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Which is the best helicopter trainer


Best Training Helicopter  

253 members have voted

  1. 1. What is the best overall helicopter trainer

    • Enstrom 280
      14
    • Robinson R22
      71
    • Schweizer 300 series
      124
    • Bell 47
      10
    • Hiller 12E
      0
    • Brantly B-2B
      1
    • Rotorway Exec
      2
    • Robinson R-44
      20
    • Other
      12
  2. 2. What is its BEST characteristic as a trainer?

    • Safety
      98
    • Easy to fly and learn in
      61
    • Can transition to other helicopters easier
      42
    • Cheap to operate
      17
    • Crashworthy
      7
    • Fun to fly
      7
    • Simple systems
      3
    • Complex systems
      0
    • Difficult to fly
      13
    • Other
      6
  3. 3. As a student what is your PRIMARY consideration for a good training helicopter?

    • Cost
      65
    • Safety
      106
    • Easy to fly
      22
    • Difficult to fly
      5
    • Crashworthy
      9
    • Image (Does it look cool)
      0
    • Other
      8
    • [Not a student pilot]
      39
  4. 4. As a flight instructor what is your PRIMARY consideration for a good training helicopter?

    • Cost
      7
    • Safety
      128
    • Easy to fly
      25
    • Difficult to fly
      0
    • Crashworthy
      10
    • Image (Does it look cool)
      2
    • Other
      2
    • [Not a flight instructor]
      80


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Five pages long, and the last post was almost a year ago! How did this one get up hear?

 

But what the hell, I'm really, really, bored, so here goes.

 

For training/renting-R22, its just a lot more fun to fly-like flying a jetski.

 

For teaching(as a CFi)-S300, its safer, but not much fun for renting-like flying a dingy.

 

The Enstron's great, but too expensive.

 

The R44's awesome, but again, too expensive.

 

In a perfect world I'd pick the Bell 222. I've never flown one, but it looks really cool, and I prefer the feel of a two-bladed rotor. ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...

since its up here might as well keep it going.

I learnt in the 47, got my first job in a 22. so i dont thing it matters what you learn in from that angle. It does bias me to the 47 being the best training helicpoter though.

They are stable and forgiving. No ground resonance ever. (300, enstrom), Auto's are a non life threatening event (r22). You learn to predict the movement of the helicopter because of its slowness to respond. I had no trouble transitioning to the r22 (this was my first endorsement after cpl). Or any type since. Learning with a manual throttle is highly underrated as well.

On top of that they are the easiest heli to flight plan. a mile a minute and a L a minute..

Safe flying

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Well, since this is still going, I am going to cast my vote.

The UH-1 (Huey) series, any model, is now, and always has been, the best trainer.

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  • 2 years later...

I'm not going to read 6 pages of posts before I give the world my opinion, FREE!

The best trainer is the the one without unique traits (TH-55 tuck, so you won't think I'm picking on Robbies)

safe when the student crashes it

predictable autos

stable yet responsive (I can do without boosted controls and force trim)

simple and durable, designed to fail safely

 

Next list-

easy to maintain

Inexpensive, capitol and operating costs

run on jet a

 

Dream list-

Quiet enough to keep the anti-helicopter nuts happy

Flyable with the doors off

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  • 4 months later...

I'm not going to read 6 pages of posts before I give the world my opinion, FREE!

The best trainer is the the one without unique traits (TH-55 tuck, so you won't think I'm picking on Robbies)

safe when the student crashes it

predictable autos

stable yet responsive (I can do without boosted controls and force trim)

simple and durable, designed to fail safely

 

Next list-

easy to maintain

Inexpensive, capitol and operating costs

run on jet a

 

Dream list-

Quiet enough to keep the anti-helicopter nuts happy

Flyable with the doors off

 

You only forgot one thing Wally- The 300 is expensive to maintain so it costs more to fly. With Sikorsky giving the FAA back the PC, and all production ceased, it's going to cost even more down the road. There really is no perfect trainer, all have pro's and con's. As a newbie, I would concentrate more on the trainer (the CFI) than the equipment you are flying in.

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Guest pokey

The 300 is expensive to maintain so it costs more to fly. With Sikorsky giving the FAA back the PC, and all production ceased, it's going to cost even more down the road.

 

The 300 is a maintenance hound if you fly it alot, but when you consider the cost of a robbie overhaul vs a 300 flying 150 hours per year, to that of a 22, the 300 will come out ahead in the long run over the 12 year 22 OH period.

 

I did not know that Sick-horsie surrendered they PC, now that sheds new light on my debate. When did they do that? So what ever they moved to Pa. is now just 'taking up space'?

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  • 2 months later...

Learned on a Huey, flown 12 more types of helicopters to S76/ B412 size.

Taught on a Huey, B206, R22, B47, Enstrom

 

Most preferred: Huey

Next: B206

 

Absolute least enjoyed most disliked even hated couldn't stand even being in it yuck yuck : Enstrom

 

The R22 did a good job as a trainer, within its limitations. If a student can fly a 22, he can step into anything because it will be more stable than the 22.

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  • 10 months later...

22 or 300?

22, for multiple reasons:

 

If you weigh less than 200lbs, fly the 22.

Otherwise you'll have no choice but to fly the 300.

And yeah most CFI's weigh around 200lbs - if you're lucky to start with a small/light weight instructor, they're building time, they may move on halfway through your training and you might get stuck with a bigger guy when the other guy moves on. And yes that's precisely what happened to me. Flying close to MGW is good training, but if your school is half as anal about weight as mine is, the 50 hours XC you're going to need for you instrument rating and then your commercial cross countries are going to suck - the novelty of multiple fuel stops at uncontrolled airports wear off, real quick.

 

The 22 is more challenging to fly, learn to fly in that first and your transition (later on) to the 300 will be trivial, mine was. Cyclic trim? WTFLOL was my first reaction in the 300. On the other side, learn to fly the 300 first and you'll have a slightly harder time to transition to the 22. Not much of a difference though.

 

If your goal is to get a job, chances are, you're going to be an instructor, for a while. Which means you will teach in the 22, almost guaranteed. Who only runs 300's these days? Almost no one. And even if you do find a school who only teaches in the 300, Robbie time is valuable. Parts for 300's are becoming increasingly harder (and more expensive) to get, Robbies aren't going anywhere soon.

 

The 300 has tons more space inside, but get used to being cramped up in a 22 - the sooner the better, for the same reason as the previous point really.

 

If you have an interest in getting an instrument rating (you should), you could do it in a 300, but good luck with that! The 300 is sloooooooow. Shooting instrument approaches crawling along at 70KIAS is not going to do you favors with ATC. And you'll be grateful for that governor in the Robbie, anything to reduce the workload when flying IFR. Chances are you'll be doing IFR in a 44 - even though some schools operate IFR 22's I'd recommend using the 44. The extra speed will get you around much quicker, allows much more stabilized approaches at a comfortable 90KIAS etc...

 

I have nothing against the 300 other than it being so damn ugly.

It has a bit more power, but I don't need more power, 124BHp does the job well enough for training.

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TH-67

www.goarmy.com

 

...says the girl who had her first flight in a 300 and did all her training in an R22/R44. :-D

 

Bottom line, there is no "right" answer. Do your research, figure out which is best for you, your budget, and your goals, and just do it.

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