EC120 X-C Time

[Mikemv]

To RH-Comm & RH-CFI/II's, I will be moving my EC120 from Sun Valley, Idaho or Boise, Idaho on or about August 22nd, 2008. The flight will terminate at Meachum Field, (FTW), Ft. Worth, Texas. I will consider career oriented pilots only! I may have a CFI RH(flew ABQ to FTW last year) already but not sure so putting this opportunity out here as back up. I never waste this seat/flight time. Many of you have flown with me before. The helicopter time is free, I also pick-up hotels and meals enroute! My Instructor fee is $100/hr. Expect about 12 hours of flight time enroute over at least 2 days with flights up to 12,000'msl and high DA conditions & a re-education about helicopter operations from a 40 yr. veteran.

 

Every year when I post this, I get a lot of stick holders, site see-er's and such. Please, if you are not career oriented/rated as stated do not waste our time. Send me a PM as I am off/home now for a few weeks.

 

There will also be another flight in very late October(29th) from Ft. Worth to Naples, Fl approx 10hrs flight time.

[C.R.O.]

Sounds like a couple of awesome opportunities!

 

Message sent.

 

Conor

[DOIT 1 TIME]

To RH-Comm & RH-CFI/II's, I will be moving my EC120 from Sun Valley, Idaho or Boise, Idaho on or about August 22nd, 2008. The flight will terminate at Meachum Field, (FTW), Ft. Worth, Texas. I will consider career oriented pilots only! I may have a CFI RH(flew ABQ to FTW last year) already but not sure so putting this opportunity out here as back up. I never waste this seat/flight time. Many of you have flown with me before. The helicopter time is free, I also pick-up hotels and meals enroute! My Instructor fee is $100/hr. Expect about 12 hours of flight time enroute over at least 2 days with flights up to 12,000'msl and high DA conditions & a re-education about helicopter operations from a 40 yr. veteran.

 

Every year when I post this, I get a lot of stick holders, site see-er's and such. Please, if you are not career oriented/rated as stated do not waste our time. Send me a PM as I am off/home now for a few weeks.

 

There will also be another flight in very late October(29th) from Ft. Worth to Naples, Fl approx 10hrs flight time.

I'm a CFII 200 hrs 22/44 would love the opportunity. What is PM and how to get ahold of you.

[Mikemv]

To all, thank you all for replying and showing an interest in these 2 flights. I have responded to all of you with my e-mail addy for further commo. I think that I have found a pilot in Idaho to make the August flight. A few others are on the list for the October flight. I have saved all of your names/info/contacts in e-mail file for reference. I really enjoy helping pilots developing in the real world helo operations. Those of you that have flown with me know that I do not fly, "You DO" and get all of the sole manipulator time. Maybe if you beg for a break I might fly a bit, Ha! I expect you to do all of the flight planning/prep and act as PIC to the level of the Certificate that you hold. The August trip is about 1,200+ nms and you can log X-C on this one! Fly Safe, Mike

[C.R.O.]

Thanks for throwing this out there Mike.

 

It's nice to see people who are really out there to help us newer pilots out.

 

Conor

[Mikemv]

To all Pilots that responded, I have selected a pilot to fly the Sun Valley to Ft. Worth route on Aug 22 & 23. Greg Hunt from LA will already be in Sun Valley and this works out great for both of us. There is a short(2hrs or less) leg from Boise to Idaho Falls on the 30th of July that is available for the local Boise area pilots. The October flight is open but all that responded for this flight have been noted and considered. A pilot for the October flight from Ft. Worth to Naples, Fl. will be selected in late September. Thank you all for responding. Sincerely, Mike

[Mikemv]

To all Pilots that responded, I have selected a pilot to fly the Sun Valley to Ft. Worth route on Aug 22 & 23. Greg Hunt from LA will already be in Sun Valley and this works out great for both of us. There is a short(2hrs or less) leg from Boise to Idaho Falls on the 30th of July that is available for the local Boise area pilots. The October flight is open but all that responded for this flight have been noted and considered. A pilot for the October flight from Ft. Worth to Naples, Fl. will be selected in late September. Thank you all for responding. Sincerely, Mike

 

Further Update!

 

Chris Fischer is making the July 31 flight from Boise to Idaho Falls

Greg Hunt is making the August 22 flight from Sun Valley to Ft. Worth

Rich Garrett has confirmed that he will make the Ft. Worth to Naples flight in late October

 

Rich was originally promised both of these flight but due to his Instructional work schedule in August he will only make the October flight.

 

All pilot info will be kept by me and used for future flight references.

Thank You all, sincerely, Mike

[IFLY]

I had the pleasure of flying with Mike from Dallas to Naples Florida. It was my first turbine flight time and I thought I would let you know what I found different from the R-22 I normally fly.

I got to do most of the startup/shutdowns for balancing the TR so that helped get me comfortable with running a turbine again, very similar to an F-4 start.

The first pickup was interesting, with pedals moving opposite of normal for torque but normal for heading took a moment to get used to, really most of the first day. The biggest difference besides that is how much pedal travel you have to use in a hover compared to cruise, you use about 1 ½ - 2 times the physical distance of the R-22.

Who ever said the R-22 was the touchiest helicopter hasn’t flown the EC-120, I found it’s about the same as the 22 only with more momentum. I kept stirring the pot at first just like my students and I can’t figure out why, I have no problems with the 22 even in high winds.

I like this helicopter, it accelerates to 80kts in about the same time the 22 takes to get to 45 so my climb outs were a little late. I haven’t done a cross-country in more than a year so my planning was a little slow and we left late the first day. Holding headings got so bad at one point a departure controller asked if I knew where I was supposed to be going, I did a lot better the second day. On the first leg I practiced slowing down to 65kts a few times before I needed to do my first approach. On my first landing an airplane taxied through my landing spot so it made it feel like I was at home, just did an arc around him and hit my spot anyway. That extra pedal travel almost got me as I came to a hover.

Mike got maybe 10 minutes of stick time the whole 9.4 hours while I changed my charts. I really enjoyed flying with him, refreshed myself on a lot of things Xcountry and learned better ways of doing things than I was taught before. If you get the chance to do this next spring it's the best money you will spend.

 

Jerry

Tucson

[DynamicallyUnstable]

Glad you enjoyed the flight. What a cool opportunity that was. Hat's off to Mike for letting a fellow pilot get into a turbine at such a low rate! Awesome.

[Mikemv]

Hello All, I am back in Naples, Florida until early June of 2009. Then back to Idaho for summer ops. Greg Hunt from LA area is first on the list for the flight going West. Jerry made a factual post that up and comers should note. He pointed out some of the differences and difficulties that he experienced and overcame. This summer I was able to fly with Eric Wettles (my EC120 A&P, AI, CASMELI, RWH), Chris Fischer, Shane Scott and Jerry Hain. It makes me happy to pass on some knowledge of helo flying that I have accumulated in the past 41 years to other pilots. Everyone works very hard in an extremely demanding situation. Most are new to the aircraft, new to turbine ops, new to extended x-c's (1K to 2K nms with altitudes from SL to 12K+), new to High & Hot, new to leather and airconditioning, not to mention flying with an old codger(61+). Most of you have some common errors and short comings due to lack of training (it is the system) or experience that I make a point of going over and re-educating you about. Many learn more during meal times than in flight! Jerry actual did something that no other transitioning pilot ever came close to doing. He made 5 approaches where he recognized the site picture, flew the glide angle to the desired spot and terminated at a hover in a strange aircraft where the rotor turns in the opposite direction. I did the last approach coming into Naples to show him that his were good and close to mine! Kudos to Jerry! These flights are intense in both the planning and flight stages. I know that most of you are Burnt Out at the end of everyday. It is a lot of work. Note that no matter what new aircraft you are going to fly that we all as pilots suffer from being unfamiliar with where our eyes must go to get the information that we want. This may be the biggest obstacle to conquer. Heck, we can all fly a helicopter! I look forward to next summer to fly with more of you. I compliment those of you that have survived flying with me as I am kind of a perfectionist and demanding! Sincerely, Mike

[Parafiddle]

Mike,

You are a truely a gem to offer up these flights to people! Thank you for giving back to the pilot community. Though I haven't started my RW training yet, I still plan to in the future and hope that I can someday fly with you (or with someone like you) and learn from your many years of experience. Thank you.

 

Thanks also to those pilots that were lucky enough to fly with Mike and took the time to share their experiences and lessons learned. This helps all of us become better, safer pilots.

[kodoz]

Mike was kind enough to bring me along for the flight from BOI to IDA. After our first lunch, I got to where I'd keep a notebook handy wherever we went. I still look back on those notes, and now that I'm putting my lesson plans together, I'm looking forward to incorporating what I learned from Mike into what I teach my students.

 

Thanks again Mike, it's this type of mentorship that will improve our skills and training.

--c

[ToTall]

Hi

 

Why isn't there more pilots/ A/C owners like Mike?

 

I wish I had the opportunity to help out but just read the post :-)

 

And since I am European I might get the different torque in LOL

 

Keep up the good work and fly Safe.

 

TT

[shanesplanet]

I made the flight with Mike this summer and I concur with the other poster. I know a lot of people say don't pay for a turbine transition; they have never met guys like Mike. I learned more about the real world of commercial aviation than I ever imagined. That is the knowledge you are paying for. I would like to think that spending the time with Mike will keep me from making some of the rookie mistakes I hear old timers complain about all the time. Anybody can manage a start in a helicopter when trained but learning to be a professional and thinking like a pilot can only be learned from guys who think and act like career pilots. That is why the flights Mike offers are invaluable to us younger pilots.

[Vaqueroaero]

Hi

 

Why isn't there more pilots/ A/C owners like Mike?

 

I wish I had the opportunity to help out but just read the post :-)

 

And since I am European I might get the different torque in LOL

 

Keep up the good work and fly Safe.

 

TT

 

A couple of reasons that more people don't offer flights like this:

 

1) A lot of the time the flights happen at the last minute, which makes it very difficult from a logistics point of view.

2) Insurance and company policies don't allow it.

 

If I had the opportunity I would gladly provide the same service as Mike does, but I'm not the boss. I hate flying solo. Also doing what I do changes happen very fast. For example a few weeks ago a couple of guys were supposed to ferry a 412 from Canada to Fort Worth, but ending up taking a 407 to Nashville.

 

I help out where I can!

Edited November 24, 2008 by Vaqueroaero

[ToTall]

Vaqueroaero I am ready whenever you need some help :-)

 

I do know that and its sad. I hate flying alone to so company is good.

 

For insurance, I think that since you are flying with the owner/licensed pilot

they cant say anything? I am probably wrong here :-)

 

Vaqueroaero I am in Canada