Bobby,
your training as a radio host must have allowed you to develop and harbor the stearnest opinions, I can't seem to get you to cop a plea on the pft issue, good on you, however I must side with 46 Driver on this one.
Not even in my most curious moments have I ever been willing to part with the exorbitant premiums associated with helicopter flight, so I will have to rely on testament from folks like DEADSTICK and other helicopter pilots I have spoken with.
Specifically what I have heard most about helicopters suggest that pound for pound they are much harder to fly than their FW equivalents (ie mtow, passenger load, max speeds, etc). One helicopter pilot explained it to me this way: A jet is like a 10-speed bike, fast, foward moving, very stable and easy to operate while a helicopter is more like uni-cycle, much more maneuverable (fore-aft-stationary), moves much slower, however a total chore to operate.
Just as most unicycle riders could easily transition to a 10-speed bike with little effort (think complex to simple) the helicopter pilot should easily transition to FW flight in a similar fashion since the net effect is just a reduction in workload (aerodynamic/airwork, systems, procedures, etc).
Consider the following:
(1) Chopper Pilot w FW ratings Multi-Comm or ATP and B-737 IOE complete on 1st revenue flight
(2) B-737 Pilot with recent rotary lic (hrs in cat similar to IOE for 737) on first solo or crew flight
which A/C would you board. If #2 is your answer I would suggest you update you will, insurance policies, etc. After all compare tasks such as hovering, formation flight, gunnery, tricky lunar landing, etc to raising gear handle, switching on Auto-pilot at 1000', Autothrottle on the takeoff (TOGA), twisting heading, alt, speed bugs, arming and executing flight plans and I think that you will find that one skill set heavily outwieghs the other with the helicopter pilot in favor.
Moreover, most if not all military helicopters have higher cruising/max speeds than the GA aircraft we CFI with yet the complexity of these Choppers are some orders of maginitude greater. Since these helicopters are heavy and turbine the either must require a type or operating specifications that hold the PIC to rules and procedure commensurate with that of a type rating holder. Any PIC of an aircraft which requires a type is inherently an instructor (who else is going to teach the FO after IOE). Add to all of this the mission profiles these guys fly: attacking, getting shot at, lifting heavy objects, landing on boat tops between other spinning helicopters, flying as low as possible in the pitch dark, etc and compare this to spinning around the pattern or going from A2B in a C-1x2 with ATC holding your hand guiding you along the whole route
and you have to wonder what on earth would a military helicopter gain CFIing in a C-1x2???? wtf over
Actually I would frown on the practice if they do this just to gain FW flight time, because instructing is a job better suited for someone who enjoys it and is happy cultivating and molding their student, rather than someone just trying to fill their books to get to the next job. In my opinion I would much rather see these guys PFT and move on to do what they are best at 'precision flying.' I have spent many nights (except those right after 9-11) safe and secure in the comfort of my bed thanks to the efforts of 46 and 47 Driver, why not continue to capitalize on this by having these Marines and Soldiers up front in the cockpits of our commercial airliners knowing that if any 2-bit terror-mite crosses their paths they will be dealt with in a righteous manner. (Geez I am feeling patriotic enough to seek out the nearest recruiter
CFIer,
your comments ring true, insurance companies are ultr-frugal with their fiscal policies, I am sure that they are aware of PFT and would assign cost prohibitive premiums if they felt the least bit worried about it and how it would affect daily operations. Skeptics review my earlier thread on experience per seat in the cockpit pft vs cfi, and you will see why its no wonder that insurance rates for the cfi entrepreneur with his own aircraft have gone up so high that these guys have been forced out of business and left to the whim of fbos and flight academies.
Even better is your 2nd para 'more money than brains'. If pft is bad then the old saying 'a fool and his money are soon parted' or at leat caveat emptor 'buyer beware' will ring true. Based on risk vs gain, you could do much worse in Vegas, on the stock market, or even in a new sports car purchase.
Enigma
view my earlier threads, I have illustrated at least one way to Gulfstream it without spending a penny. Would you still consider this PFT??? If so I want to de-license your doc because he failed to note that you are a blind as a bat.
Bottom line is that there are times and situations where PFT may be good, even the toughest critic will acknowledge this if he reads my post objectively. As we all know the majority of cases PFT is bad, I can think of a couple of my former students to justify this, but to blast this thing as a wholesale evil just because you were lucky enough to get in a different way is WRONG!
For the folks who enter the biz a little later in life standby I will work on your case next, I want to clear the military helicopter pilots first.
