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My first solo! R44 Raven II


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LOVING flight school and flying helicopters! Had my first solo flight as a helo pilot today, in a Robinson R44 Raven II! I'm a full time student in my first semester at Guidance Aviation in Prescott, AZ. At 22 hrs right now. Got 8 hrs to burn for the rest of the semester. On to cross country flights now! Flying to Scottsdale next week, night VFR!

 

 

First solo hover.

 

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Coming in to land.

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Low quality video clip of my first solo take off. Taken with an iPhone 4 so the lens speed isn't enough to catch the blades that great.

 

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Good job on the solo...I am looking into going to guidance...Are you going to the college they paired with for your degree as well???

 

Yep, I'm in the Professional Helicopter Pilot AAS program at Yavapai College. GI Bill paying for it all.

 

 

That's cool! First solo in the R44? Nice. Mine was in the R22. Also, it looks like a cool area. I took off on a runway, looks like you have a helipad?

 

Yeah I'm in the all R44 program. I won't fly the 22 in the program I'm in, just the 44 and some R66 hrs in my commercial semester. It's a great area! 5100 ft elevation, mountains, great scenery, but very windy at times in the late winter/early spring. Guidance does their training in off airport training areas, this one with three helipads, and it's got mountains on two sides, and the training area is in the corner of those two mountains. I think I've flown the pattern at the airport twice in my 24 flight hrs. My solo requirements for the program are 1 hr of off airport solo and 1 hr of solo at the airport in the pattern.

Edited by superstallion6113
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No R22 - my guess is density altitude. I live on the Front Range of Colorado and I don't know of any flight school here that fly R-22s. Most people fly Schweitzer S300s and R44s. Our field elevations run 5,000' (Denver/Ft. Collins) to almost 6,200' (Colorado Springs).

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At the DA we fly at, there is a 200lb weight restriction per seat, 400 cockpit total, in place, so I need to fly the R44. When I go for an instructor position, it will be as an R44 instructor, which my school hires. I have an A&P license to fall back on during the job hunt if needed.

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No R22 - my guess is density altitude. I live on the Front Range of Colorado and I don't know of any flight school here that fly R-22s. Most people fly Schweitzer S300s and R44s. Our field elevations run 5,000' (Denver/Ft. Collins) to almost 6,200' (Colorado Springs).

 

Seems like there are plenty of schools that use r 22's no matter the DA...SuperStallion,that sounds reasonable..Seems like there are alot of places who like to take advantage of the G.I. Bill any way they can..I am still eyeing guidance but not sure bout moving all the way out there from Ohio...I know the weather changes some out there, but I am wondering of the high altittude training trumps training through all 4 seasons in the northeast or midwest...

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When I go for an instructor position, it will be as an R44 instructor, which my school hires.

 

What if they dont hire you?

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Seems like there are plenty of schools that use r 22's no matter the DA...SuperStallion,that sounds reasonable..Seems like there are alot of places who like to take advantage of the G.I. Bill any way they can..I am still eyeing guidance but not sure bout moving all the way out there from Ohio...I know the weather changes some out there, but I am wondering of the high altittude training trumps training through all 4 seasons in the northeast or midwest...

 

We get snow and cold winters here, and hot temps in the summer. Spring is windy and moderate temps. Def a change of seasons here.

 

What if they dont hire you?

 

Well I can't fly the R22 so I'll look elsewhere. Flying the R22 isn't an option for me. People have brought this up in the past. Worst case, I'll go be an A&P mech again for $30/hr until I find something. I have no other option other than buying hrs in the S300.

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We get snow and cold winters here, and hot temps in the summer. Spring is windy and moderate temps. Def a change of seasons here.

 

 

 

Well I can't fly the R22 so I'll look elsewhere. Flying the R22 isn't an option for me. People have brought this up in the past. Worst case, I'll go be an A&P mech again for $30/hr until I find something. I have no other option other than buying hrs in the S300.

 

If you weigh 240 or less you can fly the R22, just get a lighter CFI. I know a couple that barely make 100 pounds. That plus 90 minutes of fuel will get you almost anywhere.

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At the DA we fly at, there is a 200lb weight restriction per seat, 400 cockpit total, in place, so I need to fly the R44. When I go for an instructor position, it will be as an R44 instructor, which my school hires. I have an A&P license to fall back on during the job hunt if needed.

 

In the 22 the seat limit is 240lbs no matter what the DA is. If your cockpit total in the 22 is 400lbs (sometimes a little less) your CG will be too far forward, again regardless of your DA. I suppose though, if your school has heavier CFIs they might impose lower limits, but they are their limits, not the aircrafts.

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Bringing this discussion back on track... CONGRATS on your first solo! That's a hell of a feeling, and you should be proud of this accomplishment. The R44 is a great ship, and having considerable time in it will certainly help you out down the road. Well done, sir!

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Bringing this discussion back on track... CONGRATS on your first solo! That's a hell of a feeling, and you should be proud of this accomplishment. The R44 is a great ship, and having considerable time in it will certainly help you out down the road. Well done, sir!

 

Thanks! And that's exactly what I'm hoping for.

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Thanks! And that's exactly what I'm hoping for.

I had the Chief Pilot of a flight school tell me I was wasting money by flying the R44 past the 25 hours I needed for the SFAR sign off. Well, there is more than one way to skin a cat, and I have a job now thanks to the 65 hours of R44 time I racked up. By the end of the year, I'll have more R44 time than I know what to do with because of my "stupid" choices.

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I had the Chief Pilot of a flight school tell me I was wasting money by flying the R44 past the 25 hours I needed for the SFAR sign off. Well, there is more than one way to skin a cat, and I have a job now thanks to the 65 hours of R44 time I racked up. By the end of the year, I'll have more R44 time than I know what to do with because of my "stupid" choices.

 

It's nice to hear something positive about flying the R44. Thanks! I'll have about 200hrs R44 time when I graduate.

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It's nice to hear something positive about flying the R44. Thanks! I'll have about 200hrs R44 time when I graduate.

 

Just to be clear on my R22 statement....I love the R44. Love flying it, everything about it, and it's the ship I fly the most by far.

 

Most are just not lucky enough to do initial training in it. Plenty of commercial operators out there looking for good R44 pilots.

 

Congrats on your solo, good luck in your training.

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There's a lot of positives to flying the R44, IMHO. Congrats on the solo and good luck on your continued training!

 

It's also great that you and others have the Post 911 GI Bill to pay for training..... I got hosed being in during the time of VEAP (1984-1990). I literally had no benefits after serving 6 years active with an honorable discharge.

 

Thanks for your service and happy flying!!! :)

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The 44 is awesome! I love flying it! The concern is that doing all your training in it could turn out to be disasterously limiting. 200hrs total with 50hrs in the 44 could be helpful down the road. 200hrs all in the 44 seems a bit unusual.

 

Are there any other schools who exclusively use the 44 for teaching?

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