1st Helicopter flight ever for me today!

[Kengineer-130]

Well,
I finally flew a Helicopter today!!:)...... I had a 30 mins trail lesson at wolverhampton Heliflight, and I can honestly say it is THE most amazing flying I have ever done! I have a PPL A, and a glider solo, but helicopters are somthing else..... I don't think the ear to ear grin left my face for the duration of the flight, luckily I had a fantastic instructor (thanks Jules :ok:) who gave me lots of control of the aircraft, and after a brief flight around, brought us back to the airfield to do some hovering.... did all 3 controls in turn, then collective and pedals together, then had a few mins to hover on my own,(obviously being carefully watched and followed through by the instructor!!) which I managed to keep fairly well stabilized, which surprised me and the instructor! Then we had to land, as 30 mins had gone like 30 seconds :(

Great experience, only problem being now that I need to find a HUGE sum of money to do the PPL(H) :ugh:, as I am now totally hooked :ugh:... So big thanks to Heliflight and Jules for the flight, can't wait for another go when I can afford it....

[Good Vibs]

:ok:Good for you & congratulations. I guess thats why many of us still enjoy our work flying helicopters, including myself after 18,000 hours.

[Peter-RB]

K130

Passed my Heli PPL(H) 10 years ago, I still get a huge buzz and even bigger smile every time I go up in any eggbeater, flown with many good pilots and find they are just the same, get the cash and DO IT, you know it makes sense!

Peter R-B
Vfrpilotpb:D

[NickLappos]

Welcome to the fold of folks who love helicoptering! The bug bites hard, doesn't it?

I remember my first flight in 1968 like it was yesterday - the tall grass on the edge of the Ft. Wolters stage field waving in the chin bubble as the H-13 just hung there at the request of my instructor, a near-God who could make that machine dance if he chose to!

It doesn't go away, Kengineer, just keep feeding it!

[tottigol]

That grin you are talking about is exactly how I felt when my instructor lifted the TH-57 to a hover @ South Whiting Field way back when.
"Man this looks easy" I thought, was I ever wrong!
I can only imagine how hard he had to work to compensate for my erroneous inputs on my own first hover attempts.:rolleyes:
Welcome to the realm of hovering, I hope you keep enjoying it for as long as you can.:D:D

[206Fan]

which I managed to keep fairly well stabilized, which surprised me and the instructor!Ive only done 3hrs in the R22, going overseas to do the PPL (H), to expensive here in the UK, school in northern ireland charge 280 a lesson which i was with, flipn joke.

Well i was the same when i done my 1hr trial flight, biggest smile ever, i flew most of the flight, i lined her up with the runway on return to the airfield and the instructor done an auto from 1500 to show me what it was like, left my stomach at 1500ft i think, awsome.. Went over to do some hovering, as same with yourself, done each control in turn then he let me have full control of the 22, took me a good 5mins to try an steady the twitchy feker then i managed a good stabilized hover, hek did i surprise myself, instructor was very surprised. Wel when he told me to do left pedal turns i couldn't keep her at a steady height due to the tail rotor shaft draining power from the main rotor which caused her to descent on which i didn't know that but soon found out when i got reading bit of the Principles of Helicopter Flight book but all in all i loved every minute of it as with yourself.. Sorry i bragged on there:O

[Graviman]

Keng,

You get exactly the same camaraderie with helicopter schools that you do with gliding airfields. I miss the old K7,8 & 21s as well as the only mildly sane fun we used to have at the airfield on Guy Fawkes and Xmas. I've just had a weekend of demanding flying over Scottish scenery that takes your breath away, and that gentle apron touchdown is just as satifying as getting the wingtip right for next cable launch.

It is much more expensive than gliding, so i have to fly in blocks when i feel i can make the financial stretch...

[Emerscape]

Hey Keng,

Just thought I would add to your excitement of the first time flying. My fiance suprised me with a intro lesson at East Coast Aero Club at Hanscomb field in Bedford Mass. (USA) yesterday. I still can't wipe the grin off my face. I've got about 12 hrs in a fixed wing working on my PPL but never flown a heli before. I got to fly a R44 (mostly because I'm too big for a R22) (6'4" 235lbs) for an hour yesterday doing the same things you did. A little scary at first with winds 20kts gusting to 30kts which made practicing hovering a little tricky but what an adrenaline rush. I'm absolutely hooked. Man...so much fun.

[KeithO]

Keng, welcome to the club! We all know that grin!! I had an awful intro flt in a R22 (with a hotdog instructor who was more interested in the size of his cojones than in my experience) then a few hours in an Enstrom, which is a lot less twithcy than a Robbie, and with a lot more stable instructor, then back into a 22 with a great instructor who really moved me along. Didn't look back, and now got R22, 44, B206, and B407 on my (South African) ticket, and I will NEVER forget the day I first punched to button to fire up a Jettie! 40yrs after seeing a Jet Ranger on a private pad in Essex (England) I got to land one (not mine!) on the private pad at my place outside Joburg and that moment was worth every hard-earned, and rapidly spent, cent!! Keep on going - find the money from somewhere - it beats spending it on drinking & smoking (but probably not loose women...)