Anyone flown a helicopter?

AMG said:
helicopters are not supposed to fly, turn off the engine and you will find out why. ( not in real life:p)

you can't just let go of the stick and it will go level it will probably nose dive

I have treid a navy copper pilot sim in one of thier recruitment trailers, I managed to get it on the carrier it was a bit of a **** through
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Apparently it is actually possible to land a helicopter where the engine has failed, although it's obviously quite difficult.

Also, many modern helicopters have one or even two backup engines.
 
I ve never seen that I think you mean like a boost button in case of emergency I m aware of something like that, but if you had the right angle of attack on the rotor blades and the right collective (the little lever you must keep your hand on ) you can land it without the engine its very very difficult
 
PiKe said:
No less safe than a plane.
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much less safe.

think what happens when a planes engines (all of them) fail. theres atleast some chance of landing. try the same with a helicopter... also add the difficulty of flying one like people have mentioned in here. then add that once it goes down theres very little protection to stop everyone in it dieing.

i could possibly dig up stats to back this up if you really want. helicopter crashes are seemingly common
 
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AMG said:
helicopters are not supposed to fly, turn off the engine and you will find out why. ( not in real life:p)
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Same can be said of the eurofighter and f117, since theyre designed to be computer controlled and aerodynamically unstable they apparently glide like a brick if it was all switched off. Think of a vectra vxr with the steering aids turned off. :D
 
The chance of death from helicopter crash is something of the order of 1 in 2 million per flight hour. I do about 100hours a year at a push meaning I have something like a 1 in 200,000 chance of being killed in a crash every year.
 
"andy" said:
much less safe.

think what happens when a planes engines (all of them) fail. theres atleast some chance of landing. try the same with a helicopter... also add the difficulty of flying one like people have mentioned in here. then add that once it goes down theres very little protection to stop everyone in it dieing.

i could possibly dig up stats to back this up if you really want. helicopter crashes are seemingly common
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If the engines fail then, as can be seen a few posts above yours, a helicopter is able to autorotate back to Earth.

More difficult to fly than a plane? Probably. But with ample training I imagine a helicopter is just as safe when it comes down to pilot error.

I would like to see some stats actually if you could get some.
 
thats a little different its unstable so its agile and fast, Also the harrier is unstable and shouldn't fly due to its odd wing angle, in fact if you was in a jet and the engine cut there would be less chance of you landing it than say a 747 or Cessna to that matter

A helicopter was never meant to fly it needs a lot of concentration in order to fly one.

Never compared fixed wing, to rotary wing birds ;p
 
AMG said:
A helicopter was never meant to fly it needs a lot of concentration in order to fly one.
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Even the wording of " a helicopter was never meant to fly" just looks and sounds weird when i say it, was it designed for mowing lawns? Though id imagine it could be pretty adept at that given the large lawnmower on top. :p

A helicopter is obviously a different take on flying from a plane, takes more time to master but in a lot of instances it does jobs that planes could never do, and is arguably more agile than a plane.
 
Helicopters are a dodle to fly.. I,m lucky i have had a go in a Chinook and a Puma but i was an engineer on them for 6 years...:D

If helicopters loose there engines they can autorotate. You need a bit if height but its more than possible to land safely if you loose the engines. I would be more worried about loosing the gearbox or the driveshafts connecting the tail.
 
I have also landed a VC-10 with all 4 engines failed from 5 thousand feet.. In a sim but its as real as you can get.. It was actually easier than it sounds.
 
*looks for an airwolf boxset*

How come he forgot about the landing gear?
 
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My uni course (Aero Eng) had a day at a flying school where we flew in a Piper Warrior and I got two flights in a Robinson RB22 which was amazing, Ive flown in a lot of light AC in the ATC but it was amazing the sensation of such visibility and then just stopping. I only had control for a small portion and it was a total balancing act just to keep steady and level hover. Awesome non the less but a real skill.

Also been in a Chinook and hung out the door of a Sea King during a banked turn. :D
 
I have to say I'm envious of the people who have flown a real Helo.

I read "Chickenhawk" as a kid and was mesmerised, as a previous poster said it is a truly excellent book. I've also read Ed Macy's "Apache" about WAH-64's in Afghanistan, another good read. I have yet to get his latest though.

If you want a taste of flying a helo yourself Check out DCS:- Black Shark, it has easily the best flight model ever done for a pc and will give you a real appreciation of how helicopters "fly"

Nate
 
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