Flying a Helicopter?

[buckeyefarmer]

I had a friend who was a glider instructor, he let me fly once, that was cool.

 

[ovrszd]

I had a friend who was a glider instructor, he let me fly once, that was cool.

That would be very cool. I was on top of Imogene Pass in Colorado few years ago. Taking a picture of my wife standing by the sign, over 12K ft elevation. She suddenly pointed behind me and screamed "OH MY GOD, LOOK". It was a glider that followed the valley up to the top of the pass, did a sharp turn and rode the wind back down. Very cool.

I also think a hot air balloon would be relaxing.

 

[k0ua]

I also think a hot air balloon would be relaxing.

It is. One of the first things you notice is how well you can hear everyone on the ground. Except for the occasional roar of the burners, it is eerily quite. I have only been up once in one in a balloon race, but it was great, and I would do it again.

 

[ovrszd]

It is. One of the first things you notice is how well you can hear everyone on the ground. Except for the occasional roar of the burners, it is eerily quite. I have only been up once in one in a balloon race, but it was great, and I would do it again.

When my boys were kids there was a family in Des Moines that had one. Several times we would see them drifting down I-35. We'd all pile in the pickup and chase them. They would always land near Eagleville and change riders. I never asked for a ride and they never offered. But they got used to seeing us. They even flew in very cold Winter weather. Couple times with snow cover.

 

[k0ua]

When my boys were kids there was a family in Des Moines that had one. Several times we would see them drifting down I-35. We'd all pile in the pickup and chase them. They would always land near Eagleville and change riders. I never asked for a ride and they never offered. But they got used to seeing us. They even flew in very cold Winter weather. Couple times with snow cover.

I would think that cold weather would be an excellent time to launch as the colder air is more dense and lift would be easier to achieve with less fuel.

 

[ovrszd]

I would think that cold weather would be an excellent time to launch as the colder air is more dense and lift would be easier to achieve with less fuel.

And during one of our brief visits, 20 degree weather, I asked if it was cold riding??? They were dressed warm. Wind aloft was probably 10mph. The man looked at me kinda weird and said "no, there's no wind"....... Duhhhhhh,,,,, I felt so stupid.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

One lands near my house a lot.

A guy proposed on this flight.

 

[k0ua]

And during one of our brief visits, 20 degree weather, I asked if it was cold riding??? They were dressed warm. Wind aloft was probably 10mph. The man looked at me kinda weird and said "no, there's no wind"....... Duhhhhhh,,,,, I felt so stupid.

One thing I learned from the "balloon race" was there are winds aloft with different directions. We carried a can of shaving cream to let a stream of it down from the basket to watch it move with the winds and then to adjust our height to get into that narrow stream of wind to change our direction enough to get back on track to our target. We ran out of shaving cream and started to spit over the side for this same purpose. I had to engage in hawking up loogies too as there was a limited amount of spit in the pilot. We made it real close to the target, and I threw the bag at the X, but we did not win, others were closer to the X.

 

[adventure bob]

Helicopter flight is all about torque management. Over torque and its real possible to destroy a gear box and or engine. Not enough torque is called falling. Fine line between the two.

Joke: Anyone know what that rotor on the tail does? Well it keeps the pilot cool. Now your all thinking its for rotational stability or horizontal direction control. I would argue that if you want to see the pilot sweat, stop that blade.

 

[MossRoad]

I love small airplanes and have been in and flown many as a kid. And, while I enjoy the concept of a helicopter, I don't enjoy riding in them knowing how they work and what has to happen each revolution of that blade, what holds it on, and what happens if it, the transmission or the engine malfunctions... you gonna D.I.E.

I once saw a pilot (we called him Hot Dog) starve a helicopter engine of air in winter, stall the turbine, and make an emergency autrotation landing from very low altitude. He hit so hard, it bent the struts. We joke about this stuff, but he soiled his pants. It wasn't funny. He thought he was gonna die. We thought he was gonna die, too. He was a much different pilot after that. No more Hot Dog.