Please can I teach you to hover?

[Whirlybird]

As many of you know, I recently qualified as a helicopter flight instructor. I have work with Hields Aviation, at Hawarden...if I can find my own students. So would anyone like a trial lesson...or more? Hovering is fun! If so, send me a pm, email me at [email protected], or call me on 07813.651722. Hawarden, for those who don't know, is near Chester, and just off the A55.

John Farley, in a recent copy of Flyer magazine, suggested that all f/w pilots should have a go at flying a helicopter at least once...shouldn't you take his advice? ;)

BTW, before any official or self-styled moderators complain at this piece of blatant advertising, it's been okayed by Capt PPRuNe, PPRuNe Towers, and Heliport; in fact, two of them suggested it!

BRL, any chance of making this a sticky for a short while please?

[bluskis]

One bit of infomation missing, how much does it cost to hover?

[maggioneato]

Good question Bluskis. I am a member of Chester Flying School, at Hawarden, so this is local for me. Yes, I am interested, but need to compare how much P1 flying I can do by comparison.

[Whirlybird]

Sorry people, posted rather late after a long drive home, and forgot important things like costs! Here are the rates (in R22):

Trial lessons: 30 mins £145 ; 60 mins £250 (including VAT and landing fee)

Flight Training - £210/hr (plus VAT and landing fee)

[iainpoll]

Whirly,

F/W is making me poor enough as it is!

The thing that stops me is the fear I will love it, but won't be able to afford it, I will then torture myself and go mad....

Good luck to you anyway, when I start making some money I will take you up on the offer:ok:

[pilotwolf]

Any discount for PPRUNErs?

;)

[DRJAD]

Hi Whirly,

I would love to do a PPL(H), but have not the money - FW and doing IMC making me too poor!!!

Had an hour's introductory lesson at Sherburn a few weeks ago, though, and found hovering 'interesting ...'! (There was, apparently, some improvement during the session, but I too easily got into an oscillation and had to re-establish!)

Still, better not go for another lesson too soon, otherwise it will be curtains for the bank balance.

Good luck, though, with finding students: there must be many wanting to take up hovering.

Best wishes.

[Girl Flyday]

I'd LOVE to learn to hover - but at the moment I'm not even managing to keep current on fixed-wing, and so any money I do get to play with will have to go on that...

(The joys of being a student again!:rolleyes: )

[Floppy Link]

Whirly...
is your place at Hawarden a TRTO?
I need an R22 type rating or I won't be able to renew my ATPL(H) when it runs out next year...
FL

[Sultan Ismail]

Good one Whirly, nothing like being up front....

On a technical note, what are the hours required for a PPL(H), if already in possession of a PPL, assuming that the fixed wing skills are well developed?

Your rates are the usual UK "bleed 'em dry", here in Malaysia its RM1500 per hour for a R44 all inclusive.

Wish you luck, and if you want to come over to Malaysia for a couple of months, I'll be your first pupil for the PPL(H).

Sultan Ismail

http://www.geocities.com/si_fc/dscf1642.jpg

[Whirlybird]

Right, let's see; how many questions to answer there?....

pilotwolf,
I would LOVE to give PPRuNers a discount, but don't see how I can, apart from taking it out of my pay. :{ Free cup of coffee for PPRuNers perhaps? ;)

Floppy Link,
To my shame I can't think what TRTO stands for, but I'm fairly certain that you can do an R22 type rating at Hields Aviation at Hawarden, which is what you really want to know. However, I don't think I can do that yet, not sure.

Sultan Ismail,
PPL(A) holders get a 6 hour reduction on the course, bringing it down to 39 hours (takes most people a little more) and only need to do the Helicopter Technical ground exam - exempt from all the others. And I agree, it's not cheap. Malaysia? Nice idea; I'll think about that one. ;)

[Whirlybird]

Floppy Link,
Hields at Hawarden isn't a TRTO, sorry, just checked.

[nimbostratus]

Welcome to PPRune!
When you've contributed as much to this site as Whirlybird, your unkind and sarcastic comments may not be deleted.
Until then ................ :mad:


Heliport
Super Moderator

[nimbostratus]

Whirly,
after re-reading my post it is apparent that it could be taken that I doubt your abililty to teach so I'd like to take this opportunity to clear things up.



Best of luck with your career,
NS

[Genghis the Engineer]

I was once doing a flight test job for/with a flying school and had to drop them a note one friday asking them to list their intended FTOs. I got a very confused phone call on Monday - turns out whilst I wanted to know who their flight test observers were, they couldn't understand my demand for a long list of flying training organisations.

Whirly has my sympathies and support - it's a mnemonic minefield out there. And she has to teach it!

G

[mad_jock]

Give the lady a break.

If the mechanical palm tree FI course is anything like the fixed wing course its full of holes in the knowledge base about pratical everyday stuff.

And if a pilot has been renting all the time previously the first exposure to all the maintence paper work is a real shock to the system.

And whirly stick to your guns and always be honest if you don't know something. Nothing worse than a FI trying to bull**** a student when its the blind leading the blind. If you cock a demo up admit it then explain to the student why you cocked it up. And if you do something which isn't in the normal order of events again explain why you did it.

After getting a couple of students through, the whole syllabus becomes alot more transparent, the theory becomes alot more off the cuf without having to think about it.

There is no better method of learning a subject than teaching it.

If I wasn't a skint FI I would luv to be your first student.

MJ

[strafer]

Nimbostratus,

whatever you do, don't take the p:mad: out of Whirlybird. I made a tongue-in-cheek remark about sexism which she took far too seriously and the whole thread got deleted!

Women. Honestly. ;)

[Southern Cross]

Just out of interest Whirly, (and please note that this is nothing personal at all and I have no objection to your advertising your services and being awarded a "sticky" for doing so) but how did you circumvent the PPRuNe rules regarding advertising? Others have been severly reprimanded for advertising, even when they are not doing so for personal gain but for general information purposes.

Do you think that the fact that you are such a prolific and popular member of the PPRuNe community in this forum (and no doubt the Rotorhead forum as well) helped you to win over the moderators?

Just a question - I hope that you do not take offence since none is intended and as I said, I have no personal objection to your advertising - indeed I sincerely hope that your instructing is going well and profitably!

:ok: :ok: :ok:

[Whirlybird]

Southern Cross,

It's OK, no offence taken...I'm not that over-sensitive.

I really don't know. It wasn't my idea; one moderator suggested it to me, and when I ran it by two others at the Gatbash, they said it was absolutely fine. I think the general feeling was that I'd helped some people on PPRuNe in the past. I didn't know that actually; I just thought I was posting too much as usual. ;) But if you really want to know the answer, you'll have to ask the mods.

[Genghis the Engineer]

I think there's a certain relaxed attitude towards posts which may get a PPrune member gainful aviation-related employment. And why not !

G

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

And Whirly very kindly gave me a lift once. Call in them favours I say.

Good luck with the instructing Whirly - I think you've probably seen enough to know whats good and whats bad; I am sure you'll be a great instructor.

WWW

ps you know no terror as is when walking away from your first sent solo's aircraft :-)

[FlyingForFun]

I can only speak as a happy PPRuNe user, not as a moderator... but I'm quite happy for Whirly to advertise here.

I object (and I think Danny and the mods do too) to people using PPRuNe to advertise their own cause, without putting anything back into it. This is an environment where we all have to give as much as we take - because if we don't give to PPRuNe, then who does?

Whirly has given more to this forum, and probably to Rotorheads too, than the vast majority of posters. She is more than entitled, IMVHO, to benefit personally from these forums after all she has put into them.

Not that my opinion is relevant, but I thought I'd add it in response to SC's question.

FFF
--------------

[PPRuNe Towers]

I wrote to Whirly and said she could have a freeby. Entirely my suggestion and solely because of what she has freely given in time and effort over the years. Try a search on her posts and see what I mean.

She didn't ask. She simply wouldn't anyway. That's Whirly.

Regards
Rob Lloyd

[DOC.400]

Hi Whirly

Just to say I attempted to 'fly' an R22 once -I have NEVER felt so out of control of a piece of machinery in my life!!

:D :D :D

"Never trust a machine whose wings fly faster than the fuselage."

:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

However, had an oppurtunity to fly a single Squirrel this year, that was EXCELLENT!!

Have fun.

DOC

[Noah Zark.]

Hello Whirly.
I was given an hour's trial fright in an R.22 by my family last year, and loved every second of it. Unfortunately, I am nowhere even near being able to go rotary.
But good luck with your career, and enjoy it. Best wishes. N.Z.
The girl done good !!!

[Say again s l o w l y]

Hiya Whirly,

Unless it's changed in the last few months, a PPL(A) needs both Heli technical and loading for the PPL(H), BUT for the CPL you only need principles of flight if you have a CPL(A).(Thogh this may now be out of date if proper bridging exams have come out.) Doesn't make alot of sense I know!!

Good luck.

[BRL]

Whirly. How long would you like this to be stuck for?
Brl.

[Whirlybird]

Er...how about...forever? ;)

Nah, I'm joking, BRL. I guess everyone knows now, and you can unstick it before they all get thoroughly bored with me. Many thanks.

[BlueRobin]

Just finished reading the article in Pilot. Answer: yes, but only in a big Rusky job :D

[formationfoto]

Whirly

Perhaps you could come to Norfolk and teach me how to fly my newly acquired Brantly B2B. Not quite as twitchy as a Robbo but vertainly not as stable as the Bell 47 I really wanted. Very few people in the UK able to do type rating so I am unable to fly it on the UK licence but for some reason the Americans are about to tell me that I can fly it without killing myself. Hope to be able to prevent myself from crashing carrying UK paper work later in the year when a local examiner gets up to speed. In the meantime machine is available for some assistance in improving my skill and giving you something different to play with (providing we get the right pieces of paper in place!). I have a slight feeling that currently we can't fly together as neither of us have UK type rating but by the end of August I should have sorted the US licence.

[Whirlybird]

formationfoto,
I would just LOVE to fly a Brantly! I got really interested in them a couple of years ago when I saw one at Heli-Expo, then talked to someone who owned one. If I could afford it, I'd consider buying one myself. I've never flown one, so I don't know who'd be teaching whom :eek: but when you get the type rating sorted out, if the offer still stands, please pm or call me...I think my phone number is somewhere on this thread.