wickedsprint

Actually they glide pretty well, the air moving through the blades keeps them spinning, and you still glide them in like an airplane. You are however right if they are below a certain altitude and going slow.

wickedsprint

I have a very weak stomache in light aircraft when other people are flying...only if they are not flying smoothly though or horsing around though. Rarely does an instructor need to demo straight and level flight which usually leads them to making me sick. So I suspect you pinpointed it correctly as control issues. Same reason I had to leave weapons system officer training down in pensacola. Every single flight I was getting sick...unless I was flying. I was going to be in B1s or F15Es..which as a backseater for me at least would have been pure hell.

I went on to finish my PPL to see if I could do it..and I don't make myself sick when I fly...so it must be purely phycological. I don't get carsick or seasick either, plus the feelings of flight you get in a helicopter seemed different, which surprised me. It flew a ton smoother, even though we had gusty crosswinds, updrafts etc, even tight turns with him flying didn't bother me. I have no useful explanation. I just know I was totally at ease in a helicopter and actually enjoyed flying it, even with some one else demoeing stuff that would make me nauseous in a light plane.

Zoot Suit

There was nothing better than climbing out of the Lear and cranking up the helo for some hands on flying. Instructing in a Cessna made me a much better pilot, instructing in the R-22 made me find religion..... Please Lord, don't let this student kill me today.

After 1000 hours teaching in the helo I moved on to sight seeing, corp, 135, power line patrol and EMS. I landed on rooftops, islands, yachts, roads, backyards, parking lots(got a parking ticket) and more. If I had to choose between fixed wing and rotary wing, the helicopter wins hands down for fun and QOL. Being dual rated is great for a corp gig these days.

wickedsprint

Zoot, thanks for the motivation, maybe you can answer me this. If schools that teach helicopter flying usually only have a couple helicopters and not many CFIs, how are new CFIs getting jobs? Seems the schools I contacted don't typically hire their own, and if they do it's not often as they don't have a real need for new CFIs.

Zoot Suit

Well I did my helo add ons back in 1985 and I was hired at the school afterwards to teach there. Once they see how you are as a student I think they are more comfertable hiring you since they know you. You will probably learn in a Robinson R-22 and you need to go to the Robinson factory class before you can teach. Back then I believe Robinson had a list of schools looking for instructors. Also......I believe you can actually find a few places that PAY YOU to learn to fly them. Call the Guard or the Army.

SiShane

Best way to enter the the rotary world is thru the army....with this war in iraq going on, guys are racking up thousands of hrs flying missions.....there is no way you can compete with them, learning the civilian way, as they get out. I was a crew chief on a CH47D Chinook and had a blast riding on the ramp.....always wondered how much fun the guys in the front seats were having...

For sure i want to get a helo rating for fun but fixed wing is just a broader market....

wickedsprint

Army is not an option. You're not competing with them in the entry level gigs either, only at the turbine level. I'll find a way to make myself marketable. While the Army guys are very qualified for helicopter jobs, it seems most want fixed wing jobs anyhow, which works for me. Most are not content to take a 40k job flying around in a jet ranger, otherwise they would have just stayed in the Army to make much more.