'Best' helicopter to learn to fly in....
do it in the R22, cheapest and you get the same licence and there are more of them around so more choice in training places but also most likely more R22 at the place you go to, so you won't have to wait ages for a booking during training and later for self fly hire.
Doing it in the R22 will result spending less money compared doing it in a R44 or G2 so you have money left to do an extra typerating.
Also doing it in a R22 or G2 will result in appreciating max power limits, if you train in the R44 you'll never hit the limit which could suprise you on your first flight out with your mates (of course a good school will train for this).
The transition from a R22 to a R44 is very easy.
Doing it in the R22 will result spending less money compared doing it in a R44 or G2 so you have money left to do an extra typerating.
Also doing it in a R22 or G2 will result in appreciating max power limits, if you train in the R44 you'll never hit the limit which could suprise you on your first flight out with your mates (of course a good school will train for this).
The transition from a R22 to a R44 is very easy.
How many R44 pilots do performance planning when taking that extra weight? Or do any, ever?
A former instructor colleague didn’t even understand how to read the max MAP table, always setting the field elevation on the altimeter. So who taught him? And how many other people had he failed to teach performance planning in light pistons properly?
Last edited by Torquetalk; 10th Dec 2023 at 22:39.
Really impressed you’ve met every R44 pilot and found them wanting at W&B, though strangely I can’t remember meeting you, or you might have realised there was at least one exception. Other exceptions might also be available.
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the “do any“ referred to the planning, not R44 pilots. And I was addressing the importance of performance planning in the R44, not weight and balance. Doing that bit won‘t tell you anything about whether the aircraft is within its performance envelope for the intended conditions.
A lot of R44 accidents are the result of running out of power having run out of airmanship. But this fairly common accident cause is not part of the SFARs applying to Robbies, nor was it part of my UK type rating/s. Sure you should have learnt this knowledge skill as part of a PPL(H), but it strikes me as a Cinderella subject that gets lip service as best. Ovc000’s point about training in the R44 with plenty of power in hand, then filling the seats and getting a “surprise“ is important.
Now all of THAT, I can agree with. In fact I most frequently fly two up with passenger weight no more than 400lb, and even with full fuel, neither W&B nor power is going to be a problem over the East Anglian prairies that form the large part of my home turf. But I will be trying mountain flying next year and all those graphs are going to be pored over in extremely close detail.
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