Any idiot can fly a plane, but helicopters not so much?

Used to demo negative G in the R-22, I understand the demo has been replaced with education. Just light enough for the tail rotor to start rolling the helicopter then load it back up. Nooo rolling level with the cyclic please.
 
This must of changed in a D mod 64 as an AH-64A was 3.5 Positive and .5 Negative...with a high low manuver we always tried to see who could stick their checklist to the canopy the longest...in the proper hands an heck of an aircraft but nothing like Zimmermann in his BO-105

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93zy3OqXMPw

Charley was a German A/F captain until killed in an airshow and was a super guy. I actually knew him and my last flight in Germany in an AH-1, was a mission to go give him and igloo cooler...we dropped the 20mm ammo can and the 60 quart fit right in...never happen today...a week later the wall came down.
 
Warlock said:
This must of changed in a D mod 64 as an AH-64A was 3.5 Positive and .5 Negative
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D and A models have identical g-limits. However I was reading the chart backwards. The lower limits are at 20k density altitude.

That is, at zero feet density altitude between 85 and135 ktas with a GW of 14,660lb, the g-limits are +3.5 and -0.5. If you could get a -64 to 20k DA (without dropping it out of the back of a C-5), then the limits would be +1.9 and +0.2, respectively.

I'm no helicopter pilot, but I'm fortunate enough to have flown in one (AH-64A) several times and it was definitely a blast.

Now I make my living crewing much more benign helicopters.
 
Everskyward said:
OK, I thought you guys were talking about negative Gs since jhaush mentioned that even gentle negative Gs freaked out the Enstrom CFI.
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That is correct, although "less than 1G maneuvers" is what I should have said.

I don't dispute what others have said. I am just relaying the fact that the Helo CFI had am awesome touch on the controls of the 185, but was clearly uncomfortable when his "seat" told him he was at less than 1G.

Clearly his helo experience made him a pilot with good seat of the pants instincts and the use of those pedals under his feet was not foreign to him.
 
I don't see flying fixed wing vs helicopters better or worse, just different. 500+ fixed, 65+ rotor, mostly accumulated in that order. Helicopters have great utility as seen in SAR, EMS, news gathering, etc. We see more helicopters in commercial applications than in private use because of the cost of maintenance and parts. When most parts are time limited, and the cost of replacing those major components are greater than replacing your average GA airplane or the helo itself, helos will continue to be much greater in numbers in commercial applications than private use.
And look at where the majority of helo pilots got their training. Civil training costs are 2, 3, or 4 times that of airplanes. And to get yourself a job flying then, you really need IFR and commercial. Overall, you're easily going to invest $80k.
I really wish I was born a Buffet or a Heinz.
 
Ever see a fixed wing pilot transitioning to rotary in a hover out of ground effect?

For some reason they get all excited when you stop at 1,000 feet and just sit there.
 
If you can drive a bulldozer, you can fly a helicopter.
Two sticks, two pedals, no aerodynamics to speak of.

:lol:
 
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