How did you feel at 11hrs?

[Vindicated0721]

So I've been training in an R22 pt time for about 8 weeks now. I am just shy of 11hrs of flight time. It has been a life long dream come true and I love every second of it. Although I am beginning to get concerned that I suck at it.

 

I can do pick-ups okay. My set downs on the other hand are a bit sloppy. My hover is alright but from time to time it gets real sloppy. My taxing is horrible, and so are my take offs. Flying at altitude, turns, and maintaining altitude are alright. My patterns are alright, but my finals are real sloppy. Radio calls and avionics are alright I guess.

 

Do I sound behind the learning curve? Obviously every single person learns at a different rate and learning faster doesn't mean you are going to be better in the end. I am in no rush, I just don't want to be too far behind the normal curve and realize I suck.

 

What do y'all think?

[jeff.f]

Keep in mind that you are learning a complex set of tasks. I think the worst problem we face is right between our own ears. Sounds like you're doing great!

[ADRidge]

You're doing fine. 11 hours is nothing. Now, if you couldn't pick a helicopter out of a lineup at 11 hours, that'd be a different matter.

[67nov68]

I'am at 20 hours your doing fine but u do need to get at least 2 classes a week so u retain some muscle memory for controls just my newbie 2cents

[Little Red 22]

You're right on schedule. The 22 refuses to land when you're 1-2 inches above the pad. Takes finesse that comes with practice. Try to schedule 2 lessons per week.

 

Susie

[Vindicated0721]

You're right on schedule. The 22 refuses to land when you're 1-2 inches above the pad. Takes finesse that comes with practice. Try to schedule 2 lessons per week.

 

Susie

 

Yeah..I just bumped it up to scheduling 3 times a week starting this week..Which means with the weather around here I might actually go up twice a week..Because I was scheduling two a week and only getting 1..

[r22butters]

You sound about right. Even after I got my Private, I still felt like I sucked at a few things. Now I'm awesome!

 

Confidence will come with time and exposure. If you have the means, try to fly twice a day, three to four days a week. With less down time things will stick better, and you won't feel like your playing catch-up as much.

Edited April 5, 2010 by r22butters

[Chewie]

I felt more nervous at 11 hours than I did my first day

[BOATFIXERGUY]

You're doing great! Don't worry! Everyone SUCKS at 11 hours. I was scared to death and never thought I'd be able to do it.

 

Talk to some other students and this forum about your experiences. You'll be shocked to see they are all the same.

 

Good luck and never give up.

[MileHi480B]

normal

[Goldy]

What do y'all think?

 

Ok, so I pulled out the book. I was at 10.5 hours on December 12, 1987 flying an R22A, N8516K from WHP to EMT.

 

Since it was a cross country, it was probably easy level flight the whole way. I guarantee you the approach was sloppy the hovering to the ground even worse. I can remember if everything went just right, and I kept some forward movement I could get it to the ground. But if the ship actually stopped, and I had to hold a dead hover....hell broke loose.

 

Good tip, maybe keep just the tiniest bit of forward speed as you bring it down to the ground...I'm talking like 1-2 knots...just barely moving, but moving. Can't tell you why now, as its kinda automatic, but I remember back then that it helped keep it under control.

 

At 11 hours, you are lucky you can remember to hold airspeed or altitude, but not both at the same time!

 

As all else have said, you're doing fine....try to keep days off to a minimum, and when you're not flying, you should be reading, testing and thinking...about flying a helicopter.

 

Goldy

Edited April 6, 2010 by Goldy

[Eric Hunt]

How did I feel at 11 hrs?

 

Pretty darn happy, I had just gone solo in a Huey.

[ADRidge]

How did I feel at 11 hrs?

 

Pretty darn happy, I had just gone solo in a Huey.

Is it strange that I'm jealous and terrified at the same time?

[EC120AV8R]

At 11 hours, I think I still felt like a retarded monkey on crack...

[cherminator]

Funny you should ask as I was asking myself the same questions. I'm almost exactly where you are. I'm at 12 hours (I think. Don't really want to know).

 

Pickups are OK but take forever because of my snail-like movement on the collective, waiting for the excitement to begin. Set downs are scary because of my less-than-perfect hover. My R44 dances on the skids for a couple of seconds on the way down. My instructor often has to say "just put her down" or we would sit there forever waiting for the steady hover that never comes (not for more than a second or two anyway).

 

Still quite tense on the controls and can't even wear sunglasses without the AC blowing on my face or they fog up very quickly.

 

My takeoffs aren't there yet either. Either too high too quickly or too fast too low. Trying to keep speed and altitude while turning in the circuit are still somewhat baffling to me, and just the other day my instructor had me make the radio calls AT THE SAME TIME! Is that even possible?

 

I actually did my first approach without flaring too wildly at the hover just a couple of days ago. My instructor barking out instructions and encouraging words (I get that enough in the bedroom) were a big part of that success however. Let's see if I can do that twice in a row.

 

Hover taxi seems to be OK. Really looking forward to a steady hover. When will my brain allow that to happen?

 

Pedal turns are quite sketchy too. I also find myself leaning towards the middle of my machine for some reason. No idea why that happens.

 

I hope this response makes you feel better because your post made me feel better

 

All and all though I'm not too worried about such things as I know it will come in time and I'm not giving up and you won't either.

[rotorrodent]

What do y'all think?

 

At 11 hrs I still couldn't hover within the airport boundaries!....you are doing just fine, be patient.....it "will" come with time.

 

Rotorrodent

[cellocopter]

Sounds like you're doing just fine for 11 hours, especially considering it's spread over 8 weeks. Quite a few have said it already, but I'll say it again: try to fly more often if you can. At the early stages the whole "two steps forward one step back" idea is more apparent the less often you fly. The longer you go in between flights the more time you'll waste trying to pick up where you left off the last time.

[Gomer Pylot]

I felt wonderful at 11 hours. I was getting paid to fly instead of jump out of airplanes, and I was responsible only for myself, not an entire platoon of soldiers. I had already soloed in a TH55, drinks were cheap at the Officers' Club, and life was good. I refused to think about where I was going after flight school finished.

[HelliBoy]

At 11 hours, I think I still felt like a retarded monkey on crack...

 

HA! I Feel like that every day!

[Darren Hughes]

Guy's, As it turns out I'm one of Vindicated's Instructors. I've flown with him 3 or 4 times now and I'd like to fly with him more often but I just started a job flying tours in the city so I'm only around part time now.

 

Let me tell you, he's doing just fine. He does seem to be a bit of a perfectionist though. I've tried to tell him that it'll come, just not all at once. The hovering is pretty good, set downs are a little hairy still cause he gets the cyclic wobble goin' on once I even mention the word "set down", just like I did around the same hours. He also tends to stop flying the pedals as soon as the skids touch the ground and we get some left yaw. I've seen this before and fixed it before, so that's not a problem.

 

The approaches are actually pretty good, not completely consistant yet though. One approach will be at a nice brisk walking pace at the bottom and the next will be screaming in towards the spot. However, yesterday as we were on final, passing through about 100' at 55kts, I asked him if this looked like a safe approach, he said no. When I asked what would make it safer, he responded with "A go-around", which he then executed. Quite possibly the best decision I've seen an 11 hour pilot make yet.

 

Taxiing with a left crosswind(which is where the problem was yesterday) is always a challenge at the start with that tail jumping around like that. He just has to be a little more assertive with the pedals when he recognizes the yaw is starting. That will come as he gets a little more comfortable with the helicopter. Those large slow pedal inputs will soon become short snappy ones that will stop any yaw before it even starts.

 

I keep telling people that physically flying a helicopter is actually quite easy, and that the hard part is maintaining situational awareness in unfamiliar situations and places. So far he has shown exceptional situational awareness when i've flown with him.

 

There's something else I've seen other students stumble on, and that's willingness to study the material. Again, this is something Vindicated does not have a problem with. I've done 2 or 3 ground lessons with him so far and he's on top of the material and fully prepared each time.

 

All this leads me to believe that Vindicated has a fine career ahead of him. I'm actually just sending him a text right now to read his thread to put his mind at ease. Relax dude, it's all good!!

[Wally]

How did I feel at 11 hours? Stupid. Discouraged. Clutzed to the max. I had an eval ride with a 2nd IP, who musta felt sorry for me, because I didn't wash out. (Side-note: The previous describes my entire flight school experience.) But, I was the second candidate in my flight to solo- don't give up.

 

Forty-one years later, I'm no less clutz- it's still a lot of work, I'm still trying to improve. My lifts are usually pretty good, and I do a fair touch down once a week or so. Flying is really simple. Trouble is, it's so simple there's no hiding the deficiencies. You might try tricks like a slight forward cyclic at touchdown, and some of those tricks work. Don't stop working to master the basic, no-translation, slow and controlled pure vertical lift and set-down.

 

I have flown with pilots who seemed natural and flawless sticks- exactly 2 of them in 4 decades plus a year or two. The rest of us less naturally gifted aviators just keep at it. Being aware of your own shortcomings at any point in the process is THE motivator. When I was instructing, the lack of that self analysis was pretty good sign that that student was in for a hard time. Keep at it.

Edited April 6, 2010 by Wally

[RkyMtnHI]

Sounds like you are doing fine...

 

three things:

 

RELAX and have fun

 

stop looking at the ground!! :-)

 

RELAX and have fun..

 

aloha,

 

dp

 

ps

 

you might take a look at this topic.. there is some good stuff in there if you have time to go thru it.. :-)

 

 

http://helicopterforum.verticalreference.c...showtopic=10871

[BOATFIXERGUY]

Forty-one years later, I'm no less clutz- it's still a lot of work, I'm still trying to improve. My lifts are usually pretty good, and I do a fair touch down once a week or so. Flying is really simple. Trouble is, it's so simple there's no hiding the deficiencies. You might try tricks like a slight forward cyclic at touchdown, and some of those tricks work. Don't stop working to master the basic, no-translation, slow and controlled pure vertical lift and set-down.

 

Boy do I know that! After a decade of flying Bell's, I now fly the AS350B3. And although it is an awesome machine, my set-downs SUCKED for the first 40 hours. I can make a bell pick up and set down to the point that you can't tell when we left the ground or set back down... now the Astar, different story. I'm better now, but it does test me on a daily basis. Just ask my med crew, they'll tell you!

[Gomer Pylot]

Nobody alive can set an AS350 down gracefully every time, or even most of the time. You have to just keep on flying it until the pitch is on the bottom, and hope for the best. I used to get lucky about once a hitch and get it down what I considered satisfactorily. A 206 is much easier, and I used to be pretty good at it. I logged about 9000 landings in 6 months, and that got me fairly proficient at it. It's a perishable skill, though, and takes constant practice. I'm still seldom satisfied with my touchdowns unless it's on grass.

[deerock]

just don't be so hard on yourself. it comes naturally after a while and you won't have to think about it so hard.