hi newbe question

[zero]

Hi there i am new to this forum and new to flying, so there for a new student The question that i would like to ask is about flight training in the R34.

I am about to begin my flight training this week and will be taking one training session every two weeks with a flight school. I am in the UK and flight time costs about £420 an hour. I have also noticed on the web that not far from me is a flight simulator school that trains in the R34,who clearly charge a fraction of the cost of a actual real world flight school. So the question is this. Would it be recommended to take simulator lessons during the week that i will not be taking actual real world flying time? Would simulator time complement my real world flying lessons or would simulator time hinder my progress and not help me? I thank you in advance for any responses that you may give to me. And i hope to have a happy membership on this forum while i am trying to achieve my PPL

[Goldy]

Hi there i am new to this forum and new to flying, so there for a new student The question that i would like to ask is about flight training in the R34.

I am about to begin my flight training this week and will be taking one training session every two weeks with a flight school. I am in the UK and flight time costs about £420 an hour. I have also noticed on the web that not far from me is a flight simulator school that trains in the R34,who clearly charge a fraction of the cost of a actual real world flight school. So the question is this. Would it be recommended to take simulator lessons during the week that i will not be taking actual real world flying time? Would simulator time complement my real world flying lessons or would simulator time hinder my progress and not help me? I thank you in advance for any responses that you may give to me. And i hope to have a happy membership on this forum while i am trying to achieve my PPL

 

 

Zero- I assume you mean the R-44 ? Robinsons 4 seater?

 

If I was starting from scratch I would encourage 4 or 5 hours of simulator time before I ever flew the real thing. Then a few hours here and there as you learn new skills. The problem with most training, is the instructor is trying to explain things to you at the same time you are trying to fly...which is distracting..and your brain will usually focus on flying, and you turn off everything else. In a simulator, there is not this stress.,...you can ask questions, do things over, etc..

[brushfire21]

I see no one has responded yet so I will take a stab.... (well almost, Goldy beet me here!!!!!)

 

You might want to check on the aircraft model number as I am not familiar with an R34, unless this is a Euro version of a R44 with blades that turn opposite from the US version hahaha. I suspect you are talking about either a Robinson R22 or R44 aircraft. R44 are much more expensive then the R22 or Schweizer 300 aircraft for that matter.

 

As far as simulator training, I know several schools that have the students do this prior to jumping into a ship so they get the feel of how things feel and become familiar with gauges, controls, layout etc. Once this is done, there is not comparison to the real thing, and I am not sure how much sim time can be logged towards a PPL license, especially for a JAA license. I do know that here in the US, sim time can count towards total time when doing an instrument course for the FAA, again have no knowledge of JAA licensing. A suggestion is to try pprune.com and look under rotorheads, its a good site for UK/JAA information for you.

[zero]

My sincere apologies gentlemen i was in deed talking about the R44. The R22 had to be ruled out due to my weight being 19 stone which is some two stone heavier that the recommended weight of the R22s 17 stone. Thank you for your responses by the way.

[flyby_heli]

.....which is some two stone heavier that the recommended weight of the R22s 17 stone.

Depends on how big the stone is.....

 

I would advice you to look for a school that flies the S300C, where your weight will be much less of an issue, you should be able to find it for a more reasonable price. Otherwise look across the pond if this is an option for you. GBP 420.00 comes out to about USD 832.00 at the current exchange rate, most US schools doesn't even charge that much for a small turbine helicopter!!

When it comes to simulators, they are ok (at best) for learning procedures (instrument flying for instance), but they are nothing like the real thing. They are also, in my experience, really boring and could discourage you from pursuing this. I would rent a helicopter and go fly it instead of sitting in a metal box in the hanger wishing i did!!!

[zemogman]

As a matter of practice...my school trains all students in the "Fly It" simulator first...

 

I found it to be profitable.

 

It helped me become familiar with certain maneuvers, procedures and practices. There isn't much to say for actually "feeling" what's going on (gravity, peripheral vision, moving sensations, etc). It is very different in the real thing...but I do think it helped. I think a few hours is sufficient (5-7 hours) and it's great to be able to reset and ask questions at a much lower rate ($$$) than in the real thing.

 

Considering the Schweizer 300 is also good advice...it should be less expensive than the R-44 and can handle your weight --- no problem.

 

Just my 2 cents...

[FLHooker]

Another advantage to the simulator is that you can get every Emergency in the book, learn it, and learn it well without actually putting yourself at risk. I, personally, love going to the sim every couple of weeks to tweek EP's that I didn't do efficiently.

 

 

CHAD

[delorean]

Depends on how big the stone is.....

 

1 stone = 14 lbs. Remember that fun fact for "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?"