Helicopter Questions

[Skygal]

65 YEARS!!  Deary, you just made my day!   No wonder you sound grandfatherly, you probably are one.  As a mature pilot myself I find it refreshing to be among my peers!   Frank, fireflyr just gave you some sage advice based on a viewpoint only years can teach.  Just relax honey because things happen the way they do for a good reason and no amount of fretting will help.

[Frank N. O.]

Thanks for the replies, the thing is that I try to take care not bothering people, and since I'm well aware of the fact that people are different then my biggest problem when I have problems is mostly that I have no way to figure out if I'm bothering someone. Furthermore I try to take responsibility for my actions, like making sure I don't behave badly.
My friend Chey and I talked and she convinved me that I should try again with my commercial gameproject and I've posted in a gamedev forum and gotten a reply, ordered the book that might help and then went on a cleaning spree and got a ton of old note-papers thrown out after saving what notes I need, cleaning up magazines, computerpart boxes etc. and 24 hours after I still feel the pain in my weak muscles. Man I need to get to California (that's where Chey lives, and Fireflyr and Mike, and another guy from the racegame forum me and Chey frequent that's also of a more mature age but is young at heart still and is active in everything from racing-games, r/c gliders, real motorbikes and cars (just sold a 350Z and Caterhams Super 7 and got a new Corvette Z06)).

I'd like to see a US-version of the Track-Race with a sportscar vs a helicopter like Tiff Needell did with a Porsche 911 GT3 vs a ex-RAF Gazelle.

Mike, to get back on topic, I've thought about how much is needed for your types of flights over the normal flying of a helicopter, like the trouble with hovering to drop off firefighters in heavy winds or water-drops etc. have you ever thought about writting an article about that? And wasn't it you that flew a Ranger with a camera crew to film a flight of fighters passing under you where you weren't ascending as fast as hoped and only cleared them by a small margin, do you have a clip of those recordings made of it?

Frank

[Roland]

EDIT: I haven't posted a while since I've been under a lot of pressure with problems that I can't fix. For those that read the post last night I'm sorry if my post sounded a bit frantic (in lack of a a better word) I just wanted reply to Mike's post now he asked for it but I guess I didn't need to give that many details to describe that it was bad. I really need a vacation and get all those worries off my back, but when my mom can't get a nice quiet home without stairs and near grocery-stores then it's not easy and when I'm the last of the friends and family that's anywhere near us.

Frank, you are a very honest person. And I mean it. Live has some hurdles for us we are not prepared for. The difference between the Barbar and the civilized person is the way how one handles the weaker, the ones in need.

We here in the forum cannot help you with the problem itself. But be can try to cheer you up and give you some funny moments, answer to your questions (which I miss here, btw) and have a laugh with you over all the distances and problems. We are here to be bothered, we are friends.

[Frank N. O.]

Thank you so very much, I really appreciate it. You guys here and my best friend Chey are all that's keeping me up, but you are also really doing well My mom is getting some good new dentures from a very friendly specialist that's in fact giving my mom the very best work he's ever done and that's despite the fact that it's paid for by the county so he's not making a profit, he's even giving better parts than ordered at no extra charge. On the way home though we had to do an emergency stop for an old man rolling slowly in front of us doing a left turn from a intersection in a forrest where there are a lot of cars turning right that block the view of us for them, good thing I saw him rolling and knew he couldn't see us, and I know by experience they take chances so I was already started to slow down as he kept rolling right into the lane and then drove but slowly across forcing a stop to avoid a side-collission. I gotta say thanks dad for those inhearited reflexes and common sense. And then afterwards it's great to come home for a nice meal and some good news on the two forums I visit and now I'm finally  catching up on my posts.

And I'll think of some more intelligent questions soon

Frank

[Roland]

You see Frank, now you sound (read) a lot better. Good to see things turn out ok for your mother and you. And I think you are a little bit one of this persons which attracts all sorts of catastrophes, regarding to the story with that old man. 

I had a VEEERY nice college down in Port Harcourt who attracted all kinds of catastrophes. If there was a helicopter to be hijacked (yes, this happened, and not only once) it was his. If there was a night rescue on a ship with bad weather and a lousy co-pilot, it was his night duty. If there was no food in the staff-house, it was his late return from being offshore. Not that those things did not happen to us as well, but he could make a REAL catastrophe out of it. And that was one of the reasons we all loved him so much. He is retired by now and back home. You think he is free of catastrophes now? Naw, never! 

[happylanding]

........And then afterwards it's great to come home for a nice meal and some good news on the two forums I visit and now I'm finally  catching up on my posts.

I've not visited a lot of forums, but here I can easily see your point of view: this coop and the chickens trapped here makes you happy!!! 
And good luck with your misfortunes, lately. there was an historical figure (it should have been Elizabeth empress of Austria) who once said "you must sometimes see clouds to appreciate sun". It's not bad as a reminder........Good nite!
 

[YawningMan]

That swing-wing Cessna bit made me bust a gut.   

Also, if helicopters flew by deflecting ugly, then I wouldn't need a pilot's license or a plane to fly!

But, I have heard it said that helicopters fly because they beat the air into submission.   

[Mike]

But, I have heard it said that helicopters fly because they beat the air into submission.   

Damn right they do!!! It's awesome!!!

And it's actually the reason why they are a lot smoother in turbulence than their stuck-wing-sisters contrary to common believe. Those slim and very flexible blades chop right through that nasty stuff !!

If I had a nickel for every time somebody said "Wow, I had no idea helicopters were that smooth" ....
(Hueys excluded)

..... well....

...I'd have a s#&t load of nickels!!!! 

[Ted_Stryker]

But, I have heard it said that helicopters fly because they beat the air into submission.   

Damn right they do!!! It's awesome!!!

And it's actually the reason why they are a lot smoother in turbulence than their stuck-wing-sisters contrary to common believe. Those slim and very flexible blades chop right through that nasty stuff !!

If I had a nickel for every time somebody said "Wow, I had no idea helicopters were that smooth" ....
(Hueys excluded)

..... well....

...I'd have a s#&t load of nickels!!!! 

Having ridden in a number of choppers, I'll concur as to their being smooth, maneuverable, and fun!  If I had the money I'd buy one... along with a good A&P certification.  One of the other sayings for choppers, in case anyone hadn't heard, is "A helicopter is a collection of moving parts in close proximity trying to shake themselves apart!"        But they work beautifully!

[fireflyr]

But, I have heard it said that helicopters fly because they beat the air into submission.   

Damn right they do!!! It's awesome!!!

And it's actually the reason why they are a lot smoother in turbulence than their stuck-wing-sisters contrary to common believe. Those slim and very flexible blades chop right through that nasty stuff !!

If I had a nickel for every time somebody said "Wow, I had no idea helicopters were that smooth" ....
(Hueys excluded)

..... well....

...I'd have a s#&t load of nickels!!!! 

You're not kidding about flying in turbelence---I remember one day in Utah when we grounded ourselves and the SEATS because of winds gusting to 40 Knots that were knocking the crap out of us and the swing wing drivers just kept on trucking......

[spacer]

So why all the hating on R-22s?  I keep reading people saying they're squirrelly, and that they're essentially death traps with no margin for forgiveness, yada yada yada... I also hear that the DA-20 will shatter on an emergency landing and you can kiss your butt goodbye, but I've not seen any evidence to back it up.  With the R-22s, I also see SFAR 73 and guess people also use that in their vilification of the bird... but why?

I'm asking all of this because I plan on starting my training and the place where I'll be training (MG Aviation, KGMU South Ramp, Greenville, SC) uses R-22s.  Thanks

I was responsible for a small fleet of DA-20 (Katana and Eclipse) used by our flight school, and saw some really hairy landings. None of them qualified as an 'emergency landing' (meaning: crash. The only crash I encountered in my time there was a gear-up C172RG... right after I pulled the actuators for a 500 hour inspection... AUGH!... turned out he just forgot to drop the gear WHEW)
Back to the Diamond... the worst landing I saw was a young solo student who gave the gear a *real* workout, made sure they were nice and supple (rather, I thought she was going to retract 'em), and I drove the cart out to the line and reminded her that she
wouldn't be able to log all six landings if they were from the same approach.
I went over the plane carefully after dragging it back to the shop, and found no damage.
I can't vouch for 'em in a crash, but those DA-20s can sure soak up some crappy landings.
[/ threadjack off]

By the way, (and back on topic) I haven't had time to read through the whole thread... The Chinook video had a bit more footage (from different angles), and was shown to us in my A&P school in order to demonstrate G.R. The instructor told us that the footage was actually a test run on a retired bird, and that they intentionally destroyed it to get information on the phenomenon.

[Baradium]

As far as the DA-20s, the flight school I went to got DA-20s after I started (never flew the 20s, but did get an hour or so in a 40).

Anyway, they had a few of them actually crash on landing.

Let's see.... one person bent the nose gear enough to strike the prop, another ripped a main gear *off* the aircraft and another bent one of the main gear (the latter two were due to running off the runway).

The chief pilot, who is no longer there, was probobly a contributing factor in them all IMO.


Anyway, I promise they can be broken... although even the one that completely lost a gear was repaired (however, that one required that it be shipped to Canada to the facilities).

[Gulfstream Driver]

UND had Katanas for a while (both DA-20 and C models).  I started in them, but they were always down for maintenance and were eventually pulled off the line.  Part of the problem was UND's fault (didn't follow "suggested" maintenance), but they couldn't take the abuse of primary students flying them every day with tons of cycles.

[Firegirl]

Now which thread was the one we talked about pilots having A.D.D. and us never staying on the same topic for more than a page?
HA HA 

From smooth helicopter rides to Katanas in UND....

btw: that's a Japanese Sword, right?!? 

[Gulfstream Driver]

btw: that's a Japanese Sword, right?!?

Probably would have been more useful that way.