Hi all, a new poster here trying to gather information on helicopter ownership. At this point I am simply trying to figure out if this is something worth pursing, and/or if a helicopter would even fulfill the needs of my family. Depending on what I am able to find out, we may end saying to ourselves "what were we thinking", or at least what was "I" thinking
I received my helicopter PPL in a R22 nearly 3 years ago but failed to stick with it after that. My brother recently received his fixed wing PPL, and now we are both undecided whether to pursue additional training (ie. IFR, multi engine) in helicopters or fixed wing. Naturally as a helicopter fan, I am trying to convince my family that a helicopter can accomplish our goals, but the truth is I'm not so sure?
Here is the situation. My family is looking for alternative transportation for traveling roughly 400nm as the crow flies. My parents own several ranches in Montana in close proximity to each other (50-100 nm), however we all permanently reside in a different state, as I stated earlier roughly 400nm away. Not only are we looking to travel to Montana, but being able to hop between the different properties is a big plus as well. A fixed wing obviously has the advantage in speed and range, however the short range flexibility of a helicopter to land nearly anywhere would also have its advantages.
I guess my first question would be, is it common and/or practical to use a helicopter for medium range transport such as this? Or is this typically not done in helicopters? Obviously it depends a lot on the helicopter, but we've considered an EC120, MD600n, or even a twin like the Agusta A109c. The latter seems like the best (and costliest) choice to me, as it is IFR capable and twin engine, which would be very beneficial in the climate/terrarin we have here in the Pacific NW. Not to mention that it is faster and has greater range.
Another question is, how realistic would it be for a PPL or even a CPL w/ an IFR rating, 200 hours, and the necessary type rating fly one of the above mentioned machines? I know that as a profession, anything less than 500hrs is considered low time, and most companies won't hire you for turbine with less than 1,000, let alone twin engine? Is it ridiculous to think that my brother and I could, or even should fly privately, a light single turbine, or a A109c? Would we even be able to get insurance with a IFR and type rating, and 200 hours, or would no one want to touch us?
I have many other questions, but wanted to first get the opinions of professionals before going into other details if a) a helicopter can do the job we need timely and effectivley, and b) how much experience would we realisticly need to pilot the machines listed above?
Thanks for any and all advice, and I apologize if my questions may seem a bit out there
