Fixed Wing vs Rotor

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LJS1993

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LJ Savala
Last night I was reading an article written by a guy who claimed there were definitely differences between airplane pilots and helicopter pilots. This guy claimed helicopter pilots were a "brooding" bunch of loners in many ways. Are there any differences you guys have noticed between the two types?
 
One wears a multi-colored beanie with a propeller on top? Or wears a sidearm? or a handheld microphone?
 
LJS1993 said:
Last night I was reading an article written by a guy who claimed there were definitely differences between airplane pilots and helicopter pilots. This guy claimed helicopter pilots were a "brooding" bunch of loners in many ways. Are there any differences you guys have noticed between the two types?
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One is bright and articulate, has an eye for detail, has a very fine touch for control movement, is admired for his superior knowledge and airmanship and loved by everyone who meets him.

The other guy flies airplanes.


:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
One can walk and chew gum the other wears a larger than life watch pilot sunglasses and walks with a swagger.depends on what you fly how you see yourself.
 
RotorAndWing said:
One is bright and articulate, has an eye for detail, has a very fine touch for control movement, is admired for his superior knowledge and airmanship and loved by everyone who meets him.
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Like the guy last night who parked his R44 next to the fuel pumps and then sneered at the spamcan drivers as they had the audacity to taxi up to fill their tanks and taxi off?

Then the joker got into his F-350 and drove off without tying down his main or tail rotor. Whatever, dude! :dunno:
 
Bill Jennings said:
Like the guy last night who parked his R44 next to the fuel pumps and then sneered at the spamcan drivers as they had the audacity to taxi up to fill their tanks and taxi off?

Then the joker got into his F-350 and drove off without tying down his main or tail rotor. Whatever, dude! :dunno:
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I have a good story about a guy in a R44 that landed next to the gas pumps, left the engine running and rotor engaged, got out and filled up, then walked off to go pay while leaving his non pilot passenger in the helicopter.

I was standing in the FBO watching the whole time. (I was an Inspector at the time).

(BTW, my other post here was meant as a joke)
 
LJS1993 said:
...This guy claimed helicopter pilots were a "brooding" bunch of loners in many ways.
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I wouldn't say "brooding," but I was once told by Stu Fields, the publisher of the now-defunct Experimental Helo magazine, that "helicopter pilots are not joiners." There are no big clubs for helicopter pilots, in part because there's no significant recreational helicopter market. It's so expensive to fly them that only a few rich guys do it for fun. Most are on the clock, and in many cases their employers belong to HAI, but they don't join as individuals.

Utah Rotorcraft Association is a 501(c)(3) dedicated to education and training for experimental rotor-wingers in the intermountain west. Lots of gyroplane guys seek us out, but when we hold our regional meet, we can't get a guy based at our airport to even roll his experimental Helicycle out of the hangar to be seen during the Young Eagles rally.

So, "brooding," no, but "loners," in my experience, yes, at least as far as interacting with the rest of aviation.

Two other possibilities have occurred to me:

(1) They're too busy fighting off girls to spend time with us.
(2) Any aircraft with fewer than 1,150 moving parts bores them.
 
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I thought the thread was posted so we could all relax and have a good laugh.
 
RotorAndWing said:
I have a good story about a guy in a R44 that landed next to the gas pumps, left the engine running and rotor engaged, got out and filled up, then walked off to go pay while leaving his non pilot passenger in the helicopter.

I was standing in the FBO watching the whole time. (I was an Inspector at the time).

(BTW, my other post here was meant as a joke)
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Derp.
 
Bill Jennings said:
I know it was, but what that guy did last night was true.

So did that fellow get a talkin' to?
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It was very uncomfortable for him to say the least! And amusing listening to him try to talk his way out of it.

In the end he admitted it was stupid and we discussed why. Hopefully he learned his lesson.
 
frfly172 said:
I thought the thread was posted so we could all relax and have a good laugh.
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I'm relaxed, heck it's a slow Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend! I was just poking a little fun as well.
 
Being Friday I'm going to get my sunglasses and swagger out to the airport for cocktails and hanger flying.
 
LJS1993 said:
...This guy claimed helicopter pilots were a "brooding" bunch of loners in many ways...
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Yup, pretty much so...

Seremet_WS4_Mini-Copter.jpg
 
PW_Plack said:
I wouldn't say "brooding," but I was once told by Stu Fields, the publisher of the now-defunct Experimental Helo magazine, that "helicopter pilots are not joiners." There are no big clubs for helicopter pilots, in part because there's no significant recreational helicopter market. It's so expensive to fly them that only a few rich guys do it for fun. Most are on the clock, and in many cases their employers belong to HAI, but they don't join as individuals.

Utah Rotorcraft Association is a 501(c)(3) dedicated to education and training for experimental rotor-wingers in the intermountain west. Lots of gyroplane guys seek us out, but when we hold our regional meet, we can't get a guy based at our airport to even roll his experimental Helicycle out of the hangar to be seen during the Young Eagles rally.

So, "brooding," no, but "loners," in my experience, yes, at least as far as interacting with the rest of aviation.

Two other possibilities have occurred to me:

(1) They're too busy fighting off girls to spend time with us.
(2) Any aircraft with fewer than 1,150 moving parts bores them.
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I've noticed that with the Part 103 guys who do anything with rotorcraft. They tend to be... not unpleasant or rude, exactly, but very quiet and secretive. I walked up to one of them to compliment him on his bird and ask some questions (I actually was thinking about building one like his so I could annoy my neighbors fly it from my home), but he just kind of smiled a lot and said nothing.

-Rich
 
Maybe he thought you were an FAA guy.

I don't know if I'd fly a homebuilt helicopter. I would a gyro, but not sure about a helicopter.
 
LJS1993 said:
This guy claimed helicopter pilots were a "brooding" bunch of loners in many ways.
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Most people with deathwishes are.

Seriously, I didn't find that, but my experience is in police and medevac. I suspect those attract different personality types than the majority of rotor aviation.
 
Fixed wing guys get all the chicks, rotor wing guys just sound funny on the radio. Can't talk right, :lol:
 
I know if you tell a rotor head that you are a fixed wing guy, it will become interesting.... "Let's see your fixed wing do THIS..." Etc, etc. Fun flight. Can't wait for the next one!
 
Well I'm one of those rotor wing guys who has zero time behind any fixed wing anything. Fixed wing stuff amazes me. The bravery you guys have to need to have airspeed to stay in the air. To be forced to land with a large crosswind component or have to lose an engine and know you are going to the ground at substantial forward speed. At least with helicopters we can slow down an approach as much as needed no matter how hairy the weather can get. Every landing can be upwind if needed. And, if we do loose an engine we find the ground at our MAMA (minimum airspeed minimum altitude). So next time I'm at the bar with my helo buddies...here's one to bravery!

Or as my local medical examiner puts it:

drugs.jpg
 
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GauzeGuy said:
I know if you tell a rotor head that you are a fixed wing guy, it will become interesting.... "Let's see your fixed wing do THIS..." Etc, etc. Fun flight. Can't wait for the next one!
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My answer is to write my per-hour operating cost on a piece of paper, and say "let's see your helo do THIS!"

I love helicopters, they're a lot of fun to fly. I keep coming THIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSS close to buying a Scorpion or other project, then keep not doing it.

However, a helicopter is designed for a specific set of mission profiles, and most of the guys I know who have them don't take them too far from home . . .except on trailers . . .
 
Captain said:
Amazing how fast everything can go from 'nice day for a fun flight' to 'crap, I gotta call the NTSB'.

How much do you think missing that one thing cost?
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The problem is that he DIDN'T miss that one thing. For being too lazy to pull the helo out another 5 feet from the hangar, someone bought a destroyed aircraft.

But then, it's a Robinson, and you'll never catch me within 50 feet of one of those with the rotors turning.
 
SoloEqs said:
My answer is to write my per-hour operating cost on a piece of paper, and say "let's see your helo do THIS!"

I love helicopters, they're a lot of fun to fly. I keep coming THIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSS close to buying a Scorpion or other project, then keep not doing it.

However, a helicopter is designed for a specific set of mission profiles, and most of the guys I know who have them don't take them too far from home . . .except on trailers . . .
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You know I wonder if there are quite a few pilots with Robinson's who take them on some pretty long trips?
 
LJS1993 said:
You know I wonder if there are quite a few pilots with Robinson's who take them on some pretty long trips?
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I flew mine from Memphis, TN to Northern California. There is nothing like a cross county at 800 AGL.
 
LJS1993 said:
You know I wonder if there are quite a few pilots with Robinson's who take them on some pretty long trips?
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The R44 will cruise faster than a C172. I've known people to take long trips in them.

A former colleague use to pick them up at the factory and deliver them all over North America.
 
SoloEqs said:
I love helicopters, they're a lot of fun to fly. I keep coming THIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSS close to buying a Scorpion or other project, then keep not doing it.
Click to expand...

SoloEqs said:
But then, it's a Robinson, and you'll never catch me within 50 feet of one of those with the rotors turning.
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So you would fly in a Scorpion (are any of those still around?) but you wouldn't get near a Robinson?? :dunno:
 
RotorAndWing said:
One is bright and articulate, has an eye for detail, has a very fine touch for control movement, is admired for his superior knowledge and airmanship and loved by everyone who meets him.

The other guy flies airplanes.


:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
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:yeahthat:

Speaking as a bi-modal pilot, I can honestly say the slack in my crotch seemed to be lessened when I beat the air into submission. :yes:
 
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Captain said:
Amazing how fast everything can go from 'nice day for a fun flight' to 'crap, I gotta call the NTSB'.

How much do you think missing that one thing cost?
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Missing it would have cost nothing, unfortunately he hit it...:rofl::D
 
LJS1993 said:
How do helicopters do in weather compared to airplanes?
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Helicopters with good rotor systems like the one on the AStar can handle weather that would seriously terrify a fixed wing pilot. Since we hang from the rotor system we feel turbulence less. Now that said, I wouldn't want to test that in a Robbie. Again it all depends on the rotor system. Almost anything but a Robinson is going to be awesome in severe weather.
 
HeliNomad said:
Helicopters with good rotor systems like the one on the AStar can handle weather that would seriously terrify a fixed wing pilot. Since we hang from the rotor system we feel turbulence less. Now that said, I wouldn't want to test that in a Robbie. Again it all depends on the rotor system. Almost anything but a Robinson is going to be awesome in severe weather.
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Depends upon which Robinson model we are talking about. The R44 has a high inertia rotor so it will ride just fine. The R22 has a low inertia system so it won't be as much.

The helicopter does take turbulence in stride, if it's getting rough in a helicopter the airplanes are being beaten pretty bad.
 
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