Any Helicopter pilots?

[xd4life]

I am looking at some helicopter flight schools. One being Silver State, what all should one look for when choosing a school? Are pilots in that much of a demand? What are some of the pro's and con's of the job, I know it kinda depends on what or who you fly for. Relastically what kinda pay could I expect?

[aphexafx]

Dum dum info question (I hope xd4life doesn't mind): Are modern helicopter operating systems self-stable? Meaning, if you (pilot) let go of the controls, does the helicopter stay stable and perhaps drift, or does the pilot have to work to keep them stable at all times, manually?

Just curious. Ignore me if you want.

[Dhunter55]

I hear the US Army has a program.

[PackerfanXD]

I'm not a pilot but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night...

[cid_ayrbourne]

Originally Posted by aphexafx

Dum dum info question (I hope xd4life doesn't mind): Are modern helicopter operating systems self-stable? Meaning, if you (pilot) let go of the controls, does the helicopter stay stable and perhaps drift, or does the pilot have to work to keep them stable at all times, manually?

Just curious. Ignore me if you want.

Basically, if you let go of the controls on a helicopter, it's tendency is to land. As the pilot, you are constantly control the pitch, deflection, and speed of the blades which determines you movement (pitch controls forward/hover/reverse motion, deflection - combined with your tail rotor - controls turning, and speed controls your lift) if you're not actively varying any of those factors, the craft tends to level out and descend.

Which isn't to say you won't crash it, but helicopters are actually easier to handle in most emergencies than an airplane. Assuming nothing has damaged your main or tail rotor.

[KnightHawk]

Originally Posted by cid_ayrbourne

Basically, if you let go of the controls on a helicopter, it's tendency is to land.

Which isn't to say you won't crash it, but helicopters are actually easier to handle in most emergencies than an airplane. Assuming nothing has damaged your main or tail rotor.

Fixed wings have a large measure of inherent stability and most will continue to fly along with any control input. A complete loss of power means you are now Pilot In Command of a very heavy glider but, depending upon glide ratio, you have some time and distance to find an emergency landing zone.

A rotary wing bird suffering complete loss of power must begin emergency autorotation procedures immediately and it ain't goin' to be easy. They just don't make good gliders.

Stability Augmentation Systems (SAS) make rotary wing flying a little easier and some birds do have an autohover mode but flying helicopters is much more complex than flying fixed wing.

[blefferd]

auto rotation is just a fancy word for you are not going to smash into the ground at 50 knots instead of 150

join the army and fly a real helo with a gatlin gun mounted to the nose and missles mounted to the side

[beardman2]

Originally Posted by xd4life

I am looking at some helicopter flight schools. One being Silver State, what all should one look for when choosing a school? Are pilots in that much of a demand? What are some of the pro's and con's of the job, I know it kinda depends on what or who you fly for. Relastically what kinda pay could I expect?

My brother in law was going to school for it. Has his private and instrument rating. Ran out of cash.

They are being flooded with pilots IMHO right now. In fact he had to wait almost two months for his check ride because there is such a backlog. One of the people in the area that was certified to do the testing quite over some dispute with the FAA.

I believe the impression was that silver state was cranking them out a little too fast.

He went to http://www.quantumhelicopters.com/ Seems like a really nice place. It's fun to watch them do auto rotations out there.

Keep in mind its EXPENSIVE. $235 an hour if I remember correctly.

Growing up I always wanted to be a pilot. Life went another way. If I were doing it now I'm not sure I'd do the helicopter route. Jobs seem cooler but more limited.

[KingAirDriver]

I'm really jealous of our rotor guys here at work; their job looks really fun. I'd give my left nut to fly helicopters, but I've already invested so much $$ and time into my fixed-wing career that I can't really start over again. They do stuff we can't do, but we do stuff they can't do too. I remember one time I had one of our rotor pilots in the right seat on a flight; it was a nice, clear day, with a few clouds here and there. We got right up to one cloud one time and WOW, he go so nervous!!! It was kinda funny.

Anyone ever been down to the Gulf Coast? Galveston, TX to be specific? We've done a few flights down there before and I'm always in awe of all the rotor operations that go on down there. It's a huge base for several of the companies that fly helos out to the off shore oil rigs. When they get going in the morning it's just like a bee hive...really cool to watch!!

I love flying fixed wing, but helicopters...that'd be my real dream!

[retired]

I have flown in numerous ones on duty and have always had a dreaming of flying one, but I know it will never occur.

When I was in school in L.A., my friend and I used to talk about flying one of those 2 man mini choppers, landing on top of the school roof and just walking downstairs to class. Dreamers.

On duty, I have been in a 4 seater, a 2 seater, a Sikorsky and a Chinook. The latter was during the Northridge Earthquake and took pics of the all of the damage, including the fwys. Especially the one where the LAPD motor officer drove off and died. That was one noisy bird; even with the earplugs. The Chinook was twice a day for over a week due to the quake damage.

Most of the guys on my former dept. were former Viet Nam Vets and could do some amazing flying, especially during dangerous mountain or sea rescues.

Let me win the lotto; then I'll take the classes and buy one if I make it.