mycorrado Posted November 11, 2012 Report Share Posted November 11, 2012 Hi! I finally decided to take a step and check out if flying helicopters is something to pursue and pursue it! I am doing a discovery flight next week which includes 30 minutes training, 30 minutes simulation and a 60 minute flight on the R22. I'd appreciate your comments, what to expect and how to prepare. local to Dallas, I am very exited Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearly Retired Posted November 12, 2012 Report Share Posted November 12, 2012 Well...I mean, there's almost no way to prepare. Unless you've flown in a helicopter before, the sights, sounds, feelings and motions are going to be pretty foreign. There will be so much going on that your brain will be going into sensory overload as it's trying to take all in - it may be overwhelming! There'll be a lot of noise...a lot of "stuff" to process...it's hard to keep track of it all. You do have one advantage: Watch the various YouTube videos on helicopter startups and such. There's a procedure for just about everything in aviation. Procedures force us pilots to slow down and take things step by step. Once you're familiar with the basic procedures of starting the aircraft up, doing the run-up, lifting to a hover, and then hovering itself...the real thing won't seem so frantic. Maybe. I'll bet you're excited! I would be too It'll be a new and wonderful experience that will probably seem magical to you. The only thing I can suggest is to try to get your brain to slow down, drink it all in slowly and calmly, and enjoy the hell out of it! Some of us on this board have been doing this for a long, loooong time, and I'd bet real money that we all can remember our first helicopter ride and what an incredible, life-changing event it was. I know I can! And it was back in 1968. Have fun! (And do come back and report on how it went. We'll all be interested to hear.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiteshadow Posted November 12, 2012 Report Share Posted November 12, 2012 Yep, what he said! I think the most important thing in the disco flight is to enjoy it. Just have fun with it, because I am sure that's the reason you became interested, because it looks fun! My discovery flight will be something I will never forget. Don't try to understand everything that's happening, because you won't. Just use it to get jacked for your initial training, it's a hell of a ride! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred0311 Posted November 12, 2012 Report Share Posted November 12, 2012 Like they said have fun. But reading the rotorcraft flying handbook helped me out a lot by having an idea what was going. Your instructor will tell you all you need for an intro flight but it never hurts to be ahead of the curve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DontCallMeShirley Posted November 12, 2012 Report Share Posted November 12, 2012 I second watching youtube videos as well and casually reading about the different controls so everything isn't completely new. The R22 is a sensitive machine and requires very little input to get it to move. This helped me the most on my discovery flight. Pretty much just "think" about the control inputs and tell yourself to relax. It'll work your brain like never before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mycorrado Posted November 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2012 well, I flew yesterday and it was a blast, although I was a bit worried I when I did my first turn and the amount of roll scared me into thinking I was about to cause us to crash but after a while I relaxed a bit and managed a fairly level approach. the R22 is amazingly sensitive to controls (can't say I didn't know about that) I am still impressed with how quickly you can go in a whole different direction I tried Hovering but kept ending in forward flight! didn't expect to manage that. The PIC did a autorotation (with recovery, no actual landing) and I though it would be scarier but enjoyed it as well. finally, also surprised how small the R22 really is, just seing the pictures makes you think it is a little bigger. fun stuff! Can't wait to do it again 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightsta1ker Posted November 18, 2012 Report Share Posted November 18, 2012 None of us will ever forget our first time. Glad you enjoyed it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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