Super flight in a twin

[Vfrpilotpb]

Must just pass this on to you all, had a full day out with my pal in a Twin Squirril, flew, from Preston up to the South of Scotland after punching through the clouds to come out on top at about 3500 feet, guess what, blue sky all the way to the sun, if that wasn't amazing enough on collecting fuel at Carlisle we watched a load of Army Pumas take of in tandem, if that wasn't enough we then followed them or tried to, they just blasted all the birds out of the trees, whilst we were above them watching them leave us behind, if that wasn't enough we then tried to go through the Horshoe pass in the Northern Lakes, absolutly awsome with crags and cliffs towering above us, but had to turn around due to very low banks of cloud, which no doubt was hiding some pretty hard lumps, my pall the Cpl showed me all the best ways of turning in valleys and although we had to backtrack some 15 miles to climb with complete safety I have had a brilliant days flying in a brilliant machine, and enjoyed the expertise of a very experienced Pilot, but I found the Squirril a real handful to fly, with me more used to Robbies and B206's, perhaps some of you Squirril flyers might confirm , are they harder to handle, or would it be my total newness to this machine.:cool:

[RW-1]

Darn, I'm envious ! :D

Sounds like you had a blast my friend !

[ho lung chun]

The 355N is ok in the cruise but quite a dog at hovering and low speed handling with weight and the wrong winds.
my opinion only.

[Hone22]

Yo! VFR,

were you doing the slight porpoise thingy?

Power changes catching you out with the pedal input?


Just a new machine's all, I found the same things in my first flights and as I don't get enough time in the 350 the initial 5-10 mins, while being "tidy" aren't bang on and if there's a large leg of S & L the ol' feet can get caught out.

The pick-up, general flying etc aren't too bad coming from a robbie, but the landings????? :D

good on ya mate, sounds like an awesome trip, well worth a few beers & packet of crips;)

[Droopy]

Ho lung - I've never had a problem with the "N" at high weight, and we frequently operate at between 95% and 98% of maximum. I'd rather handle an "N" at 2500kg+ than an F2 at 2400+. [a lot of it down to the bigger tail rotor and the strake]

[Vfrpilotpb]

Good evening all,

Hone yes, you got it bang on, I felt like the thing wanted to swim all over the place, and I will admit got my legs all mixed up, tried an approach when at the end of the flight , but wait for it, Came in sideways like a big girls blouse, did not realise when my pal said give a bootfull of right on power application he meant a HUGE bootfull, also the pedals felt really stiff compared with the B206 and the 44, tried to keep those tiny little balance dials in the centre, after about 90 miles I got the hang of it, but that darn little button on the collective kept beating me, and must also admit I became transfixed on those bloody little dials, but after about 30/40 minutes I was in balance and using different power settings, what a machine, what a day, What a PAL.:D

[ho lung chun]

Droopy,
Yes I'm sure most pilot's have no problem with hovering or low speed handling in the 355N, it's just that I'm more used to the R22, and find the Squirrel a real hand full.

[matador]

Of couse AS350/355 SERIES ARE NOT ANY REWARDING AT THE TIME OF PUTTING THEM ON THE GROUND, but other than that the are easier to fly than Bells. After a few hours of work you can come out rather fresh from french stuff but very tired of keeping your eyes on TQ and TOT in 206's.
Regarding to 355N vs 355F's I found big differences at my job. Flying mountain and just about full weight, there's no sweat for a 355N :rolleyes: when we had to do the job with an F1/2 things where quite different for me:mad:
Great machine to do partial landings over stones and so on, nothing to do with 206,s. Just my thoughts after 12 years flying them.
Buen vuelo