Flight Training - November 2014 - 31
1. HELICOPTERS ARE LAME: This is prob-
ably the most persistent myth of them all.
Airplane pilots think that helicopters are
too limited in terms of speed, range, and
payload, so they cast them off as some
secondary tier of aviation.
Like airplanes, helicopters come in all
shapes, sizes, and abilities. Training ships
are relatively simple, less expensive to
operate, and somewhat underpowered.
Multiengine turbine models can carry
heavy construction equipment or giant
logs. It's true that they are generally limited in speed, but their versatility more
than makes up for it.
2. THEY ARE EXPENSIVE: In a sense, yes,
helicopters are expensive. But so are airplanes. If you are Joe Super Pilot, you can
in theory get a rotorcraft add-on rating to
a fixed-wing certificate in about 20 hours.
In a Robinson helicopter, the minimum
is 30 hours. Plan for something like 40.
Pilots who start fresh in helicopters are
eligible for the checkride at either 35
or 40 hours. Most training helicopters
rent for between $225 and $275 an hour,
so plan to spend anywhere between
$10,000 and $15,000. The purchase price
of a helicopter is roughly that of a used,
high-performance single-engine airplane,
although maintenance can cost a bit
more.
3. THEY ARE UNSAFE: Despite having
dozens of moving parts that must perform as well together as the players in
a Parisian opera house, helicopters are
quite safe. The accident rate for commercial helicopter operations is higher
than the equivalent fixed-wing rate,
but that speaks to the unique nature of
their capabilities. It's harder to assure
the safety of a landing when the site is
a highway or a confined area rather than
a 6,000-foot runway. In training, things
look better for rotorcraft. Although the
accident rate during dual instruction is
higher in helicopters, the fatal accident
rate is about the same as for fixed-wing
aircraft.
Much of helicopter training focuses
on hovering and autorotations. Hovering
accidents happen often, but they are very
rarely fatal. Autorotations-basically, the
engine-out procedure for landing a helicopter-are a bit more risky, but still not
what most pilots would consider unsafe.
Things look even better for private and
corporate helicopter flying. There, the
accident rate has declined significantly
in the past decade, and now is about the
same as the rate for fixed-wing aircraft.
Taken as a whole, flying a helicopter is not
that much different than flying an airplane
where safety is concerned.
NOVEMBER 2014 FLIGHT TRAINING
/ 31
Flight Training - November 2014
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - November 2014
Contents
Flight Training - November 2014 - Cover1
Flight Training - November 2014 - Cover2
Flight Training - November 2014 - Contents
Flight Training - November 2014 - 2
Flight Training - November 2014 - 3
Flight Training - November 2014 - 4
Flight Training - November 2014 - 5
Flight Training - November 2014 - 6
Flight Training - November 2014 - 7
Flight Training - November 2014 - 8
Flight Training - November 2014 - 9
Flight Training - November 2014 - 10
Flight Training - November 2014 - 11
Flight Training - November 2014 - 12
Flight Training - November 2014 - 13
Flight Training - November 2014 - 14
Flight Training - November 2014 - 15
Flight Training - November 2014 - 16
Flight Training - November 2014 - 17
Flight Training - November 2014 - 18
Flight Training - November 2014 - 19
Flight Training - November 2014 - 20
Flight Training - November 2014 - 21
Flight Training - November 2014 - 22
Flight Training - November 2014 - 23
Flight Training - November 2014 - 24
Flight Training - November 2014 - 25
Flight Training - November 2014 - 26
Flight Training - November 2014 - 27
Flight Training - November 2014 - 28
Flight Training - November 2014 - 29
Flight Training - November 2014 - 30
Flight Training - November 2014 - 31
Flight Training - November 2014 - 32
Flight Training - November 2014 - 33
Flight Training - November 2014 - 34
Flight Training - November 2014 - 35
Flight Training - November 2014 - 36
Flight Training - November 2014 - 37
Flight Training - November 2014 - 38
Flight Training - November 2014 - 39
Flight Training - November 2014 - 40
Flight Training - November 2014 - 41
Flight Training - November 2014 - 42
Flight Training - November 2014 - 43
Flight Training - November 2014 - 44
Flight Training - November 2014 - 45
Flight Training - November 2014 - 46
Flight Training - November 2014 - 47
Flight Training - November 2014 - 48
Flight Training - November 2014 - 49
Flight Training - November 2014 - 50
Flight Training - November 2014 - 51
Flight Training - November 2014 - 52
Flight Training - November 2014 - 53
Flight Training - November 2014 - 54
Flight Training - November 2014 - 55
Flight Training - November 2014 - 56
Flight Training - November 2014 - Cover3
Flight Training - November 2014 - Cover4
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