My experience was similar to Balance Trim's. I was perfectly happy, had a PPL(A) for a year or so, flown all over the country during my first full summer of flying, and then for something different I took a trial heli lesson. Half an hour, and I was hooked. I fought it, I really did. I said I was just going back for a day, then I said I'd just learn to hover. Then I did a quick calculation, and decided I could manage to get a PPL(H) without completely bankrupting myself, but then just fly once a month or so, which maybe I could afford, and stick with f/w the rest of the time. As the date for my GFT came closer, I began to realise that was never going to be enough. After I was told I'd passed my GFT, my first question was about going commercial. You see, I just HAD to keep flying helicopters, which meant I was going to have to get paid for it, somehow, someday...
While I was learning to fly helos I got a bit confused switching between the two, but that could have been because at the same time I moved to a different airfield and was trying to learn to fly a new f/w type! The consequent overload meant I had to keep reminding myself what I was flying. Although the airfield was happy for me to fly solo (f/w this is), I didn't feel confident, and for a while I always flew with someone else. But after a while that sorted itself out, and it's not really a problem now. Helis are much more fun, for the same reasons everyone else has mentioned. But I like flying both, and I'm determined to keep both licences if I can manage it, though it's difficult in terms of both time and money. Another thing is that R22s aren't really touring machines; they're small and uncomfortable. I have flown from Wolverhampton to Paris in one; I enjoyed it but don't recommend it really. Which means unless I can afford a bigger helicopter - or get paid to fly one - I prefer f/w to tour, helicopters to play
