NEED HELP

[auto360]

In less than a year now I will have my money saved for school but in the mean time I would like to do as much book work possible so I can have a good head start on the material that is covered for when I'm in school. So here is the advice that I'm looking for.

 

Please tell me everything that I can possible get to give me a head start. Books and/or videos. Right now I have 6 books pretaining to helicopters but most of them are autobiography's. Right now I'm reading the book called "Fatal Traps for Helicopter Pilots". Excellent book. Enlightening !!

 

Do all the schools use the same books and study guides? If so then I assume I could buy those now and start work studying them. Good idea?

 

Anyway, I'd appreciate all the help I can get. Thanks

 

Matt

[Optigirl]

Call your flight instructor (school) and ask them the same questions.

 

Stop buying every book you come across and save the money for flight hours !

 

Money Money Money ! Save Save Save !

 

If you have the need to learn, Then I would brush up on flight physics it's a area most schools I would think, Will start you on.

 

Remember a little information can do more damage than waiting for your classes to start !

 

~LD

[Copterpilot213]

Here you go, these are pretty widely used as far as I know. And better yet, they are free if you download the .pdf version!

 

Rotorcraft Flying handbook

 

http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aircraf...a-h-8083-21.pdf

 

Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM)

 

http://www.faa.gov/airports_airtraffic/air...ons/atpubs/aim/

 

Those two alone should keep you busy for awhile. Keep in mind the AIM will sometimes cover things you won't need to know for your private such as Instrument flight.

 

Good luck!

[rick1128]

There are actually several websites out there that cover many helicopter topics. Some in much more detail than some books. Having a good background will make the ground school and flight training go much smoother.

[Copterpilot213]

Oh yeah, you can also look through FAA AC's (Advisory Circulars) they have a lot of great information and there are a ton of them out there. I'd suggest searching for things that you want to learn more about that you see in the first two links I provided.

 

http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_G...me?OpenFrameSet

 

Here are a couple of good ones to specifically look up there, by the AC number:

 

AC Number:

AC 61-134

Date:

04/01/2003

 

Subject:

General Aviation Controlled Flight into Terrain Awareness

 

AC Number:

AC 60-22

Date:

12/13/1991

 

Subject:

Aeronautical Decision Making

 

AC Number:

AC 90-95 Date:

02/07/1995

 

Subject:

Unanticipated Right Yaw in Helicopters

 

 

Oh and here's a good one for info about airworthiness, registration, basically things you'd need to know to verify an aircraft is legal to fly.

 

Plane Sense

[captkirkyota]

The Rotorcraft flying handbook is the one book I'd surely get and read it more than once since you've got a year. I also went to the back of the book a few months beforehand and just made flash cards of all the definition words in the back, even if I was not sure what it was talking about, I memorized the term, I only got about 1/4 of the way through memorizing them, but what I did got me thru my first 4 ground lessons with very little need to study.

[wannabe heli pilot]

360, Jeppesen private pilot manual has a lot of good information in it as well as practice tests in it.It's kind of pricey though around $70.

 

Also the oral exam guides by Michael Hayes will help give you a jump start on the lingo.

 

If you know the aircraft that you'll be flying think about buying a pilot's operating handbook and learning as much as you can about it.

The Rotor Craft Flight manual as CopterPilot213 suggested as well.

 

Chickenhawk by Bob Mason is about the Vietnam helo pilots, not study material but, an awesome read none the less.

 

Learning to fly helicopters by Randy Padfield. The last two mentioned I found at the library.

Edited October 21, 2007 by wannabe heli pilot

[auto360]

Call your flight instructor (school) and ask them the same questions.

 

Stop buying every book you come across and save the money for flight hours !

 

Money Money Money ! Save Save Save !

 

If you have the need to learn, Then I would brush up on flight physics it's a area most schools I would think, Will start you on.

 

Remember a little information can do more damage than waiting for your classes to start !

 

~LD

 

 

LOL,

 

Well, Ive saved $40,000 in less than 6 months so spending $150 in books should'nt hurt me too bad:) Seriously though, I spend almost no money out here except for books and the occasional CD, everything else is taken care of. Oh the joys of living on a military base!

 

I will be looking up all the info you guys have shared plus when I visit some schools when I get home I can see if I can purchase some material when I'm there. Thanks for help.

 

Matt

[auto360]

360, Jeppesen private pilot manual has a lot of good information in it as well as practice tests in it.It's kind of pricey though around $70.

 

Also the oral exam guides by Michael Hayes will help give you a jump start on the lingo.

 

If you know the aircraft that you'll be flying think about buying a pilot's operating handbook and learning as much as you can about it.

The Rotor Craft Flight manual as CopterPilot213 suggested as well.

 

Chickenhawk by Bob Mason is about the Vietnam helo pilots, not study material but, an awesome read none the less.

 

Learning to fly helicopters by Randy Padfield. The last two mentioned I found at the library.

 

Hey Wannabe,

 

Chicken Hawk was the first one I read. My Dad told me about it. Then soon after that I read "Learning to fly Helicopters". That one gave me an excellent idea of how Helicopters work and I owe it to that book in helping me how to learn to hover so fast. The book described in detail about what each control did and how when you move one you have to counteract with another so in my head I new what was going on when learning, I just had to get the feel for the controls. I would highly reccomemnd that book to anyone who is just starting out.

[wannabe heli pilot]

360, That's funny those are the first two books I read in that order. I also found that by 4-5 hours my hovering and hover taxi were decent, save wind gusts.

 

I got a kick out of the part in Randy's book about the guy setting the highest altitude record for helicopters, then after his engine flamed out, setting the longest autorotation record as well!

 

Good luck!

[OhhAndy]

Ive gotta ask. If you have 40g why wouldnt you start your training now, it doesnt make any sense because you pay as you go and if you are indeed wealthy like your saying why would you worry about saving the xtra 10g to start school, besides your have your 10g in a month in a half at the vicious pace your saving....it just doesnt add up bud.

Edited October 23, 2007 by OhhAndy

[southernweyr]

He works in the middle east, on a military base. Not a lot of heli schools available . . .

[OhhAndy]

Ahh got it... the paragraph just wasnt adding up.

[auto360]

Ive gotta ask. If you have 40g why wouldnt you start your training now, it doesnt make any sense because you pay as you go and if you are indeed wealthy like your saying why would you worry about saving the xtra 10g to start school, besides your have your 10g in a month in a half at the vicious pace your saving....it just doesnt add up bud.

 

 

Wealthy, LOL. A big reason I make alot of money now is because I work like 6000 hrs a week. Ok, slight exageration but working 80-100 hrs a week with no taxes, bills or expenses save for the $4 haircuts allows me to save like a madman. The first 8 months here were spent getting out of debt. It feels so good now to be just about at my halfway savings point. I'm going to need more than the 50K realistically. My goal is to save 100K or real close, so I won't have any money issues even after training is done. In my younger days I didn't have that great of money management skills (still don't) and there are not many things worse(for me) than living paycheck to paycheck. What I have found in the past, is that the things that I paid cash for I seem to cherish/appreciate more than the stuff I just made payments on. So you can bet that when I'm in school shelling out my hard earned cash I'll be doing everything I can do to make the most of it. And at the same time my stress should be a little lower knowing that if something does happen I won't be locked into a loan payment paying on training I never finished. If I fail I'll just go back to trucking. Everyone has there own way of viewing the best way to go about accomplishing their goal, and for me, and my past experiences, this is the best way...for me.

 

Matt

 

PS: If anyone is interested in working overseas to save for school, let me know. I'll be more than happy to help in anyway I can. Just keep in mind, I'm pretty low on the totum pole.

[Vaqueroaero]

Why not start studying for your written?

 

Go to mywrittenexam.com (I think) and start doing practice tests. If you get that done and out of the way early it makes life a whole lot easier. You may not understand all the questions, but trust me learn the answers and get it done. If you still have time after working 100 hours a week start on your commercial. The written test is valid for 2 years. That will put you way ahead of the game.

 

Be safe out there.

[rick1128]

Why not start studying for your written?

 

Go to mywrittenexam.com (I think) and start doing practice tests. If you get that done and out of the way early it makes life a whole lot easier. You may not understand all the questions, but trust me learn the answers and get it done. If you still have time after working 100 hours a week start on your commercial. The written test is valid for 2 years. That will put you way ahead of the game.

 

Be safe out there.

 

If bandwidth is an issue, try an have someone from home shipp you the ASA test software for the private and commercial. Do the training sections and testing sections until you consistently score above 90%. They software has explanations for the answers, you will be surprised how much you will pick up. I used them for my CFI and CFII writtens. The correct answers seemed to pop right up during the real test.

 

Definitely be safe out there.

[auto360]

If bandwidth is an issue, try an have someone from home shipp you the ASA test software for the private and commercial. Do the training sections and testing sections until you consistently score above 90%. They software has explanations for the answers, you will be surprised how much you will pick up. I used them for my CFI and CFII writtens. The correct answers seemed to pop right up during the real test.

 

Definitely be safe out there.

 

 

Yeah yeah. Good stuff. I can study for the writtens and at least be ahead of the game a little bit. Anything I can do now will help me finish sooner and easier. I just have to wade through all this good info and figure out where to begin. A little daunting at the moment.

It'll be easier to take care of some of this stuff at home.

[beckwith]

PS: If anyone is interested in working overseas to save for school, let me know. I'll be more than happy to help in anyway I can. Just keep in mind, I'm pretty low on the totum pole.

 

what do you do? what are the pre-req's?

[auto360]

what do you do? what are the pre-req's?

 

 

Beckwith,

 

Sent you a PM

[Copterpilot213]

Yeah yeah. Good stuff. I can study for the writtens and at least be ahead of the game a little bit. Anything I can do now will help me finish sooner and easier. I just have to wade through all this good info and figure out where to begin. A little daunting at the moment.

It'll be easier to take care of some of this stuff at home.

 

In my opinion you should start with the Rotorcraft flying handbook I linked earlier. It has what you need to get the initial information so that you can start a foundation for learning everything you can before you start school.

[auto360]

In my opinion you should start with the Rotorcraft flying handbook I linked earlier. It has what you need to get the initial information so that you can start a foundation for learning everything you can before you start school.

 

 

I think I might have that book at home somewhere. I'll spend some time with it.

 

I'm now learning the questions that I need to ask. Funny how confusing it can be to just find out where to begin.

[EC120AV8R]

The Rotorcraft Flying Handbook is pretty much a "must read". I would echo Rick1128's sentiments on the ASA Prepware. It is the most intuitive software to use. The answers pretty much become rote after you take enough practice tests. By the time you get to the real thing, you will have a "been there done that" feeling. But for that software, I probably wouldn't have gotten through my instrument rating.