What Music Do You Play in your Helicopter??

[splodge]

Any ideas as to good music to play when you are flying..

The most obvious.......

Wagner - Flight of the Valkyries


Also - any quick tips for setting up your comms system for playing music..

[gadgetguru]

surely Adagio for strings would have to rate a mention?

[SASless]

Johnny Paycheck...."Take this job and shove it!" (I ain't working here, no more...):{

[Fun Police]

"It's Raining Men" :} :} but only with passengers!

[evod]

Never play Bob Seigers "Running on empty", your customers will give you a deserved suspicious look!

But really, why do you need music when you have that lovely music maker pumping out the horsepower (for a long time) out the back.

:ok:

[Thud_and_Blunder]

When I was a stude at Shawbury, just a few years ago, I was wandering up Wyle Cop in Shrewsbury when I found a tiny record shop. Inside, I found an album by Simon Jeffes' (RIP) assemblage "The Penguin Cafe Orchestra" that had a track called "Music For Helicopter Pilots" - sold! Took it back to my room and played it; the track I was interested in was nothing special, but 2 other pieces ("Music for a Found Harmonium" and "Telephone and Rubber Band") have since become famous the world over through their use by the advertising industry. "Harmonium" remains my favourite, although the people I used to share a house with may have a different opinion... over-exposure can do that :(

[Whirlygig]

I didn't know there was a recording of this! I learned to play it on the banjo from a mate. When I heard the tune, I asked him what key it was in. All of them, he replied!!

Don't have a sound system , so I sing to myself. This week, I have mostly been singing "In These Shoes" by the late, great Kirsty MacColl. I try not to do it when I have passengers!

Cheers

Whirlygig

[Disguise Delimit]

"Mana Mana" by the Muppets....

[MightyGem]

Also - any quick tips for setting up your comms system for playing music..
Take a Walkman CD/cassette player plus headphones. Cut off headphones. Connect remaining lead to a standard aircraft headset jackplug. Plug into headset socket.

[Arm out the window]

I'm also guilty of singing on no-pax legs, for some reason it's often Jeff Buckley's 'Grace'!
Good helo songs - maybe 'You spin me right round' by whoever that was.
'Born to be wild' - good one to shoot rockets by!
I once flew across to Daru on a low puffy strato cu day, scraping the bottom of the clouds in a haphazard manner with Radio Australia on the HF playing Vince Jones' jazz; one of those nice moments to remember.

PS Didn't realise that Kirsty McColl was 'the late', very sad.

[Whirlygig]

The circumstances surrounding her death are even more sad. SHe was swimming in the sea with her children when a motor boat came along..... he shouldn't have been in that area as it was for swimmers only.

[helicopter-redeye]

"Old red eyes is back" by The Beautiful South

(company song)

:ok:

[Three Blades]

Also - any quick tips for setting up your comms system for playing music.

I received this from a techie at Honeywell:

For a KMA 24H -70 and -71:

If the output impedance of the CD/Tape/MP3 device is high enough (500 ohms) then it could be
connected to one of the unused audio inputs. Pin 14 is an unswitched input and pin 10 is an
unswitched/unmuted input.The KMA 24H does not have a dedicated entertainment/music input.

The Tx Key will mute all audio except transmit sidetone and altimeter warning from the headphone
output and all audio except altimeter warning from the speaker output.

[verticalhold]

Nick Mason the Pink Floyd drummer owns a beautiful AS350B3. Love to know what he plays in flight.:cool:

[The Rotordog]

Some of my friends rave deliriously about the late Jeff Buckley's "Grace" album. I have tried and tried to like it but I find it absolutely unlistenable. Talk about chalk on a blackboard! Jeez, and I kind of liked his father's music.

"You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) " (which is a great helicopter tune) was by Dead Or Alive (a *very* strange band - hoo boy!) from their Youthquake album.

And "Running On Empty" was Jackson Browne not Bob Seger.

Personally, I never liked listening to music while flying, either in airplanes or helicopters. Don't know why. Distracting, I guess. However I do often find myself humming "Three Little Fishes"...an homage to David Janssen in the t.v. movie "Birds of Prey." And like all bad songs that get stuck in your head, once I get started...

[rhmaddever]

Clearly the Airwolf theme tune deserves a mention...

R

[Buitenzorg]

When I was still flying tours:

Pax boarding: "Waiting for a girl like you", Foreigner
Take-off: "Hot blooded", Foreigner
Coming to the first great view: "Requiem" plus another Sarah Brightman song
Coming to the second great vista: "Shine on you crazy diamond", Pink Floyd
Low level on the way back: "Ride of the valkyries", Wagner
Final approach after low level: "Dirty white boy", Foreigner.

When on a job where the pax wouldn't have headsets, on take-off for the first flight of the day, "China Grove" by the Doobie Brothers. After that anything went, although I remember someone looking at me with a funny look on her face as we dived into a canyon with me singing along with Boston's "Long time" at the top of my voice.

[sandy helmet]

Company I used to work for in Canada used to rig up every machine with an input for a walkman/discman - great for those long positioning flights or while bucketing - they used to cut out for radio work too so there was no interference.

How about some System of a Down, the Deftones or Filter, or if you're feeling mellow try out Bhudda-Bar

Guy in our outfit plays the Top Gun soundtrack.......I often wonder what he's thinking........

[NIGINOO]

Surely its the same as driving a car. Usually the louder the music, the bigger the pratt driving the car Should not ones attention be focused on the sounds of the machine.

[i2gofly]

During our tours we had all kinds of music playing from our iPod...but now we just installed XM Radio (satellite) and now the possibilities are endless! It's pretty cool! :cool:

[Haggis Hunter]

Chop Suey - System of a Down

HH:cool:

[davehearn]

once lifted out of welshpool airfield with james brown, i feel good playing. made a big difference to an otherwise quite dull airfield.

[murdock]

Here is a list of tunes I put together on a CD to play when I am flying x-country or just doing some low flying around the beaches on the islands.

For listening to music in the chopper I used to use the Cellset Model GA5000-2M, plug in the music player or your cell phone for those important high altitude phone calls which saved my neck a few times!! Another story! Here is the website for the Cellsets http://www.cellset.com/Aviationitems.html

Long Tall Sally - Little Richard
Nowhere to Run - Martha & the Vandellas
Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
War - Edwin Star
Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress - the Hollies
Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis
Tutti Frutti - Little Richard
Lord of the Valkryies - however you spell it - Wagner
Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Honkey Tonk Woman - Rolling Stones
Miss You - Rolling Stones
Wooly Bully - Sam the Sham and The Paraohs
La Grange - ZZ Top
I Get Around - Beach Boys
Low Rider - War
Danger Hearbreak Dead Ahead - The Marvelettes
Shake Shake Shake - KC & The Sunshine Band
All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
Louie Louie - The Kinks
Dark Night - The Blasters
Ring Of Fire - Johnny Cash
After Dark - Tito & Tarantula
Dengue Woman Blues - Jimmie Vaughan

There you go everybody - I have a few more CD's I will go through for some good flying music and if any of you are interested I have a webstie that I can setup for downloads.

Drive fast and take chances!!!

[CyclicRick]

Cor! Music in your helicopter..I wish!
If I did manage to get any rigged up, I'd say anything that drowns out the sounds of the cab falling apart..go in bliss I say:cool:

[Hughesy]

If i had a unit in the 300/500 i would play that song "the final countdown" by Europe I think. :E

Maybe some Dire Straits, Muse, Billy Joel or something with a good beat.

Or, after the tri-nations and Bledisloe Cup " we are the champions" by Queen. :D

Hughesy :cool: