Starting PPL(H) training Saturday morning in R44

[chopper2004]

Tomorrow morning I am taking the plunge and starting training in R-44 Raven

Wish me luck:ok:

[GOT]

Congrats! You will not regret it! =)

[KNIEVEL77]

An R44????

You must have some cash! lol

Us mere paupers have to stick to an R22!

Good luck!

[Pigeon-dodger]

good luck with the r44, why did you choose an r44 instaed of r22?

[Runway101]

Except being overweight (240lb+) I can only think of mountain training in Switzerland that would require the R44.

And in the case of the swiss mountain training it would only be some of the landing sites that you can't land on with R22. And even this fact will probably be disputed by many pilots in NZ...

[4ftHover]

Best of luck Chopper !

My first 10 hours or so i felt a bit queasy on board so i'd lay off the fry up tomorrow morning !!

[206Fan]

My first 10 hours or so i felt a bit queasy on board so i'd lay off the fry up tomorrow morning !!Seriously take his advice, more than likely the instructor will demonstrate an auto-rotation to you so you would need an empty stomach, specially in the robos lol..

All the very best with it chopper and safe flying:ok:

[Brilliant Stuff]

Wish you the very best for tomorrow, I hope the weather will be CAVOK for you.

And try to relax during the flight everything will work better that way.

[RavenII]

Great machine!! Have fun!

[Whirlygig]

Not convinced that an empty stomach is the best advice - an empty stomach is more likely to induce feelings of nausea although, obviously, there won't be anything to actually ...., you might feel worse.

Anyway, by now you'll have had your breakfast (or otherwise). Weather looks good in East Anglia so enjoy!

Cheers

Whirls

[RINKER]

Best of luck you will not regret it . Hope it's a hydraulic R44 ie not early Astro they are a bit of a handfull in the hover when training but the hydraulic Astros and of course all Ravens are great.

[chopper2004]

Well guys it went well, brilliant weather and I went into Exercise 3, handling and hovering straight away. Forgot how sensitive the 44's controls are:ok:

Thanks for your support and yes I will be doing ALL my training in the 44, shame about prices werent lower for the turbines otherwise I'd go for the 206 or 350!:cool:

[What Limits]

Just in case no-one mentioned it to you

1. Low Rotor RPM will kill you.
2. Low G / Negative G will kill you.
3. Rough Running engine First Immediate Action Carb Heat Fully ON / UP
4. Read and understand the POH

Best of luck

[4ftHover]

Chopper

When you have a minute its worth trawling through the AAIB reports. Search under R44.

A great deal can be learned from the mistakes of others.

I printed many off and talked through them with my instructors and i know where the previous poster is coming from.

Happy Landings :ok:

[Dr Mark Cowley]

Rinker don't be too hard on non hydraulic Astro's. I fly all types of R44s as an instructor over many years and have just had my own personal non hydraulic R44 Astro tracked and balanced and it is absolutely spot on. I would not have believed how light and smooth they could be made to fly, with virtually no stick forces. Students get used to most types fairly quickly.

[SASless]

Rujway....perhaps you overlook a rakish young gent who toodles over to his lady love in a Chinook!

Cost is relative to the size of the purse!

[Whirlygig]

Sassy, exercise 26 - Confined Area Operations!!! :}

Cheers

Whirls

[Twiddle]

For a non hydraulic Astro, trim to null the stick forces before starting then pull the breaker, I always used to fly like that and the handling was perfect.

Otherwise the best description of the electric trim in the hover is that of a blind man on the cyclic with you trying to help when he feels it move!

[chopper2004]

Thanks guys much appreciated am studying the revised Norman Bailey's The Helicopter Pilots Manual Volume 1 and picked up a copy of Air Law Operational Procedures Communications by jeremy M Pratt for the Air Law/ basic r/t

[choppertop]

We look forward to a blow-by-blow account of how you find them...

[Whirlygig]

Personally, I thought the Norman Bailey books were the driest, dullest things I've ever read (and I've read Foucault's Pendulum!!)

Try Shawn Coyle's "Cyclic and Collective", anything by Phil Croucher and, if you can get hold of them, the Ray Prouty volumes!

Other than that, either the Trevor Thom books or Jeremy Pratt series are fine for the non-helicopter-specific PPL stuff!

Cheers

Whirls

[Garfs]

All the best with your training.

I too will be doing my training in an R44. My reason is, that its the cheapest option here where I live, no R22's.

[chopper2004]

Hi all

Thanks again for your support and help, went flying again yesterday did Exercises 3 and 4 in the Robbo 44, this time G-RALA as opposed to G-EKYD.
Weather was good barring cloudy and a tad rain but fine.

Book wise, decided on the Phil Croucher JAA Helicopter Studies as it combines other subjects like a bit of Human Performance and R/T and so forth. Very good. Kind of given up on the Bailey books and at the same time the Pooley's JAA PPLH Technical was told wasn't the best.


take care and thanks and if there is any other advice then please give me more tips.

Chopper 2004:):ok:

[Up & Away]

chopper2004
Got started in March with a guy at Fenland on R44 Raven1
3 months now flying on one occasionally two days a week.

I'm half way though training ie.- 20hrs Dual and 3hrs Solo so far
Air Law, Nav and Communications exams passed
Second part of flying course should be quicker.

Best of luck

[John R81]

Going the 44 route myself. Thoughts so far are:

Less skittish than the 22 so in some ways easier to lear on
Confined areas are VERY confined!
When you first go solo that "falling over backwards" feeling is unnerving
Easier for autorotation landings - more mass in the roter = momentum!
Financially - learn 22 + conversio 44 not that far behind (I hope!)

Key failing for me - haven't kept up with the ground exams!!!!!!

Fly safe

John

[affluent boss]

If you are a bit flush with some cash, why dont you make a sacrifice of training on the R22 and donate the extra cash that you would have spent on the R44, to a cash strapped youngster who is still strugling to complete his or her training. They will be forever grateful. Spread the love and the joy. One good turn........

I remember my first solo. I almost rolled the helicopter over to the right on lift off because I weighed just about 100kg. Remember to move the stick to the left of centre before lifting off for your first solo. Wish you all a lot of luck.

[John R81]

With the 44 is an "aft tipping" that you need to be aware of. She lifts off the front of the skids and sits on the back so you need to move the cyclic forward otherwise dynamic rolloever to the rear sets in.

Anyway, the answer is the same: whichever way it moves keep the disc level to the ground. Think of it as flying the disc (not the ship) with the body simply hanging below.

Enjoy