Originally Posted by
RandomPerson8008
I am writing to inquire about recreational helicopter flying in the US. I am a 10,000 hour professional fixed wing pilot (which I realize means nothing in regard to rotorcraft) with a steady airline job that pays well enough. I recently took a "discovery flight" in an R44 and was intrigued by the fun and challenge of flying it. I feel as if I took to it fairly well, able to hover in ground effect with fair stability on the first few tries.
If you hovered that well on your first try then my hat is off to you! You are a savant! Not many people can do that. Seriously!
To get on with it, my questions how intrinsically dangerous is flying the R44?
Congratulations, you have now started a sh*tstorm that will go on for ages and pages
This is PPRuNe Rotorhead's oldest, longest and most emotional topic.
Let me see if I can bottom-line it for you:
1. The Robinson designs have, undeniably, had a checkered past. This has left a bad taste in the mouths of many old-timer's on this forum. The improvements in design, training, maintenance and regulatory aspects (in the US, anyway, i.e. SFAR73) have effectively fixed most of the problems. This will not stop the old-timers from complaining that they are death traps.
2. PPRuNe is an international community. Not all countries have a good track record for maintenance, training and operations. Brazil and New Zealand are, in particular, hot spots for Robinson helicopter crashes and fatalities. You will hear from people only familiar with those environments, loudly, in a negative way.
3. By contrast, in the US Robinson operations don't seem to destroy any more aircraft or lives than Bell operations. This is based on a comparison of fleet sizes and just counting up the crashes. Nobody has come up with any credible fleet hour data. Nevertheless it seems comparable, and in spite of the fact that Robinsons helicopters are piloted by the folks with the least experience.
4. Robinson helicopters are lightweight, low rotor inertial, two-bladed teetering rotorhead machines. You cannot change the laws of physics. By definition they will have less safety margin for a given set of weather conditions compared to heavier, higher inertia machines with more blades. But this is no different than getting in a Champ vs. a Centurion, etc.
5. A large number of PPRuNe pilots are retired military. They have never flown a piston machine in their lives, don't ever want to, think anyone who does is crazy, and even crazier if the piston machine is a Robinson. Again, the fixed wing version of this is "Why the hell would you ever fly anything less than a Citation?", etc., etc.
6. There is no helicopter more affordable to fly than a Robinson, if you are paying for it yourself. Some wag will undoubtedly chime in with "Well, how much is your life worth?", but that is not my point and you all know it!
My opinion: maintain it right, train it right, fly it right, and you'll be all right! In a US environment this seems to be not only possible, but an everyday occurrence, and no different than flying a Bell (noting that my personal limits for wind are south of "gust 30".) The R44 is a very capable machine and you can get some real work and a great deal of personal enjoyment out of it. The attraction is undeniable, and is no different than 747 pilots who buy Champs and Cubs and whatnot to fly for the pure enjoyment of flying.
If I were to earn my rating and fly recreationally, the rental agreement is quite stringent, requiring quarterly recurrent checkouts with an instructor and prohibiting off airport (heliport?) landings. I imagine myself flying for sightseeing on good weather days only.
Lastly, despite my limited ambitions, I think it is best that I pursue the commercial add-on to my fixed wing ATP, because the training hours are no more than 10% extra compared to the private, iirc (you are simply held to tighter tolerances on the checkride maneuvers). Do voices of experience concur?
I am by no means as experienced an aviator as you are. But while I was completely comfortable with my PPSEL, my PPH felt like a license to get killed. I pursued my CPH and am so very happy I did. Plus now I get to fly for both fun and <tiny, tiny, tiny> profit
Another good reason to pursue the CPH is to improve your status with the rental operation and get some of those rental restrictions removed. There is absolutely no point to flying small helicopters when all you do is fly from paved runway to paved runway. If that doesn't seem possible find another school. And if the school is not serious about teaching in a real-world commercial environment, i.e. all your confined landings are in some easy-peasy farmer's field off the end of the runway, find another school.