PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - What are the differences between flying a helicopter and an airplane?
Old 28th Mar 2006, 16:48
  #4 (permalink)  
remote hook
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: canada
Posts: 184
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Hey Blender,

I went the other direction, from FW to rotary.

In FW I flew lots of off-strip type work in the mountains, big tires, skiis etc in the summer, and IFR turbo-prop stuff in the winter, with one year spent abroad Base Managing for a large U.S. based outfit.

When I made the move to RW, I thought I knew quite a bit about hands and feet type flying, wind, mountain work, high altitudes etc, etc - I was in for a surprise! Those envirnoments are very tough in a light airplane, but are much more complex in a helicopter, with the consequenses of a screw-up coming faster and harder.

I've also been very impressed with the maintainance and overall attitude in the Rotary world. Things are done better, AME's are more concerned with getting things done right than quickly, and the level of pay is much better. I think this probably has something to do with it.

Perhaps the most interesting difference is the attitude. In Utility rotary work, you need the skills to do the job, long-lining(siesmic, drill moves, construction), mountain work etc. If you don't have those skills, you simply cannot do those jobs. In IFR FW, much like IFR RW, you don't need these hands and feet/decision making skills, and most anybody can be put in the seat and do a reasonable job of it. Because of that, there are HUGE egos walking around, thinking they're God's Gift, but in reality, their greatest ability lies in tieing a half-windsor and applying hair gel in the morning.... In Utility RW work, you walk the walk, or you just don't talk. You can move that diamond drill, or you can't, and everyone knows it. In FW, most pilots I came across in the IFR side of things couldn't fly their way out of a paper bag, yet would have you believe they're the second coming of Geoffory DeHavilnd/Chuck Yeager depending on your country of orgin.

I think there is a level of pride in VFR rotary work that doens't exist in most FW/IFR RW applications, because of the level of skill involved. Now, RW pilots are not the spit and polished bunch that most FW guys/girls are, but their proffesionalism lies in the way they do their jobs, not how they're dressed, or the Mach number their machine cruises at.

Just my 2 cents,

RH
remote hook is offline