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Old 23rd Mar 2010, 03:27
  #58 (permalink)  
212man
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Den Haag
Age: 57
Posts: 6,218
Received 317 Likes on 176 Posts
Without wishing to stir up a hornet's nest, and with the greatest of respect for all the private owners on this forum, it's a fact that to privately own and operate a helicopter requires a degree of wealth that most people would consider to be rich. I think most of us agree that money doesn't grow on trees and that, by-and-large, 'normal' occupations do not allow one to become 'rich.' It is generally true that those who become rich through their own endeavours (as opposed to inheritance or lottery wins) do so because of their strong characters and personalities enabling them to succeed in their chosen enterprise - be it business or sports or entertainment.

Sadly, some of the character traits that lead to such success are mutually incompatible with the traits required of a safe pilot. Steve Hislop and Colin McCrae stand out as well known examples, but there are many more less well known owner/pilots who have met similar ends.

I do not wish to tar every owner with the same brush, of course, and many many owners on this forum demonstrate excellent commitment to safety and understanding. I even know of one owner (of an EC-155) who paid for a CPL/IR and then flew periodically with an operator to 'professionalise' himself (admitedly he also had a full time pilot employee.)

Flame me if you wish, but from a basic human factors perspective, I believe the above to be true.
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