First Flight

[Dominis]

I'm going to do my first intro to helicopters soon and I was just wondering how many people on here had a bad experience on the first flight? I'm alittle nervous about it. Any words of encourgement or thought they couldn't do it and come back to be a great pilot.

[Goldy]

I'm going to do my first intro to helicopters soon and I was just wondering how many people on here had a bad experience on the first flight? I'm alittle nervous about it. Any words of encourgement or thought they couldn't do it and come back to be a great pilot.

 

 

WOW- I can't help but reply to this one....the most single awesome experince of my life. Like nothing else, certainly not anything like flying fixed wing. One second you are on the ground, a second later you are 10 feet in the air...great visibility, smoother in wind than a fixed wing..dont be a single bit apprehensive..that being said, its not for everyone.. Reply back after you go up and let us know which category you are in !!

 

Goldy

[brushfire21]

All my first flights have been great from Small Fixed Wing to My First Helo Flight. You will do just fine and don't worry about the small things and enjoy the flight most importantly!

[rayco5]

I'm going to do my first intro to helicopters soon and I was just wondering how many people on here had a bad experience on the first flight? I'm alittle nervous about it. Any words of encourgement or thought they couldn't do it and come back to be a great pilot.

get ready to enjoy one of the purest most enjoyable things you will ever do!!!! you will, never forget your 1st.ride iwas scared as hell for the 1st 5 mins. then i remembered to BREATH. BRING A CAMERA, hope you become addicted like me! good luck rayco5

[rayco5]

WOW- I can't help but reply to this one....the most single awesome experince of my life. Like nothing else, certainly not anything like flying fixed wing. One second you are on the ground, a second later you are 10 feet in the air...great visibility, smoother in wind than a fixed wing..dont be a single bit apprehensive..that being said, its not for everyone.. Reply back after you go up and let us know which category you are in !!

 

Goldy

[Autorotator]

Better than any carnival ride! It was late September in Chandler AZ at Quantum Helicopters, still hot so we had the doors off. I'm so awestruck that we can sit in this machine and hover 3' off of the ground. My instructor gets clearance for the "Bravo" departure, and then we hop over the 3' fence surrounding the helipad and start a normal takeoff. I don't know about anybody else but that in itself I thought was awesome. It felt like I was looking out of windscreen leaning toward the ground. I was watching the ground moving faster and faster then all of the sudden the ground getting further and further away. It was the best experience in my life, and the fact that we had the doors off made it really exciting. I loved it, and I loved to bring that excitement to a potential student on their intro flight. It's an experience you will never forget. I haven’t thought of that for a while until you brought the subject up. I'm surprised how vividly I remember it. It’s great, you’ll love it! Have fun and keep the rotor side up.

[Tenacious T]

My first flight was in an OH-6 when I was in the military, it was mind blowing. I remember thinking it was like being on a roller coaster with no tracks. I immediately thought it was something I would love to do but dismissed it as an impossible dream. It took years to realize that being a helicopter pilot was a realistic goal. Now I am doing it and it seems unreal sometimes. A life half lived is a life not lived at all, pursue your dreams (becoming a pilot or otherwise) and let nothing stop you , I am happier then I have ever been in my life.

[67november]

Not my first flight but definetly the most memerable

 

 

one of my favorite flight moments was back in the mid 80's when I was a Huey machanic for the Army guard.

I had spent 3/4 of a hot summer day doing maintainence on my assigned bird and when it was finally ready it need a post maint. test flight, so I went to the pilots rooms stuck my head in the door as said who wants to do my test flight. no more then I got the words out of my mouth one of my favorite pilots had his helmet and flight bag in hand heading for the hanger. I grabbed my helmet and headed for the SIC seat with a grin you couldn't wipe off my face with a 2X4. flying was and is my favorite thing about helo's. we got airborn and headed east to do the maint. tests these took about 20 mins. to complete, when I finished making the notes in the maint. log book the PIC turned to me and said are you ready to fly her, my eyes were probably as big as sausers, I said where to, I'd never had the controls before, he said east I direct you as we go, he kept his hand close to the controls as I took over he briefed me on the RRPM and speed, he was soon comfortable that I could handle it.  spent 20 mins. flying at 1500' AGL part of that was when we came upon a house in the country with a high fenced in back yard, the pilot said put it in a hover here for a moment he assisted me with that then he turns to his flight bag and pulls out a pair of binos you could see moon craters with and scans the ground with them, then chuckles out loud, turns to me and grins and hands me the binos, says I'll take over a minute you look. you guessed it a golden goddess soaking up the afternoon sun. I grin and chuckled as she never even realized we were hovering over her house. i turn back to him with a grin and said great topper to the day, he then said you fly it back and I'll land. I flew back to within 20 miles of the airfield and he took over and made a perfect running landing (we had steel skid plate on the bottom of our skids), picked the craft back up and taxied to the pad and shut'er down. I was on cloud nine for a month ::2thumbsat::

[Dominis]

Thanks everyone for the words. I'm waiting to go up when it starts getting green up here in minnesota and can have the doors off

[kodoz]

Thanks everyone for the words. I'm waiting to go up when it starts getting green up here in minnesota and can have the doors off

First hovering experience can be like riding a mechanical bull. Don't be intimidated--it sounds like most first-timers overcontrol or wait until they are off the hover before making control inputs. My first attempt was awful--I was an undercontroller--and the attitude we ended up in (at 5' off the ground) was frightening coming from FW. After another 2 rodeo rides I got it. The best advice I got on those first flights:

• the heli wants to move forward and to the right, and you need to counter that with aft left cyclic pressure
  
• when making cyclic corrections, move then center, move and center
  
• small inputs. big ones get you on the wild ride fast
  
• don't give up when you lose the hover. finding your way back is part of learning to control the chopper.
  
• lighten up your death grip on the controls. and breathe.
  

[Autorotator]

First hovering experience can be like riding a mechanical bull. Don't be intimidated--it sounds like most first-timers overcontrol or wait until they are off the hover before making control inputs. My first attempt was awful--I was an undercontroller--and the attitude we ended up in (at 5' off the ground) was frightening coming from FW. After another 2 rodeo rides I got it. The best advice I got on those first flights:

• the heli wants to move forward and to the right, and you need to counter that with aft left cyclic pressure
  
• when making cyclic corrections, move then center, move and center
  
• small inputs. big ones get you on the wild ride fast
  
• don't give up when you lose the hover. finding your way back is part of learning to control the chopper.
  
• lighten up your death grip on the controls. and breathe.
  

 

Great advice! LOL@ After another 2 rodeo rides I got it.

[Guest rookie101]

My first flight was AWESOME! I didn't do any hovering though. Straight-and-level and some S-turns, picked up the sensitvity real quick, but it didn't LAST LONG ENOUGH !!! My second ride, got to do some hovering which completly kicked my ARSE. Couldn't keep it in the freakin' state and could only hold a hover for a good 5 seconds before I found myself going backward, then forward, then backward, then sideways. It was pretty poor, but I still had the greatest time of my life. Roller coasters can't compare to this, it's on a completly different level.

[Wally]

This is very embarrassing, so I'm swearing you all to silence. It might be of some help, so as a professional I have to share it:

 

My first helo flight, in October 1968, came after years of absorbing various aviation movies, "12 O'Clock High", etc. I anticipated the bitter cold of altitude, dressed accordingly, and loaded up on mess hall breakfast to provide lots of calories. Clarify: October, Texas, way to much bacon and eggs, lots of coffee, dressed for warmth, and the doors on the TH55 for my first ever helicopter ride.

First, we hovered- or rather, my IP hovered, and I tried to keep the stage field under the little helicopter, not mention in sight of the half-mile square stage field on the high prairies of Texas. Did I mention the '55 has a very effective heater?

An eternity or 30 minutes later, I'm hot, soaked in sweat and mentally exhausted, so my IP exits the stage field, and we do some cruise work. It's a little bumpy, typical early fall severe clear. In a few minutes, I'm sick. Yes, that kind of sick. We head back to the stage field and I clean the bubble (THAT has to some kind of record), floor and console. While my IP has cup of coffee. Oh yeah, coffee's a bad idea on your first ride. Never sick in a helo since, simulator's a different story.

 

There's some noise, think Harley, tractor, or other purpose-built serious machines, but not objectionable in quantity; some vibration, and then the world moves under you. Airplanes don't compare. Like all addicts, I've sought that first rush ever since. The closest is giving rides where I experience it second-hand. Introductory sessions for an ab initio student are next, but having to teach puts my mind elsewhere.

In spite of being airsick, which is like a hangover except you can remember the night before, it was a wildly enjoyable event. I've never experienced anything like helicopter flight. Motorcycles come close, but miss by orders of magnitude in intensity. It's pretty much stayed that way for me since October '68. I hope the same good luck for you.

When I went for my ATP at Bell in '95 (I think), my Primary IP was teaching there. As always the consummate professional instructor and genuinely good guy, he claimed that many students had hurled in his helo.

 

Relax and enjoy it as much as you can while you work at learning. Oh yes, it's WORK! Good luck.

[Fastlane]

You won't even be able to describe it. You will definitely have "perma-grin" for a few days! My first hover wasn't a mechanical bull ride, but DARN CLOSE! And even THAT was a blast. I did pretty good for my first crack at it, but it'll get better.

The other thing I didn't even realize until this thread, was you really have no clue how fast your really going. I was at 90 KTS (about 104 MPH) and it seemed like we were sitting still as the world moved beneath us.

Don't even worry about it, you're gonna have one of the greatest expieriences of your life, right up there with little Susie at the prom years ago! Just be aware, that's where the addiction starts. One hit is all you need, and your hooked.

 

Good luck, HAVE FUN, and let us know how it went!

[Dominis]

Well everyone I couldn't wait until all the grass and trees up here in northern minnesota turn green. So, tommorrow at 7:00 p.m CST I go up in the air in a helicopter for my intro flight Man I know for sure I wont be able to sleep tonight and be a nervous reck tommorrow

[kickert]

I got my first ride while fighting fire out west. I instantly decideded I was going to spend my next year working with helicopters. I have pictures of my trip and I gotta say - I look pretty dang goofy with that giant grin on my face that just wouldn't go away. For me, the best way I to describe it was as a box that vibrated a bit and gave an incredible view.

[PA Pilot]

I loved my intro ride! It included all sorts of things including winding up with an auto (not full down though). I held a rated fixed-wing rating, so I didn't find helicopter flight to be particularly scary (or mabe I'm just too stupid to be scared). Getting my RH add-on was a fair amount of work and mostly enjoyable (at least after I learned to hover).

[Fastlane]

Well everyone I couldn't wait until all the grass and trees up here in northern minnesota turn green. So, tommorrow at 7:00 p.m CST I go up in the air in a helicopter for my intro flight Man I know for sure I wont be able to sleep tonight and be a nervous reck tommorrow

 

Don't worry about it man! You'll be fine, and you're gonna LOVE it. Only thing you need to be worried about is the fact you're gonna be "hooked" now!

[doanut99]

Personally, my demo flight was amazing to say the least. Flying over cows running for their lives with the doors off on a perfect Texas day, I couldn't have been happier.

[heligirl03]

Well, my "intro" ride was an AS350B3 in AK and came about as a transport necessity for my guide job. I definitely thought "whoa!!!!" as we climbed up into the mountains to 3500' MSL. Spent the summer riding around in those pretty French machines and I was hooked for good. Even after that, my next a/c was a friend's brand spankin' new R44RII. I tried to hover that baby over a field....NOT!! When I finally got into an R22, jeez!! It felt kinda small!! I honestly don't even remember that first R22 flight! But yesterday was my 29th hour and I was told it was my best flight so far. Everything felt perfect, it was yet ANOTHER helicopter high. Does it ever end?!?! I love it. I read or heard somewhere that learning to fly fixed wing is like learning to ride a bicycle, and learning to fly heli is like learning to ride a unicycle. Well I still can't ride a unicycle, but finessing that little R22 gives me more satisfaction than can be measured. I can't wait to share it with future students when I am teaching, I love to teach and guide. I think the smile will never be wiped off my face as long as I am flying for food. Oh, and it's a lot of work! There's a lot more to it than just small inputs and remembering to breath, so be ready!!

[Fastlane]

Well everyone I couldn't wait until all the grass and trees up here in northern minnesota turn green. So, tommorrow at 7:00 p.m CST I go up in the air in a helicopter for my intro flight Man I know for sure I wont be able to sleep tonight and be a nervous reck tommorrow

 

It's 15:00 EST which means noon your time. Well???

 

 

I'm guessing you can't type because your too busy grinnin' and callin' all your buddies!

Edited May 1, 2007 by Fastlane

[heligirl03]

It's 15:00 EST which means noon your time. Well???

I'm guessing you can't type because your too busy grinnin' and callin' all your buddies!

 

 

I think he said 7 PM.... ?

[Fastlane]

I think he said 7 PM.... ?

 

 

You are SO correct, my bad!

 

And my OTHER boo-boo is that CST is only an hour behind us in the EST, not 3. So we should be hearing something by 9:30 EST at the latest? LOL My guess is that it'll be late Thursday or early Friday before he gets the grin off his face.

Edited May 1, 2007 by Fastlane

[67november]

he should be posting sometime about 02:00 forum time. (Zulu time)

[heligirl03]

Just got back down from another 1.3. I don't know, EVERY time I go up and come back down again it gives me perma-grin and lights more fire under me. I used to love the 0.2 crew flights, but now it's all MINE! muahaha