I have never flown in a Helio, but have met several.
The first was at College Park, MD, and a salesman was demonstrating the capabilities of that unique plane. I was a student pilot, practicing Take off, and Landings in a 1960 Cessna 150. If I was behind him, I learned to leave the pattern, and circle back. He had no mercy on other planes in the pattern.
The next landed at an aerospace manufacturer beside I 270, near Gaithersburg. I took a look at that one, and saw a copy of that days Wall Street Journal on the back seat. This was at 9 AM. The security guard told me they had an ILS installed, and the ceiling was under 500 feet when it came in. The runway was 300 feet long.
The third time was much like the first, but with a twist. Small town airport, called straight in from 10 miles out, repeated at 5 miles, and 2 miles. The Helio was flying the normal pattern, and was practicing minimum speed landings, and hit the grass by the numbers. We were fine if he had stayed on the grass, but not with him on the runway. I had planned to touch down a few hundred feet beyond where he was on the grass. When he turned to the runway, full throttle, carb heat off, and start decreasing from 40 degrees flaps. We went over him at about 50 feet, level flight, gaining a safer airspeed. The second approach worked fine, he was waiting full of apologies for not having his radio on. He was the airport manager.
There is nothing quite like sharing the pattern with a Helio!
