Helicopter Questions

[Mike]

You can ask them all in here now, and I will do my best to answer them.
For the really tricky ones I will see if I can't volunteer Roland to join me since
he is the Master when it comes to helicopters. I just drive them...

[Sleek-Jet]

Best training helo??

Robinson, Entrom, or Schweiser?? I've looked at getting my swing wing rating, but I'm not to keen on the Robinsons.  Especially since you need 100 hours PIC to carry a passanger (I think  )

[Paper-Airplane]

Is the learning curve steeper than an airplane? Or is it easier?

[Roland]

Best training helo??

Robinson, Entrom, or Schweiser?? I've looked at getting my swing wing rating, but I'm not to keen on the Robinsons.  Especially since you need 100 hours PIC to carry a passanger (I think  )

Personally (and this is really personally only!!!) the Robinson R22 seems to me to be a dangerous helicopter, especially for students. It was never planed to be a trainer but is widely used due to its low costs. If one can afford to spend more money I would recommend to train on an other type as there are Schweizer or Bell 47. I would not let my son train on a Robinson R22.

But I would recommend to train on a piston-engine helicopter. Here you learn to use available (or not available) power properly.

[Roland]

Is the learning curve steeper than an airplane? Or is it easier?

A learning curve will always be steep, wouldn’t it? But for sure there is a lot more to learn on helicopters due its specifics like turning wings, transmissions, different power supply, …
To some helicopters are easier. Don’t ask why …

[FlyingBlind]

Can the rotor slice a tomato ? or something rougher like a stone ? and what happens when the main rotor shuts down ? and what happens when the tail-rotor shuts down ? 

[Mike]

Best training helo??

Robinson, Entrom, or Schweiser?? I've looked at getting my swing wing rating, but I'm not to keen on the Robinsons.  Especially since you need 100 hours PIC to carry a passanger (I think  )

I have to totally agree with Roland on this one. The Robinson was not designed to be a training helicopter. It just ended up being so cheap that flight schools bought them as well. I would recommend the Schweizer. I love that little machine and it's very forgiving if you make your beginner mistakes.
The Robinson is like a little sportscar. It's fast and pretty unforgiving compared to the Schweizer.
You have a manual throttle on your collective on the 300 which teaches you a lot about power management and it's actually a lot of fun to fly. The Enstrom is not a good training machine either. I have never flown one but friends of mine said because it has a turbo-charger it's broken a lot since the turbo doesn't like doing autorotations and hovering autos becuase of the shock-cooling...

[Sleek-Jet]

Thanks Roland and Mike... The problem being that the place here in town runs Robinson equipment.  The closest I could find a 300C at was all the way up in Phoenix.  If I end up doing this, I wanted to fly once a day.  We'll see what happens I guess.     

[Stef]

Can the rotor slice a tomato ? or something rougher like a stone ? and what happens when the main rotor shuts down ? and what happens when the tail-rotor shuts down ? 

Ooooo! Let me explain! I know! I know! This is one of the rare occasions that I can answer an aviation related question...

1) It can.
2) It can't. At least not slice... would get a bad dent, depending on the size of the stone.
3) Then you're "made love to". The main rotor can't really shut down... If the engine shuts down, the rotor keeps spinning and has enough momentum to give you one attempt at landing. This is called autorotation and is practiced throgoughly in your training.
4) Well... if the tail rotor is blocked for some reason, you'd start spinning and would eventually crash. Here's a question for the real experts: If you're in forward flight, does the fin stabilize you enough to enable you to land the helicopter like an airplane? 

[Mike]

Good one little brother!
It seems some of the stories I kept telling over and over did stick after all, he he

The main rotor doesn't just "shut down". The key is to keep it turning if the engine quits like my brother already mentioned by entering an autorotation. Long story and lots of aerodynamics involved but it makes you able to land the thing in a parking lot if you have to.

The tailrotor can get tricky. It can get stuck, or you lose it (driveshaft failure or something). There are many different maneuvers you can do depending if it happens to you in forward flight or in a hover. I have friends who walked away from things like that. But if it fails right when you're pulling max pitch lifting an a/c unit off the roof 150feet in the air, ...you can pretty much kiss your @$$ good-by...

I do think though that a helicopter is a very safe machine if maintained and operated within the limits...

[Mike]

Thanks Roland and Mike... The problem being that the place here in town runs Robinson equipment.  The closest I could find a 300C at was all the way up in Phoenix.  If I end up doing this, I wanted to fly once a day.  We'll see what happens I guess.     

Don't get me wrong. I trained on a Robby myself back in the days and turned out alright. They are nice little helicopters and if that's what you have and you have a good CFI then go for it. (then you just have to worry about the SFAR's)
But you asked what the best one would be...

[Roland]

As Mike said there is nothing wrong in getting a helicopter training on a Robinson 22. But to my experience with helicopters of different types the R 22 actually is a helicopter for advanced pilots. And dangerous because there are very little reserves in the whole thing. I flew it myself, also the Schweizer. Personally I prefer the Schweizer, it gives e better feeling of safety and confidence. But if there is a R 22 available only, so train with that. BUT STAY VIGILANT ALL THE TIME!

[Sleek-Jet]

Thanks Roland and Mike... The problem being that the place here in town runs Robinson equipment.  The closest I could find a 300C at was all the way up in Phoenix.  If I end up doing this, I wanted to fly once a day.  We'll see what happens I guess.     

Don't get me wrong. I trained on a Robby myself back in the days and turned out alright. They are nice little helicopters and if that's what you have and you have a good CFI then go for it. (then you just have to worry about the SFAR's)
But you asked what the best one would be...

It's that SFAR that has my attention.  I have no doubt that the Robinson is a safe heli when operated in the correct way. 

Thanks for your input guys.   

[Frank N. O.]

I got a question, I was just looking thrue the RDAF sites trying to see what kind of helmet the danish F-16 pilots used and I found this site about the EH-101 Merlins that are to finally replace our age-old Sikorsky S-61 Sea King rescue helicopters, one of which I saw just two days ago, sounded more like a small old GA plane than a helicopter actually.

http://forsvaret.dk/FMK/Nyt+og+Presse/Kom+t%C3%A6ttere+p%C3%A5+EH-101.htm
My question is: What does it use wirecutters for? That's what it says, where the line points in front of the rotoheard, between the rotorblades and the cabin-roof.
Edit: I just noticed there's another one under the nose.
The first EH-101 arrived in january this year.

Frank

[MO]

Hi Frank, et al,

The wirecutters are precisely that: devices to cut wires (Electrical, telephonic, etc.). Those come handy when you are flying low and accidentally find them on your path. The devices cut the wires before they hit any vital part of the chopper like the rotor mast or get entangled on the skids.

Most helicopter types have them, although I'm not sure if they are mandatory. Mike? Roland? Can you guys help us out here?

Cheers!