buckeyefarmer
Epic Contributor
I had a friend who was a glider instructor, he let me fly once, that was cool.
Flying a Helicopter?
- Thread starter gwstang
- Start date
- Views: 30434
ovrszd
Epic Contributor
- Joined
- May 27, 2006
- Messages
- 33,727
- Location
- Missouri
- Tractor
- Kubota M9540, Ford 3910FWD, Ford 555A, JD2210
That would be very cool. I was on top of Imogene Pass in Colorado few years ago. Taking a picture of my wife standing by the sign, over 12K ft elevation. She suddenly pointed behind me and screamed "OH MY GOD, LOOK". It was a glider that followed the valley up to the top of the pass, did a sharp turn and rode the wind back down. Very cool.
I also think a hot air balloon would be relaxing.
k0ua
Epic Contributor
It is. One of the first things you notice is how well you can hear everyone on the ground. Except for the occasional roar of the burners, it is eerily quite. I have only been up once in one in a balloon race, but it was great, and I would do it again.
ovrszd
Epic Contributor
- Joined
- May 27, 2006
- Messages
- 33,727
- Location
- Missouri
- Tractor
- Kubota M9540, Ford 3910FWD, Ford 555A, JD2210
When my boys were kids there was a family in Des Moines that had one. Several times we would see them drifting down I-35. We'd all pile in the pickup and chase them. They would always land near Eagleville and change riders. I never asked for a ride and they never offered. But they got used to seeing us. They even flew in very cold Winter weather. Couple times with snow cover.
k0ua
Epic Contributor
I would think that cold weather would be an excellent time to launch as the colder air is more dense and lift would be easier to achieve with less fuel.
ovrszd
Epic Contributor
- Joined
- May 27, 2006
- Messages
- 33,727
- Location
- Missouri
- Tractor
- Kubota M9540, Ford 3910FWD, Ford 555A, JD2210
And during one of our brief visits, 20 degree weather, I asked if it was cold riding??? They were dressed warm. Wind aloft was probably 10mph. The man looked at me kinda weird and said "no, there's no wind"....... Duhhhhhh,,,,, I felt so stupid.
buckeyefarmer
Epic Contributor
One lands near my house a lot.
A guy proposed on this flight.
A guy proposed on this flight.
k0ua
Epic Contributor
And during one of our brief visits, 20 degree weather, I asked if it was cold riding??? They were dressed warm. Wind aloft was probably 10mph. The man looked at me kinda weird and said "no, there's no wind"....... Duhhhhhh,,,,, I felt so stupid.
One thing I learned from the "balloon race" was there are winds aloft with different directions. We carried a can of shaving cream to let a stream of it down from the basket to watch it move with the winds and then to adjust our height to get into that narrow stream of wind to change our direction enough to get back on track to our target. We ran out of shaving cream and started to spit over the side for this same purpose. I had to engage in hawking up loogies too as there was a limited amount of spit in the pilot. We made it real close to the target, and I threw the bag at the X, but we did not win, others were closer to the X.
adventure bob
Platinum Member
Helicopter flight is all about torque management. Over torque and its real possible to destroy a gear box and or engine. Not enough torque is called falling. Fine line between the two.
Joke: Anyone know what that rotor on the tail does? Well it keeps the pilot cool. Now your all thinking its for rotational stability or horizontal direction control. I would argue that if you want to see the pilot sweat, stop that blade.
Joke: Anyone know what that rotor on the tail does? Well it keeps the pilot cool. Now your all thinking its for rotational stability or horizontal direction control. I would argue that if you want to see the pilot sweat, stop that blade.
MossRoad
Super Moderator
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2001
- Messages
- 66,526
- Location
- South Bend, Indiana (near)
- Tractor
- Power Trac PT425 2001 Model Year
I love small airplanes and have been in and flown many as a kid. And, while I enjoy the concept of a helicopter, I don't enjoy riding in them knowing how they work and what has to happen each revolution of that blade, what holds it on, and what happens if it, the transmission or the engine malfunctions... you gonna D.I.E.
I once saw a pilot (we called him Hot Dog) starve a helicopter engine of air in winter, stall the turbine, and make an emergency autrotation landing from very low altitude. He hit so hard, it bent the struts. We joke about this stuff, but he soiled his pants. It wasn't funny. He thought he was gonna die. We thought he was gonna die, too. He was a much different pilot after that. No more Hot Dog.
I once saw a pilot (we called him Hot Dog) starve a helicopter engine of air in winter, stall the turbine, and make an emergency autrotation landing from very low altitude. He hit so hard, it bent the struts. We joke about this stuff, but he soiled his pants. It wasn't funny. He thought he was gonna die. We thought he was gonna die, too. He was a much different pilot after that. No more Hot Dog.
buckeyefarmer
Epic Contributor
Saw these saturday.
MossRoad
Super Moderator
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2001
- Messages
- 66,526
- Location
- South Bend, Indiana (near)
- Tractor
- Power Trac PT425 2001 Model Year
Dayton?
check
Elite Member
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2008
- Messages
- 4,165
- Tractor
- 2009 Kubota BX25
I had a friend who took me up in a two seater glider once. It was very, very cool, but I was surprised at how noisy it was, simply because of the wind.
I have also been up in a small plane, most recently when we circumnavigated the island of Kauai in Hawaii. The scenery was spectacular, but I was so "seasick" by the end of the ride that I had to lay down for an hour! Will never do that again, but I would love to ride in a helicopter. Is it really less obnoxious in terms of the effects on your stomach? That is what I've heard, namely that a helo shakes you up but you don't get those long ups and downs which are what really upsets the vestibular system and makes you seasick in a small plane. Any comments?
Kyle_in_Tex
Super Star Member
buckeyefarmer
Epic Contributor
MossRoad
Super Moderator
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2001
- Messages
- 66,526
- Location
- South Bend, Indiana (near)
- Tractor
- Power Trac PT425 2001 Model Year
comancheflight
Gold Member
I am a flight instructor CFII, commercial pilot, advanced ground instructor and instrument ground instructor. I do not have rotor.
Flying fixed wing is something that requires lots of time and practice only because everyone grows up riding in cars and therefore it comes naturally. Since most have never been in a cockpit everything has to be learned over and over. You practice with a flight instructor till you get it right and then you practice till you can't get it wrong.
You can learn in a typical nose gear vs taildragger requires about the same time from someone with zero time. It's not harder, just different.
As a side note I had a student that threw up every time we went up. Flights usually last around an hour and later on a little more. He it took a while to get that amount of time before he would throw up. He was persistent and ended up getting certified and is flying to this day. I learned, from him, doughnuts and coffee are the worst to hurl up in a cockpit. Orange juice the best. It smells the same going down as it does coming up...be kind to your Flight Instructor.
Flying fixed wing is something that requires lots of time and practice only because everyone grows up riding in cars and therefore it comes naturally. Since most have never been in a cockpit everything has to be learned over and over. You practice with a flight instructor till you get it right and then you practice till you can't get it wrong.
You can learn in a typical nose gear vs taildragger requires about the same time from someone with zero time. It's not harder, just different.
As a side note I had a student that threw up every time we went up. Flights usually last around an hour and later on a little more. He it took a while to get that amount of time before he would throw up. He was persistent and ended up getting certified and is flying to this day. I learned, from him, doughnuts and coffee are the worst to hurl up in a cockpit. Orange juice the best. It smells the same going down as it does coming up...be kind to your Flight Instructor.
Last edited:
downsizingnow48
Elite Member
I had an uncle who made one for himself. It was a time when Popular Science had small helicopter and gyrocopter kits advertised in the back pages. He thought the kits were too expensive. So he made one from scratch. He wanted it to scout old mining claims in Arizona. For the test flight he chained it down so it could only get a foot off the ground. One of my other uncles was there to help. He started it up and took it up to the limits of the chains held it there then brought it down. Then he climbed out said "too e**ing scary" and immediately started taking it apart. That was it for the helicopter.
