in 1-2 hours but the fixed wing will take much more prior planning in the decent to landing. Especially in the fast movers. I say have fun.They both have thier particular modes of flight where you need to be on top of your game no? Jerry

 

[nosehair]

One is not harder then the other, but they are different for sure. Yes hovering can be a handfull but that can be taught basically in 1-2 hours but the fixed wing will take much more prior planning in the decent to landing. Especially in the fast movers. I say have fun.They both have thier particular modes of flight where you need to be on top of your game no? Jerry

Yep, that's about it. Hovering a helicopter is the most difficult skill to get, but once that is accomplished, the helicopter is flown more in "present time", you don't have to be so far out ahead of the helicopter like you do an airplane.
Gettin' rushed on your approach?..just slow down...where's that darn checklist??...slow down...oh, there it is...ok, back up to speed...
Not to say you don't have to be on top of it and actually out in front of it, but you don't hafta always be way out front mentally turning base when you're on downwind, like you do in airplanes.

 

[AH64driver]

True nosehair, the hardest part about flying helicopters is hovering. Sometimes I find myself stepping on the rudder peddles in the jet when I shouldn't be. I love being dual rated. Buying a helicopter rating is VERY expensive NW Pilot but you'll be happy you got the rating.

 

[NuGuy]

And that's for an aircraft powered by a Volkswagen Bug engine, driving a transmission by rubber bands and instrumented with a rotor tachometer and an oil pressure gauge.

Hey,

Don't knock it too much...I got a type rating in one of those! I think I read somewhere it was the lowest gross weight type rating you could get.

Actually, the R-22 I did it in was nicely equipped. Slaved HSI with slaved compass card for the ADF with a peachy keen autothrottle (they called it a governor, but it was an early model that actually had a servo clutched to the throttle).

I did the Robinson CFI Safety course back when Frankie himself was still teaching it. A very, very interesting dude to talk to. Part of the class is when he took you around back of the factory where a few of the wrecks were stashed. Every one of them was caused by someone doing something they shouldn't have been.

Nu