Flying a Helicopter?

[gwstang]

Someone mentioned something about a helicopter recently. Well, I got to wondering, Is a helicopter harder to fly than an airplane? How about a jet plane? Maybe one of those SR-71 Blackbirds? Just wondering. :confused2: If someone asked me if I could fly a helicopter....I would have to say yes! But, if they asked me if I could fly a helicopter and not crash it...I would have to say no. :laughing: In other words....I can't fly anything... It would be interesting to hear from the wide audience on here about who can fly stuff (and not crash it of course) and different flying ability. Your chance to brag a little so lets hear it...because I am in one of my wondering moods!

 

[check 6]

I have very limited, did I mention limited experience behind the controls of a helo but significant fixed wing time in many aircraft large and small including lots of fighter time and my comment would be that it is not necessarily harder to fly a helo just different and like all flying requires you to acquire those specific skills, lots of hand, eye and foot coordination. I would say the closest in a fixed wing would be a light taildragger in a crosswind where rudder and stick controls are constantly active.

Remember the only thing hard about flying is the ground

 

[Bird]

I have very, very limited experience at the controls of the fixed wing Helio Courier and a Cessna 152, as well as the Bell 47 helicopters. I used to say you could kind of relax at the controls of the fixed wing aircraft, but that helicopter was both hands, both feet, and pay attention.:laughing: But of course, as with operating most machinery, it just depends on your training and experience.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Pat your head and rub your tummy while standing on a beach ball. That is what I told it is like. The turbine engined models are easier to fly than the piston engined because of the governor.

I only have time in fixed wing, small airplanes. I totally love flying.

 

[houstonscott]

Someone mentioned something about a helicopter recently. Well, I got to wondering, Is a helicopter harder to fly than an airplane? How about a jet plane? Maybe one of those SR-71 Blackbirds? Just wondering. :confused2: If someone asked me if I could fly a helicopter....I would have to say yes! But, if they asked me if I could fly a helicopter and not crash it...I would have to say no. :laughing: In other words....I can't fly anything... It would be interesting to hear from the wide audience on here about who can fly stuff (and not crash it of course) and different flying ability. Your chance to brag a little so lets hear it...because I am in one of my wondering moods!

Right now the hardest aircraft in the world to fly is the Apache helicopter, hands down. HS.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I would have to say that a helicopter takes a bit more coordination since you have rudders, cyclic (throttle and blade angle controls) and stick to work but I wouldn't go so far as to say it is more difficult. It just takes good coordination. Since my brother in law flew Huey choppers in Vietnam and he is about the most uncoordinated person I know, I don't think I would say it is difficult. I have only ridden in choppers but it doesn't seem too difficult to do. I guess the hardest thing would be learning the controls without crashing when you first start learning. An airplane is easy by comparison but then you cant hover it and learn to fly it, you have to get high in the air where a mistake could mean a bad crash.

 

[prichard]

I have also flown small planes. Very limited though. I have ridden on helicopters and paid attention to the pilot's actions and asked about them. I decided I won't try that one. A plane is like driving a car by comparison. A chopper is a whole different animal. Think of it this way, once airdorn if speed is maintained a plane more or less wants to stay in the air. A chopper want's to fall.

 

[tractorshopper]

Went to A school for Hydraulics and Structural. Learned principals of flight and all about hydraulic systems of aircraft as well as corrosion control and metal smithing. Worked in A school on fixed wing.

Went to the fleet and worked on H-60 SeaHawks the rest of the time. Got to ride along and even take the rear controls once in a hover initiated by the pilots. Later flew a Cessna. I would have to say flying a helo is more difficult overall.

 

[k0ua]

In many conversations with pilots of both, it usually goes like this: Most airplanes want to fly. Helicopters want to kill you every second you are in them. I had a good friend that while learning how to fly helo's lost his life.

I have been flying in many airplanes and even taken the controls a time or two. I have been flying in a helo only once and the pilot made it look so easy. I was sitting right beside him and closely watched him control the helo. He did everything just exactly as I expected him to do it.

I have studied how the controls interact and have a pretty good understanding of them. But that said, I doubt I would last 10 seconds if I had to take off by myself in a helo. "lets see now, twist the throttle, give it some left pedal to counteract the torque of the main rotor, then pull collective, while pushing slightly forward on the cyclic" WHAP, CRASH, BOOM. that is about how long I would last.

 

[dickfoster]

Someone mentioned something about a helicopter recently. Well, I got to wondering, Is a helicopter harder to fly than an airplane? How about a jet plane? Maybe one of those SR-71 Blackbirds? Just wondering. :confused2: If someone asked me if I could fly a helicopter....I would have to say yes! But, if they asked me if I could fly a helicopter and not crash it...I would have to say no. :laughing: In other words....I can't fly anything... It would be interesting to hear from the wide audience on here about who can fly stuff (and not crash it of course) and different flying ability. Your chance to brag a little so lets hear it...because I am in one of my wondering moods!

I've got no real stick time in rotary wing, a little but not much and never tried to hover. I am a fixed wing type so I'd have to say that flying one of those swing wing death traps is gotta be harder, especially if your nose starts to itch. Plus from my experiences in Viet Nam I know all those helicopter pilots are completely friggin nuts and I think driving helicopters made them that way.

 

[1stDeuce]

There are lots of how to fly a heli vids out there, but IMO, Smarter Every Day has one of the better ones, and they only really focus on hovering...

Hovering a Helicopter is Hilariously Hard - Smarter Every Day 145 - YouTube

 

[Garandman]

In many conversations with pilots of both, it usually goes like this: Most airplanes want to fly. Helicopters want to kill you every second you are in them. //

I was in a Cavalry Squadron with an Air Troop. Flown on them plenty: Hueys, Kiowas (Bell Jet Rangers), and Blackhawks.

In the Army, there were many sayings, such as:

"Helicopters don't fly, they beat the air into submission."

"Hel-i-cop-ter N. Origin unknown. A collection of 14,000 parts, flying in formation."

They don't take the kind of g forces fighter aircraft see, but fighters don't come back with tree leaves in their skids. It's very challenging and dangerous.

 

[Furu]

I have very limited, did I mention limited experience behind the controls of a helo but significant fixed wing time in many aircraft large and small including lots of fighter time and my comment would be that it is not necessarily harder to fly a helo just different and like all flying requires you to acquire those specific skills, lots of hand, eye and foot coordination. I would say the closest in a fixed wing would be a light taildragger in a crosswind where rudder and stick controls are constantly active.

I agree with his statements. I have both fixed and rotary experience in many types of platforms.

check 6's comment is very accurate

"just different and like all flying requires you to acquire those specific skills, lots of hand, eye and foot coordination"

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Flying anything has its ups and downs.

 

[dickfoster]

Flying anything has its ups and downs.

The only trick is getting the ups and downs to happen when you want and getting them to happen in a controlled manner so you don't die.
It's good to always remember that you can never use the altitude above you or the runway behind you.

 

[turnkey4099]

I was in the AF at Hof Germany monitoring Russian military comms. Army recruiter showed up with a great deal. Quit AF as a Tech Sgt and sign on with the army. They'd make me a warrant officer and teach me how to fly a helicopter. I was almost ready to sign on the dotted line when reality struck. Okay, teach me to fly helis - great... and then what. NAM!! Nope, no thank you, my yellow stripe would not look good in an army uniform.

 

[dfkrug]

In the Army, there were many sayings, such as:

"Helicopters don't fly, they beat the air into submission."

"Hel-i-cop-ter N. Origin unknown. A collection of 14,000 parts, flying in formation."

You made my day, G.

Sounds like quotations from fixed-wing pilots, who all seem to hate choppers.

I have taken the controls of small airplanes numerous times over the years, but I
never wanted to become a pilot. No landings or takeoffs, of course.

In the 90s, I paid for a 1/2 hour lesson in a Robinson R22 (piston-engined helocopter),
and it was a hoot. I got to take the controls and try to hover, etc. All I can say is:
use a flight simulator first.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

It costs a whole lot of money to stay 1" off the ground.

 

[ovrszd]

I've got no real stick time in rotary wing, a little but not much and never tried to hover. I am a fixed wing type so I'd have to say that flying one of those swing wing death traps is gotta be harder, especially if your nose starts to itch. Plus from my experiences in Viet Nam I know all those helicopter pilots are completely friggin nuts and I think driving helicopters made them that way.

You should have added "under those conditions" to your statement.

Although having never piloted a helicopter I have flown hundreds of hours in them. Love em. Have as deep of relationship with them as man can have with a machine. Always stop what I'm doing and search the sky until I spot one when I hear them fly by. Can identify the military models by sound long before sighting them. :flagday:

 

[ovrszd]

I was in the AF at Hof Germany monitoring Russian military comms. Army recruiter showed up with a great deal. Quit AF as a Tech Sgt and sign on with the army. They'd make me a warrant officer and teach me how to fly a helicopter. I was almost ready to sign on the dotted line when reality struck. Okay, teach me to fly helis - great... and then what. NAM!! Nope, no thank you, my yellow stripe would not look good in an army uniform.

My second cousin was a Huey pilot in Vietnam. Got shot down twice. I was a Grunt in Vietnam. I have a tremendous respect and admiration for him. He has a tremendous respect and admiration for me. It equals out.