Flying an R-22, like riding a bike?

[franknyc]

I just have a few questions for the vets here:

 

1. After your private and instrument, what's the minimum number of hours/frequency per-year that you should do to maintain proficiency?

 

2. If I take-off from flying for awhile, say 3-years+ (for family/financial reasons) after 130+-hours, how long will it take to get back to flying? Will I loose it all (learning to hover, etc)? Will this adversely affect my career with regard to insurability and employability once I do continue to get my commercial/CFI?

 

Thanks in advance

[Witch]

Ya know, I'm betting that it'd all come back really fast. The brain is a funny organ that suprisingly does amazing things. Muscle memory and balance are there, it's just a familiarization that'll bring it back all together, and next thing you know, you're flyin'.

 

Personally, even after not flying for 10 weeks, I have no problems operating that machine, sans that frakking carb heat assist. I'm sure it'll come back with no problems.

 

Later

[Goldy]

I just have a few questions for the vets here:

 

1. After your private and instrument, what's the minimum number of hours/frequency per-year that you should do to maintain proficiency?

 

2. If I take-off from flying for awhile, say 3-years+ (for family/financial reasons) after 130+-hours, how long will it take to get back to flying? Will I loose it all (learning to hover, etc)? Will this adversely affect my career with regard to insurability and employability once I do continue to get my commercial/CFI?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Maintaining PROFICIENCY requires a lot more than just getting the ship in the air. I think you need to fly once a month just to keep muscle memory for your private. As far as instrument, I wont even talk about it. Many pilots fly weekly and may not be PROFICIENT in IFR.

 

If you just stopped all together, I would say after 3 years you start from scratch on the instrument stuff, as far as flying, probably take 10 hours or so of dual to get it back.

 

I stopped for 14 years at one point. Couldn't fly the ship, couldnt hover, basically had to start over...oh well, it was only 60 hours forgotten.

 

I bet if you went up with an instructor for 1.5 every six months or so you could keep the basic flying skills at a private level.

[Justin DBC]

Even though I'm going through a bit of a financial SNAFU right now, I make sure I get AT LEAST 2 hours a month. After a month, you're going to start forgeting some of the small things, which end up turning into big problems really fast. If I don't get my personal minimum in, I book a CFI for my first flight up after that.

 

J-

[clay]

I do recurrent training where i work every 90 days, doing full down autos from just about ever phase of flight you can imagine with our company's chief pilot, and at one point we got so busy we passed by our recurrent training and it was about 6 months between flights. I was amazed at how much my skills deteriorated when I did not repeatedly perform full down autos, full down 180's and damn near everything else that can go wrong. My full downs after that 6 month gap were pretty rusty. I could get it on the ground, but they weren't as pretty or smooth as they could be. After 3 or 4 practice ones, it all comes back, and I started hitting the spot dead on every time. It brought up a curious topic, as does your post about maintaining proficiency. here's what I wonder: I fly 3 - 5 hrs a day 5 or so days a week, Depending on weather and scheduling of course. but most of my students are private/commercial level so we focus on power recovery's mainly. If flying that often, yet not practicing full downs made me that rusty, what about pilots that only do the BFR's, and no other training. If they have something happen, are they really going to have the skills to get it down? or are they only going to have the knowledge, and hopefully luck, to get it down? So I would say to stay proficient takes alot of recurrent training. To fly the helicopter? yeah, you can do it. BUT, staying on your game and able to put the helicopter down where you want it, and smoothly without damage, takes alot of practice. sorry if that is a bit off of what you were asking, but your question got me to thinking.

Edited March 5, 2009 by clay

[helipilotm]

I havent flown since october and im going up this weekend in a R-22. I havent flown an R-22 since april of 07 . It should be interesting to say the least . I have over 1,000 in the R-22 so im interested in how its going to go. I will let you guys know how it goes.

[helipilotm]

Well I flew today and it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. It felt weird for the first few minutes and after one lap in the pattern it felt like I hadnt missed a day of flying. When I first picked it up I had a little bobble and that was it. The whole muscle memory thing is quite amazing. When I first picked it up It was almost like I was watching myself fly from the other seat. I wasnt thinking about it but my hands and feet were moving like somebody else was flying. We did a few autos and the first one I was so worried about flying with perfect numbers I messed up the flare. The rest of the auots were great. So like Clay said yeah you can fly the ship but autos might take a little work.

Edited March 8, 2009 by helipilotm

[Sam892]

I agree with above. I think that if you fly every couple months youll be able to do the normal manuevers but your autos, and slopes will be rusty.

[Gomer Pylot]

I've been flying for 40+ years, the last 30 or so full-time, and when I've been off for a week I can feel that I'm not where I want to be. I can hover and fly, of course, but my proficiency isn't what it should be until I've had a flight or two. I recently went almost two months without a flight, and while I could fly, my proficiency had suffered, and I was very careful about things. With a couple of hundred hours, the lack of proficiency is magnified by geometric proportions. You'll be able to hover and fly, but you had better be very, very careful and take nothing for granted. Helicopter flying is a perishable skill, and takes constant practice.

[clay]

question for you GOMER, and this is nothing against you, just using you as an example of a pilot who has been flying alot, and i assume it has probably been a while since you have instructed? If you had an engine failure, how do you feel your skills are? do you feel on top of your game when it comes to your autorotations, or do you feel you have the required knowledge mainly. I KNOW that you can fly. you've been doing it long enough that it is second nature. but aside from your BFR's and a maybe some recurrent training, how often do you practice autos? like I said, this is absolutely no attach against your flying skills, just a question for a pilot that isn't in the flight training environment regularly. Any other pilots in GOMER's position feel free to chime in.

[Eric Hunt]

I'm like Gomer, first solo was over 40 years ago.

Last year i took a year off flying, and surprisingly didn't miss it a bit. Went back to it by hopping into a 412, and it all came back reasonably quickly.

 

Then last month I flew a Robbie, first time since 1994, pulled off some autos and the skills were still there. Old dog, but an old trick. Regained the top instructor rating (expired 7 years ago) in 2 flights. Hadn't done an auto in all that time either, apart from a couple in the simulator, as twins generally don't practice that stuff. So, you should be able to step back into it after a break.

[Liner]

Hi everyone. I've been lurking a bit here, but I'll be flying soon, so I'm on the board now.

 

On the topic, I'll take my first flight in an R22 tomorrow. My last helicopter flight was in May, 1991, so I'm REAL interested to see how much of it comes back!

 

I have 1,200 hours in my logbook, Navy training, carrier-based ops and green ink from "the first" Iraq war. I'll be real chapped if I can't hold a hover

 

Anyway, looking forwrd to learning from you guys as I go along!

 

Take care!!