zcat Posted February 9, 2007 Posted February 9, 2007 (edited) Well, I got my first flight time in a helicopter today--what a rush. I took a discovery flight with Silverhawk Aviation. It was everything I'd expected it would be and more. I was in the air for an hour--the instructor did a couple quick patterns, let me get the feel of the controls and then hit about 3500 feet. He handed over the controls once we were level, and I was at the controls, mostly by myself, for about 40 minutes. Flew back to the airport, tried to hover for about 15 minutes--I think I covered 3 counties with this effort. One time, for about 10-15 seconds I was in the sweet spot, holding it pretty well. The other 14:45 were another story. Great stuff. Can't wait to get up again. z Edited February 9, 2007 by zcat Quote
Bristol Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 Congrats on taking that first step. Paul Quote
FUSE Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 Congrats, that's a flight that you will never forget. I know I won't ever forget mine. Hope you have many more hours in the sky, enjoy.... Quote
Goldy Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 I'm not supposed to tell you this. The biggest secret in the helo world is the magic hover button. Usually located in a locked panel near the circuit breakers is a switch marked "hover". It has two positions marked "easy" and "hard". Somewhere near 20 hours, the CFI gets tired of playing tricks on you, and he flips the secret hover switch back to "easy". Once you get your license, we show you where the button is, otherwise you will struggle with it forever. Most on this forum will deny that the secret hover switch even exists! Some will even comment how the R22 has a much harder "hard" setting than the 300.....they will go on and on debating the two. Again, I will be ridiculed for even telling you this. It's fine if you don't believe me....just PM me when you get to 20 hours, I guarantee that by that time, your CFI will secretly flip the switch. Bastard probably won't even tell you when he did it either, just like throttle chops and stuck pedals, they all love to surprise you! Good luck, Goldy Quote
Freeplay Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 Do you live in Boise? I am going to Silverhawk to get my CFI... hopefully starting next week. Are you going to take lessons there? Private or Commercial? Quote
zcat Posted February 10, 2007 Author Posted February 10, 2007 (edited) The biggest secret in the helo world is the magic hover button.I KNEW it! It's right next to the Whisper Mode button, isn't it? Freeplay, I live in Kuna. I'm very impressed with Silverhawk. When I began my research, I talked with a couple other places in the valley and kept going back to Silverhawk. From first impression a few months ago thru the flight today, they've been top-notch. The other places tripped my weird wire in some way or another. I suppose you could say I'm going PPL at this point, and I am going to use Silverhawk. I'm putting in a WOFT packet with the National Guard, and I want to get some flight time logged. There's much debate as to whether this is really of any benefit to my situation. In talking with several current NG pilots and weighing the pros and cons, it's worth it to me to get at least 20-25 hours, to gain as much advantage as possible. Good luck with your CFI. If you haven't talked with them yet, give Katherine (the owner) a call and/or talk to Lynn--he's their senior instructor. z Edited February 10, 2007 by zcat Quote
LostHeliBoy Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 Nice one boys.. I'm originally from Boise.. and I wish I Could have flown a bit more there.. Growing up in the Treasure Valley and the Boise foothills was a great time in the outdoors.. and now that I can fly I can get in the way back and find those good spots.. Cool.. enjoy the best part of your flying career learning how to hover is really really fun and the next great step is when the CFI tells you that your going to do your first pattern solo.. WOW.. they step out and your REALLy on your own.. I tHINK thats when he flips that secret switch... and your really flying!! Enjoy.. have fun and eat some fingersteaks for me.. CHEERS! --<LHB>--- Quote
zcat Posted February 10, 2007 Author Posted February 10, 2007 LHB,It was really great to get a bird's-eye view of the valley, and there are definitely some good spots one could fly into. I know the hover will come in time, but today I felt like a monkey trying to stand on the pointy end of a football. BTW, I hear The Torch is serving up more than fingersteaks these days... z Quote
Freeplay Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 BTW, I hear The Torch is serving up more than fingersteaks these days...haha... nothing wrong with a little extra income... Yeah, Katherine is very nice and professional. I am actually really good friend with her son from high school. I have spent a lot of time talking to her and Lynn. I have already bought my books from them and I have been studying them for about 3 months now trying to get ahead on my ground school. It's amazing how many people on here are from or live in Idaho.... They are luck to have a school like Silverhawk. People travel from all over the US to go here. Quote
LostHeliBoy Posted February 11, 2007 Posted February 11, 2007 LHB, BTW, I hear The Torch is serving up more than fingersteaks these days... zWhen I was a kid it was a clean (er) place.. not that it was ever any thing else but the home of fingersteaks and beers... The Torch also has a 2nd place on Broadway now.. Like they could ever recreate the original.. Cool,., Get a long X/c to McCall in for me and fly in to the Warm lake Hot springs.. see if your instructor is interested in flying into loon ranch and the HS there.. Enjoy... --->LHB<--- Quote
zcat Posted February 11, 2007 Author Posted February 11, 2007 When I was a kid it was a clean (er) place.. not that it was ever any thing else but the home of fingersteaks and beers...Yeah, it's a shame they took it from hole-in-the-wall dive with great food to the antithesis of family-friendly. I'll see if I can talk my instructor into some of those places. Can't wait. z Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.