Must have helicopter stuff
 

Hey,

Will begin my PPL(H) in February, just wondering if there's anything which I "must" have. Like a bag or a pair of sunglasses or whatever... :}

And if, any good advise and links?

GOT

1) clean underpants.
2) Aviator sunglasses.
3) Copy of Chickenhawk.
4) Packet of 3.
That just about covers the lot.

The ability to throw money up in the air and keep smiling!

If your eyes are sensitive to light, you might want some sunglasses; preferably with thin arms and the sort that wrap around. You might prefer to wear gloves; leather golfing gloves or driving gloves are cheaper than the proper flying gloves and serve the same purpose.

Other than that, you instructor will be able to advise as you progress through the course.

You will need study books for the exams and eventually a flight computer, charts, pens, ruler and protractor, a kneeboard and a bag to carry it all in, nothing fancy though; I use an old briefcase.

Cheers

Whirls

1.Tan
2.Open necked shirt
3.Medallion
4.Tooth bleach
5.Shades

SB

Were abouts you doing your PPL GOT??

A HELMET! you will only need it once!:cool: Think it over, probably one or two here on this site would agree.

Other than that don't forget your flashlight for DI's, small calculator for W+B/Log Book addition (or to show your customer why you can't lift it!:ugh:) and a really good coffe mug to keep you company when the weather heads south!!

gloves and a kneeboard ...whatever next !!!!! I think they do about as much good as putting gold stripes on your shoulders !! ( i tried the stripes once ....made no difference to my flying at all . The gloves made buttons and bra straps very awkward too.)
possibly some of the best advice would be to take a lot of the rubbish written by wannabees and ppl,s with a pinch of salt !!!:D I suggest you get a life , dont worry about the gloves and glasses and just go flying ........:rolleyes:

Of course nigelh, your advice was so erudite, there was nothing I could usefully add so I thought I'd give a stupid answer!

Cheers

Whirls

So, Nigel - exactly how long have you been wearing a bra to fly? Sussies and stockings under the trousers maybe, but a BRA? Man - that's weird!!

:\

Never mind the bull****, just get a pair of good quality sunglasses, you really WILL need them. After that the most important things you'll need will be determination and diligence to get you through the low days when it will seem you can't do anything right (the first of these will be trying to hover in spaces smaller than a football field) and a hefty bank balance to see you throught the full course.

Most of all, relax and enjoy it!

PS - I don't propose to come between Whirls and NigelH so you'll need to decide as you go if bras and other recommendations offer any practical advantage!

The co-pilot / student wears the bra ....you twit . :ugh: ( apart from thursdays ..........nothing weird , its just a hobby ) and before you ask yes i am an instructor and no you cant have any lessons ....thursday or any other day.:=

Ooh, so you're an INSTRUCTOR? :cool:

No lessons for me though? Shame. Perhaps I'll never get this flying lark sorted out. :sad:

knew youd be impressed////i think it means i can have an extra stripe on my shoulder too:ok: perish the thought you were being sarcastic :eek: tell me you werent !!:{

Sarcastic? About the bra etc, or the lessons?

That I can believe.

And_you_never_use_a_kneeboard_eh?

Cheers

Whirls

You will definitely need a 2 o’clock daisy, not sure where you can get them though:)

Just enjoy it, and good luck.

R1a

Thats unfair !!!! throwing my own B******T back in my face like that. Not very lady like.

Why do helicopter pilots more often wear helmets than pilots of light fixed-wing aircraft?

Which is to say, pilots of light fixed-wing aircraft NEVER wear helmets, while helicopter pilots sometimes do.

Like you say, you only need it once.

I guess most light aircraft crashes are either fairly minor, or fatal. Are helicopter accident patterns different?

Or are helmets just too dorky for words?

I'm so sorry nigelh, I thought for a moment that I had a worthy opponent; seems I was mistaken :}.

I shall now put my bra back on (provided not too much of it has been burnt) and behave like a lady in your presence.

Cheers

Whirls

Wow, what a forum so many replies =)

I'll be doing my PPL-H and the rest of my licenses in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Is there any recommended/most popular glasses out there? Is there no need of a headset of your own? How useful is a kneeboard, I mean, how are you suppose to write something on it when you're flying....

GOT

Crosshair

You have to accept the fact that helicopters crash more per hour than fixed wing. Plus those big whirly bits tend to trash the cab a bit more and send all sorts of debris flying.

R1a

At the risk of incurring nigelh's mirth again ....

Sunglasses are your own choice but they shouldn't obstruct your peripheral vision nor interfere with the comfort of a headset.

As for headsets, check with the school but helicopters usually come fitted with them but this isn't always the case.

If you have an excellent memory (like nigelh), then you may not need a kneeboard but I use one for writing down the ATIS information (i.e. initial pressure, wind etc) plus take off and landing times, start and finish fuel quantity and datcon readings. You can also use it to write down all the frequencies that you'd need en route.

Cheers

Whirls

Whirls,

Yeah, that make sense. Just compared to fixed-wing where pilots tend to write down a lof of instructions on the kneeboard.

My school have R22 with headsets, but I just thought it would be nice with a couple of own ones...:rolleyes:

GOT

and if they aren't, how did you find your way to the doctor's for the medical?

:E

GOT
There are people here who will try to wind you up.You only require 1 item to get you through training,
lots & lots of MONEY, save all you can, you will require more than you think, at times you will wonder if you were totally sane to start the training,( I expect friends have already pointed this out to you :sad:) but most of all the enjoyment will be so intense you wonder how you lived before the madness gripped you.
PS. Never had trouble with bra straps, please advise if gloves type approved? or of spurious manufacture,:E

GOT,

In my personel oppinion, I wouldn't bother with gloves, kneeboards, headsets, helmets, aviation bags, etc. All these things cost money u know, money better spend on flyin'.
If I was u I would just get myself a good pair of sunglasses and a masseuse for when ur learning to hover.

Good luck in Feb. and enjoy...

I'd go for a nice set of Ray-Ban's mate. I've tried a lot of different sunglasses, some quite a bit more expensive than Ray-Ban's but they seem to be the best wearing and last the longest. Some models have nice thin arms as well, therefore you don't get a headache when you have them on all day with a headset.

As for the headset. You probably will want to invest in one sooner or later if you are planning on making a career out of this. I recommend the Bose or the new David Clark X11 (Helicopter version should be out later this year, or early next year). They are pretty pricey, but again if you are going to make a career out of this you will want something good and light if you can afford it.

Most of the other stuff really is pilot preference. I don't wear a kneeboard, just a clipboard or whatever I find lying around the cockpit that I can write on, however I do fly a aircraft with an auto pilot therefore not much need for one. If I remember though I did use one when I was in flight training.

I suppose if you want to look the part you could get gloves, a helmet and pair of goggles, oh and don't forget the scarf and leather jacket. ;)

Hope this helps.

The gear you need.
 

I always used a ball cap but you have to break off the little button on top as the headset will drive it into your skull and it will hurt....a lot. Good pair of glasses with some thin arms, comfortable pair of shoes (do NOT EVER wear sandles or loafers) just runners or hiking boots, an E6B is handy to have. If you are serious look into a helmet but I wouldn't rush out and buy one as they are not cheap.

More important is how to prepare for your flight, make sure you understand what is expected of you and review it the night before, get a good nights sleep and eat a light breakfast like yogurt, a bannana, and a gronola bar, stay a way from acidic drinks, acidic fruits, no eggs or milk.

Don't buy ANYTHING before you start. Find out what you need as you go along and what works best for you.

Everyone says you HAVE to have sunglasses, don't they. But I hate the damn things and never wear them. I finally bought a pair the year I was instructing fulltime, as I was getting headaches. But if I'm doing less flying that that - ie less than 4-5 hours a day - I don't bother.

Kneeboards? I like them - you can write lots of stuff in advance, and if you have the ones with pockets, you can have everything to hand (eg sunglasses!). Some pilots hate them and I even knew an instructor who told all his students categorically that they shouldn't use one...how's that for insisting everyone does things your way!

I'm almost never seen a flying school helicopter that doesn't have headsets in it.

So get started, and take it from there. The only thing you'll really need, starting at this time of year, with the weather as it's likely to be in Northern Europe, is patience.... :(

I wouldn't wear a kneeboard myself and would be unhappy about a second person wearing one in the other seat. They are genaerally over-sized and could cause a control restriction in some circumstances, for example on sloping ground (take your instructors advice on this).

However, I do use a double width, folding A4 sized clipboard (from a stationery shop, nothing overpriced from an "aviation specialist"), which holds a PLOG sheet and A4 sheets of paper with relevant info for my flight, such as landing site photos and sections of 50,000 map for use when finding them. I also temporarily clip on the flimsy A5 pages from Jeppesen's etc. to keep them ready for use and stop them blowing on the floor between the yaw pedals at an inopportune moment.... The clipboard is placed well clear of the controls, either behind the other seat or alongside if it's not occupied.

A pad of "Post-it" notes or similar is extremely useful. The stick-on sheets can be used for book-marks (they won't fall out of your VFR guide) and for writing down frequencies and other information in advance; I often stick these onto the folded nav. chart.

A small torch is always useful, especially at this time of year. I have a small Maglite (2 AA type) converted to LEDs.

Sunglasses will be needed at some stage, certainly when you get to the navigation stage. Sitting squinting into sun for an hour is no fun and not a safe concept.

You will need a decent jacket; don't be fooled into buying a nylon one as sold in the aviation suppliers' catalogues - they are totally unsuitable for aviation.

I agree with Whirly here, best to buy stuff as and when you need it, rather than turning up on day one looking like Action Man (helicopter nerd version).

Good luck with your flying.

Sunglasses
 

The general consensus seems to be that sunglasses are probably the only item you really need initially. There is an old thread on which ones here:

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...highlight=maui

I found it useful. I went for Maui Jims in the end - very thin stalks that don't raise the headset and therefore keep the noise out - and there's plenty of it to keep out!

Best of luck with your course - you'll have no regrets.

A copy of Chickenhawk by Robert Mason.

Just relax and enjoy your training. Don't pay heed to the bull..... you have read! Pay attention to what your instructor says.

Sunglasses and kneeboards
 

After years of experimentation, I have found the Serengeti Aviators to be by far the most suitable sunglasses for flying. These are photochromic (automatically adjust density for ambient light conditions), improve contrast in mist and haze, are graduated (darker at the top, lighter at the bottom), have glass lenses whcih are almost impossible to scratch, and have proven to be indestructable. Over a ten year period, one pair which I use every day is still going strong. RayBans usually last me about 2 years before something breaks. Anout $90 U.S. at the discount aviation supply companies on the web.

In 40+ year of flying fixed wing, I have never been a fan of kneeboards. When I began helicopter training a year ago, it became clear that having things close at hand was going to be important, at least for a newbie when flying solo. I tried many of the available kneeboards and forund that all but one were too large and interferred with the cyclic. The one I recommend is quite small (but just large enough) and is marketed in the U.S. under the brand name Sky High. A quality product made of heavy duty nylon cloth with a metal stiffener. Really well thought out and with many more features than I can describe here. About $35 U.S.

Finished the PP add-on in an Enstrom 480B in June, and now finishing the Commercial and Instrument rating. Kneeboard and sunglasses have served me well.

RB

So everything before your own post is bull****? (Third posting from someone not even declaring a licence). :D

The difficulty is knowing what is good advice and what isn't.....

My advice is that you need a visit to your dentist before starting your course. He will need to check your teeth for strength because you will be grinding them when your instructor hands you the controls in the hover.
He will also need to polish your teeth because you will be grinning so much that everyone will see them.

Enjoy

LM

Many thanks for all your answers! I really like this place =)

Essentials?
 

GOT

Just a PPL(H) here but I'd suggest a medical as soon as you can if you want to stay flying. If you intend to fly CPL(H) then you are wasting heaps of time and money to even start without your Class 1 (or Swedish equivalent). You can fly up to solo without the medical pass but if you fail it the money has been largely wasted up to that point.:(

FWIW I agree with the recommendations of RayBans but find some kind of sunglasses essential especially flying in winter with low sun.

Alot of the training manuals can be picked up on Ebay as good secondhand saving a bit more money for the flying.:D

Whatever you decide to get, enjoy the experience. There's nothing quite like the buzz of your first (reasonably) stable hover and first solo circuit.:cool:

Best of luck

Ian

I already have a medical class 1 (Sweden is a part of JAR ;-)), since march. Without that I would not even start my career!

I'll not buy anything until I have started my lessons except maybe for the sunglasses. They could be nice to have anyway. :cool:

I have another question, which is not on topic but anyway...

Do PPL-H have same books as PPL-A? Except perhaps for POF? And what about ATPL? Same there?

GOT