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MasterBates' tale of helo
- Thread starter ChuckMK23
- Start date
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
Army buddy of my dad was a retired W4 Huey Driver. Owned a small helicopter outfit doing crop dusting, photog, air crane, firefighting.
Worked there in summers starting as a gopher. Learned to fly going from jobsite to jobsite, and a couple of the pilots were CFIs. Eventually built hours and got my private and comm. Had gentlemans agreement that I would work for him on breaks from school, for a tad less than the going rate if he let me use the company AC for building hours.
Had about 1000 total showing up at primary. What hurt me in primary is I only had 60 fixed wing hours. Also, no instrument ticket (our line of work was VFR only, and within 50nm of base, and no Pax at night)
Still got accelerated, and I had only flown any sort of Hi-Perf fixed wing twice, and that was a cropduster.
Had about ~750 in the Bell 206, ~200 in the Bell 204/205 (A/B Model Huey), and another 50 in assorted aircraft.
Weirdest thing I have flown is the K-Max. .7 in that.
Worked there in summers starting as a gopher. Learned to fly going from jobsite to jobsite, and a couple of the pilots were CFIs. Eventually built hours and got my private and comm. Had gentlemans agreement that I would work for him on breaks from school, for a tad less than the going rate if he let me use the company AC for building hours.
Had about 1000 total showing up at primary. What hurt me in primary is I only had 60 fixed wing hours. Also, no instrument ticket (our line of work was VFR only, and within 50nm of base, and no Pax at night)
Still got accelerated, and I had only flown any sort of Hi-Perf fixed wing twice, and that was a cropduster.
Had about ~750 in the Bell 206, ~200 in the Bell 204/205 (A/B Model Huey), and another 50 in assorted aircraft.
Weirdest thing I have flown is the K-Max. .7 in that.
MasterBates said:
Man so you knew the 206 up front before HT's - that's amazing. Would enjoy hearing either in seperate thread or hear your experience in HT's and how/where you were "accelerated" and what you thought of single pilot flying the 206 compared to the same thing n the HT's...
Good on ya! Great story!
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
I was not "accelerated" per se in the HT's. I honestly think there are so few helo pilots that come thru, that it is not worth making a policy for them.
Anyways, in the HT's I would double-pump, and fly when the weather was questionable. I could knock out 2 flights worth of events because I did not need as much time to hit the standards. But they could not cut too much off, because I would not have enough hours that way.
Single pilot vs. Navy style.
I think it is BS that you cannot change a radio or scratch your butt without having the other pilot do it or executing a change of controls. I am used to flying with no body else in the aircraft. Honestly, some things, I would rather be solo. Crew coordination is good, but the whole "you cant take your hands off the controls-EVER" is not exactly inspiring confidence in the airframe for the nuggets.
In a hover, trying to land, below a certain altitude. Yeah, both hands. Switching button 8 going into spencer? The trim/friction will hold long enough for you to change it, or you had it trimmed wrong. 57B's can be trimmed for a hands off hover, provided the winds are stable.
Heck, the 60 can be flown single pilot. The only manuver I actually NEED the other pilot for is cutting the PCLs for a loss of drive. Anything else, I can do by myself. On my level 300 ATO check, my pilot "died" and I flew the last 20 minutes single pilot while running the tactical systems & hellfire. (Rad alt on, left hand on cyclic, right hand on HCU). Hard as hell, but can be done.
The biggest thing I saw wrong with flight training was that some stuff that was in the NATOPS was iffy at best, if not flat out wrong versus the Bell manuals for the same AC, and god help you if you tried to fix that.
Anyways, in the HT's I would double-pump, and fly when the weather was questionable. I could knock out 2 flights worth of events because I did not need as much time to hit the standards. But they could not cut too much off, because I would not have enough hours that way.
Single pilot vs. Navy style.
I think it is BS that you cannot change a radio or scratch your butt without having the other pilot do it or executing a change of controls. I am used to flying with no body else in the aircraft. Honestly, some things, I would rather be solo. Crew coordination is good, but the whole "you cant take your hands off the controls-EVER" is not exactly inspiring confidence in the airframe for the nuggets.
In a hover, trying to land, below a certain altitude. Yeah, both hands. Switching button 8 going into spencer? The trim/friction will hold long enough for you to change it, or you had it trimmed wrong. 57B's can be trimmed for a hands off hover, provided the winds are stable.
Heck, the 60 can be flown single pilot. The only manuver I actually NEED the other pilot for is cutting the PCLs for a loss of drive. Anything else, I can do by myself. On my level 300 ATO check, my pilot "died" and I flew the last 20 minutes single pilot while running the tactical systems & hellfire. (Rad alt on, left hand on cyclic, right hand on HCU). Hard as hell, but can be done.
The biggest thing I saw wrong with flight training was that some stuff that was in the NATOPS was iffy at best, if not flat out wrong versus the Bell manuals for the same AC, and god help you if you tried to fix that.
Don't forget, a lot of that is artificial to instill the concept of crew coordination. After coming from the T-34, studs need to learn how to actually use the resources available to them. Even more so, now, when they don't get the crew-concept in Primary (since there's no intermediate anymore).
MasterBates said:
Believe me I flew EMS , single pilot in a very complex machine - a BK-117. Day/Night, VFR, marginal VFR, and occasionally illicit IFR. We only had one set of controls installed anyway - I had to switch 3 different radios, navigate with the GPS, fly, manage systems, clear my own LZ's, talk to my "passengers" errr. "crew" (they thought of themselves as crew ha!).
So I totally get where you are coming from
We fly single piloted all the time, we test with maintainers in the front seat, no big deal. Most of the guys in front can change radios but it isnt too bad to do it yourself even in a hover and the Cobra is not the most stable bird out there either.
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
I forget the hours required, but helo instruction usually starts in the $200/hr range, and that is for a dinky little one.
Turbine time will cost probably $500+/hr. Been out of the loop lately, my hours may be off some.
Turbine time will cost probably $500+/hr. Been out of the loop lately, my hours may be off some.
MasterBates said:
I can't even begin to count the number of times I have been single-piloted in a 53. Most of the time it has been in weather, in busy airspace, handling an EP, etc. I ask my student to complete a task and they give me the blank stare. If I could reach every switch in the cockpit, it wouldn't be a big deal. The most important switches luckily are within reach. Very frustrating nonetheless though.
I looked at getting my R/W CFI add-on in a R-22. Roughly $10,000, that's w/o MGIB. On top of that, if you're going to actually use that CFI in a Robinson, you have to attend the Robinson factory safety course in Torrance, CA for another $500 before anyone will insure you. By the way, R-22s' are the squirreliest damned things you'll ever fly. I fly a restored Bell 47G (H-13) for a museum here in WA. I called their insurance to see what it would take to get on the policy. "You've never flown a Bell 47 or other piston engine helicopter before? You're military with a comm/instru and how many hours? No problem you're on the policy. Just as long as it's not a Robinson."
Kinda off topic, I just thought it was a little funny, that you're average commercial multi-eng, advanced, turbine helo guy can't solo a Robby without 40 hours of dual.
Kinda off topic, I just thought it was a little funny, that you're average commercial multi-eng, advanced, turbine helo guy can't solo a Robby without 40 hours of dual.
Those Robinsons don't even look right to me. I'm afraid to fly one and thats just based on looking at the news one at BFM.