My partners and I did our BFRs yesterday. We used one of the Philly Chopper 10 pilots who is also a DPE and does recurrent training for us. Since our ship is awaiting engine reinstallation, Phil brought an R44 from a school where he teaches. He is an exacting taskmaster and put us through almost every maneuver in the CP-RH PTS plus all of the Robinson emergency procedures including engine failures on takeoff and on final. In winds gusting 280@15G30. It actually was fun.
Now here's where the FAA is insane. My BFR makes me good to go in ASEL, for example, in addition to helicopters. It also makes me good to go in almost any helicopter that doesn't require a type rating.
Except, get this, in a Robinson R22, a helicopter that has very similar flight characteristics to the R44. That's right folks. SFAR 73 (attached to part 61 in the FARs) says that even though I have lots of hours in the R22, I need a separate flight review performed in an R22. An R44 BFR doesn't count! And vice versa -- an R22 BFR doesn't count for flying an R44...
I've never been able to figure out whether it was the village idiot or the town drunk who crafted SFAR 73
Now here's where the FAA is insane. My BFR makes me good to go in ASEL, for example, in addition to helicopters. It also makes me good to go in almost any helicopter that doesn't require a type rating.
Except, get this, in a Robinson R22, a helicopter that has very similar flight characteristics to the R44. That's right folks. SFAR 73 (attached to part 61 in the FARs) says that even though I have lots of hours in the R22, I need a separate flight review performed in an R22. An R44 BFR doesn't count! And vice versa -- an R22 BFR doesn't count for flying an R44...
I've never been able to figure out whether it was the village idiot or the town drunk who crafted SFAR 73
Last edited:
