PPL(A) and PPL(H) Pilots.
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I fly both for a living, but my personal transport is two seats on an LAA permit.
I love the challenge of the helicopter and after 10,000+ hours on them I still stand in awe of what they can do, but on a cold winters night then the jet wins hands down!
As someone said earlier, there's not a lot of point in a PPL/H unless you can own and keep it at home, also FW are better on grot days.
SND
I love the challenge of the helicopter and after 10,000+ hours on them I still stand in awe of what they can do, but on a cold winters night then the jet wins hands down!
As someone said earlier, there's not a lot of point in a PPL/H unless you can own and keep it at home, also FW are better on grot days.
SND
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Thanks for all of your replies.
Just one other question, i've not looked at any fixed wing accident statistics but is either form (helicopter v fixed wing) inherently more accident likely or are they about equal?
Just one other question, i've not looked at any fixed wing accident statistics but is either form (helicopter v fixed wing) inherently more accident likely or are they about equal?
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Good question. Looking at the monthly AAIB reports it is clear to see that there are more FW incidents than RW. This is perhaps due to the fact that there are possibly more FW GA hours flown than RW GA hours, so statistically an incident is more likely.
Whether people are killed / seriously injured more often in RW accidents than in FW accidents - well I am not sure.
My flying has almost been exclusively FW, I have done a couple of hours RW and I thought it was amazing. However, I can't justify the cost and continue to get great enjoyment from my FW flying at a fraction of the cost.
In terms of learning to fly FW / RW, I can't offer much insight. Although there are no doubt a few 'gotchas' for example the stall warner goes off in a FW natural instinct is to push the nose down. Low Rotor RPM buzzer goes off in a Helicopter, the unwitting (experienced FW pilot) may be inclined to push the cyclic forward (unloading the disc and reducing RPM further) which would be a bad day for all concerned.
Whether people are killed / seriously injured more often in RW accidents than in FW accidents - well I am not sure.
My flying has almost been exclusively FW, I have done a couple of hours RW and I thought it was amazing. However, I can't justify the cost and continue to get great enjoyment from my FW flying at a fraction of the cost.
In terms of learning to fly FW / RW, I can't offer much insight. Although there are no doubt a few 'gotchas' for example the stall warner goes off in a FW natural instinct is to push the nose down. Low Rotor RPM buzzer goes off in a Helicopter, the unwitting (experienced FW pilot) may be inclined to push the cyclic forward (unloading the disc and reducing RPM further) which would be a bad day for all concerned.
Last edited by b.a. Baracus; 27th May 2013 at 08:38.
Not sure why people think you need to own a helicopter to make it worthwhile to learn. As Whirlybird says, it's perfectly easy to rent one when you want; but obviously fewer places to do so compared to fixed-wing.
As to the training - you may well take a bit longer to solo in a heli, but overall the time would be similar to FW. I used to get very tired too after lessons, but it gets easier as you start to do more things subconsciously.
As to the training - you may well take a bit longer to solo in a heli, but overall the time would be similar to FW. I used to get very tired too after lessons, but it gets easier as you start to do more things subconsciously.
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I hold an ATPL(A) and an ATPL(H) and I always have more fun rotary.
B777 in the day job, A109 ad-hoc when I can.
The A109 is far more enjoyable to fly. (Probably because it can't manage 14 hours unbroken flight!
)
Have fun!
B777 in the day job, A109 ad-hoc when I can.
The A109 is far more enjoyable to fly. (Probably because it can't manage 14 hours unbroken flight!
)Have fun!
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B A Baracus,
Yes it would be interesting to see the percentage accident rate of aircraft flown to see which sustains the most accidents.
And as your post suggests, perhaps it is unadvisable to train on both at the same time as getting out of a fix may actually get you further into a fix!
Yes it would be interesting to see the percentage accident rate of aircraft flown to see which sustains the most accidents.
And as your post suggests, perhaps it is unadvisable to train on both at the same time as getting out of a fix may actually get you further into a fix!
