I am about to start my private pilot helicopter course. I have been told that learning fixed wing first makes it much easier. I am not sure what to do as my heart was set on rotary but I want to do it right first time. Can anyone please give me feedback on this? Thanks Craig Campbell

Has anyone seen, or read about, that Skycycle? http://www.thebutterflyllc.com/sscycle/gallery.htm http://javimoya.com/blog/youtube_en.php http://www.thebutterflyllc.com/sscycle/images/002.jpg

Here is a good question for the more experienced helicopter pilot or mechanic. A friend of mine that flies a late model Robison R22 Beta II asked this question of a number of individuals and no one seem to have an explanation. This included people at the manufacturer. I believe I know the...

Have been thinking of things to post re;Ag Flying with rotorcraft. I have to pay more attention to my work though! In many of my fields here, they are irrigated with sprinkler pivots. Generally I'll have to fly over them spraying to get the crops underneath. I haven't measured the tallest points on...

Hi, I was looking at pictures of Yamaha's recently announced Deinonychus motorbike, and was struck by how functional and light it looked, due to having been designed around electric wheel-motors: http://www.gizmag.com/go/4686/ Somehow this same barebones functional look reminded me a bit of...

Weather going to **** and I had to make the runway with winds blowing 40kts and cloud deck down to 200. what to do...WHAT TO DO.. and I remembered my old USMC instructor telling me to just go inverted and autorotate to get some altitude. Broke out on top, rolled right side up and continued to an...

Hello I am a 32 year old private fixed wing pilot. An army recruiter promised to get me into Fort Rucker if I joined. Here is the problem - after the boot camp I will still be an E3, to go to WOFT one must be an E5 or better. Question-- can they put in my contract that I am going to Fort Rucker...

Hey Kevin. You know a bunch about the simulators on the market today. I may not be able to fly again for real so a simulator could help to fill in the time. Can you lead me to some affordable simulators available, especially for helicopter simulators. Affordable means a couple thousand or...

A few weeks ago on my last flight I kept having to put the collective lock on and scratch my nose on the circuit approach. Could be nerves, but my instructor noticed and commented "we'll have to get the tail rotor looked at during the next service." When I queried that odd announcement, I was...

Yes, I confess. I don't know much about rotorcrafts. Especially regarding gyrocopters my knowledge is even more limited. However, on the net I just stumbled over UFO HeliThruster. Rumors are that it is rather stable. The manufacturer not only sells kits but also (FAA-?) certified planes. If I...

I was cleaning out my emails and came across this little beauty from BWB. Thought I'd share. bwbill wrote: I took my brother’s small boy Christopher with me to a shopping mall the other day and I lost him for awhile. He approached a uniformed policeman and said,...

For those of you unaware the FAA has issued an emergency AD (2004-06-52) on March 18, 2004 that requires any R22 blade older than 10 years may no longer be used. The basis for the AD is questionable. Little if any documented research was done to verify that the age of the blade has any effect on...

Hello All, I was hoping I might be able to get some feedback/advice from people who have experience in the commercial aviation field. I am trying to make a decision on whether pursuing a career, as a commercial helicopter pilot is realistic. First a little (I promise) bit of background. I am a 34...

I hear some rumors on an updated AH-64X? The updates may be the followings: 5 Blade Main Rotor, Diamond Shape on some surfaces (Specially the tail) a new TADS/PNVS and a new LONGBOW radar (Taken from the commanche's project), also is possible a Fenestron Pusher tail rotor and Fly By Wire controls,...

I'm not aware of any tip-jet helicopters that have made it into production. Please correct me if I'm wrong. At first the idea seems a no-brainer, no torque to counter, no gearbox, should result in a lighter & thus more efficient aircraft. I suppose the devil is in the details. Is the problem with...

It it possible to get into vortex ring state (or settling with power) during an autorotation? A friend at my radio control helicopter field claimed that you shouldn't do a vertical autorotation, because you might enter vortex ring state if you do. This doesn't seem right to me based on my limited...

I can't believe this board is so dead in the water. For some more up to date info and action, visit JH and the alternate forum. I try to keep breathing life into this NG but am giving up all hope. Just check it out...how many posts in how many days vs on JH.....??

Over the past weekend in San Diego, an 84 year old man decided to unstrap and get out of the aircraft while on short final. It killed him of course. He was in a biplane but it reminded me of some incidents when I had passengers who became the emergency in helicopters too. How to handle them? A pax...

The next big helicopter meet that I know of occurs near Cleveland Ok. The last week-end of September. The meet put on by John Spurling of Pro-Drive is one of the good ones. The flying is good and there is usually a poker run and prizes as well as a band and dancing. There are usually some 30...

During the 1970's, Bell came up with a variety of Tiltrotor concepts, including several gunship models. Does anyone know where a good place to start looking for conceptual art or planned specifications would be? Also, isn't a tilt-rotor considerably less effecient than a helicopter in vertical...