DO NOT FLY IN A ROBINSON!

I have flown, and still do, in choppers in europe and the middle east!, I have even crash landed twice in one day in two different Hughes 300`s but I would never fly in a Robinson!

Umm ... something like that!!

It is a very generous offer, I didn't think I'd get that much for the children!

As for Thailand, I'm going anyway. In December at some point I'll be on a liveaboard doing some diving and chilling around the Similan Islands.

:D

Heli
 

Jools
Have you tried Glider flights and lessons are comparable a lot cheaper.
and you dont have to worry about loss of power cause they aint got none.
Plus for a small outlay a group of you can buy and share one as maintenance is minimal compared to a helicopter.
ian

sounds like you had a good time jools.
I've allways fancied doing the heli thing, but never been 100% about some of the small ones.
Someone on the my wifes side of the family( gods knows who) flies harriers, now that would be a great day out, best of both worlds.
now where is my G-suit;);)

cheers

Nice one Jools, I'm envious to say the least. As for the R22 - I don't know anything about helicopters but I see it came 2nd in C5's 'top ten helicopter' programme this week - same position as the 916 did when they did 'top ten bikes' - so it can't be all bad can it???

Having said all that, I was talking to a fireman at Silverstone a couple of years back about helicopters and he didn't like them - said if they get a fixed wing down, there's sometimes survivors, but when a helicopter comes down, there's generally just wreckage...

Martin

Never fly in an aircraft where the wings travel faster than the fuselage!
The R22 is okay but needs respect, perhaps more so than most other choppers.

The thing that sticks in my mind was how small it is inside!

Yep, went up for a trial flight with a group of people from work (The London Gliding club is only a few miles away from me at Dunstable). There were about 5 or 6 gliders doing 10-15 minute flights on a round robin basis and it was just pot luck which glider you got to fly in. Fortunately the pilot in my glider was the most senior instructor in the club and when he saw me do up the four point harness unaided he asked me whether I'd done it before. I said I hadn't but I knew about the harnesses from my rally navigation, whn he realised that I was an adrenalin junkie he offered me the alternative of a 10-15 minute float around like everyone else or 4-5 minutes of aerobatics :D Naturally, I took the aerobatics...it was excellent.


You're not kidding...makes my wifes Smart car feel like a stretch limo

:lol::lol::lol:

On a final note, I've been fascinated by flying (and going fast) all my life but have never had the money to learn to fly. On balance I prefer fast things and I've got an expensive Ducati habit to feed, so I won't be taking up any sort of fixed wing or rotary wing training.

But, here's the weird thing....I am fascinated by flying but absolutely terrified of heights and I mean to the point where on the first level of the Eiffel Tower I was absolutely frozen with fear. Gut wrenching, cold sweat, dry mouthed fear and gripping on to the nearest bench seat with white knuckles just because I could see through the trellis work down to the ground. Now, the damn thing has a pedestrian walkway around it as wide as a street, it has wire fencing to stop anyone tumbling over the parapet, it's impossible to fall or jump off it and it wasn't likely to have stood for 100 years then collapse just because I was on it that day. So you can be entirely rational about it but I was still terrified. The same is true for any tall building and you wouldn't get me within half a mile of a cliff top.

And yet...put me in a flying machine be it a commercial airliner (in which I've spent countless hours) or a light aircraft, or a glider or a helicopter and I'm absolutely fine. Yesterday, bobbing about on the breeze in a flimsy perspex bubble 1500 feet above my house (I only live 5 minutes from Cranfield as the chopper flies) was in a different order of risk to standing on a concourse up the Eiffel Tower, which frightens the crap out of me, and yet I was loving it.

Explain that one Mr Freud

It's something I've toyed with off and on, having done a few helicopter trips through the grand canyon, and one of the pilots thinking he was flying airwolf it was probably one of the most enjoyable and memorable experiences of my life to be honest.

But I knew how many hours it would take and the costs involved to go for a pilots license, so never really given it much more thought... but the cogs are whirring again now :)

Glad you enjoyed it Jools, any tips? :lol:

Minichamps seems to be quite an expensive hobby i find :D

[Edited on 8-9-2005 by ziggi]

The problem with flight training is that you have to stay current. Gaining the licence is only the first expense.

I first gained a licence (fixed wing) some years ago, but allowed it to lapse through disuse. However, in 2001 I decided to give it another go, and returned to training. I had half a mind to gain my instructor's rating, and change my career. Many more hours were spent in the air (and the classroom) and eventually I gained my PPL - again!

However (for various reasons) I came to the conclusion that a career in aviation wasn't really for me. What's it cost me in total? Don't even ask!!

Best be sure you want to do this before commiting to it. Long-term, it'll cost you loooadsamoney!

Steve