mlanger There are only THREE helicopter operators who fly over the Grand Canyon at the south rim. Vegas operations fly to the west end, which is NOT the same and not nearly as good. At the south rim, I recommend Maverick for a nice experience. Papillon treats it'...  moreThere are only THREE helicopter operators who fly over the Grand Canyon at the south rim. Vegas operations fly to the west end, which is NOT the same and not nearly as good. At the south rim, I recommend Maverick for a nice experience. Papillon treats it's passengers like cattle; I know because is spent a summer as a cattle driver there. Grand canyon helicopters is nicer than Papillon, but is owned by Papillon. From Las Vegas, you want to avoid HeliUSA. But don't expect to be seeing the real Grand Canyon from Vegas. Frankly, I think "Grand Canyon" trips from Vegas are a waste of time and money.  less

• June 18, 2011

kwheli70 Thanks Maria... Good info... I'll pass it along...

• June 18, 2011

scottswanberg Probably a combination of all of those...

• May 23, 2011

fly911 I just talked (via facebook) to an EMS pilot in Germany. He said that the exchange rate between the dollar and the euro is responsible in large part for the high cost of helo training in Europe. Here's a quote "...and flying heli is very expensive in germ...  moreI just talked (via facebook) to an EMS pilot in Germany. He said that the exchange rate between the dollar and the euro is responsible in large part for the high cost of helo training in Europe. Here's a quote "...and flying heli is very expensive in germany, an R22 or an R44 starts with pilot nearly by 500€ p h. And so, most of the germans became a pilot in america, because our € is better then the dollar, we get for 1€ nearly 1,45 dollar"  

• May 23, 2011

scottswanberg Other things to keep in mind: Cost of fuel is higher in europe. ATC is not free like it is here in the states. You get charged for it!

• May 23, 2011

kwheli70 Hey Mike... did your German buddy have any suggestions (other than go back to OC :-))? I will be in the Stuttgart area...

• May 24, 2011

fly911 Keith, I will try to find out more and let you know.

• May 24, 2011

hkutcher Kudos!

• May 3, 2011

kwheli70 Thanks Hanna... now have to find the time for a stage 3 check ride and the Practical test :-)

• May 3, 2011

scottswanberg Great job!

• May 4, 2011

mlanger Congratulations!

• May 5, 2011

kwheli70 Thanks All

• May 6, 2011

kwheli70 Maybe... it's such a shame as it was a gorgeous afternoon... would have been perfect flying weather :-(

• April 21, 2011

scottswanberg When he came to Seattle last summer some idiot busted the TFR in a floatplane and they scrambled F15s from Portland. I work on Ft. Lewis and I thought the Artillery guys were firing on the wrong coordinates!

• April 21, 2011

mlanger I remember that. It was all over the news up there.

• April 22, 2011

Keith58 Rattled the windows in my house. I live in a neighborhood that is heavily populated with military. Jets were not the first thing to to cross most people's minds until we heard the second one.

• April 23, 2011

hkutcher Obama gets around. I've been grounded by TFRs in Detroit and Cleveland, too. I feel the worst for the heli tour operators in Hawaii when he visits there.

• April 23, 2011

kwheli70 Helistream is very good... though I must admit I didn't really check the other schools as Helistream flies out of SNA which is very close to home for me:-)

• April 15, 2011

Turbotay19 right on Im from the Mission Viejo myself, up in Oregon finishing up CFI, whats it like landing on the building :P

• April 16, 2011

kwheli70 Intimidating... :-) especially when they have all the other pads full... check my links for a video posted by one of the other students

• April 16, 2011

donhillberg Rod Anderson was there when I flew back in 79, All I had was a dirt field. Good place-But I went through 6 instructors-and all wanted to start from the begining-realy pissed me off-I could auto better than most instructors, I wonder If Rod remembers my la...  moreRod Anderson was there when I flew back in 79, All I had was a dirt field. Good place-But I went through 6 instructors-and all wanted to start from the begining-realy pissed me off-I could auto better than most instructors, I wonder If Rod remembers my last flight. Dougie went to Robinson as a test pilot still flying.  

• April 19, 2011

kwheli70 I've managed to stick to one main CFI but have flown with 5 different ones for a variety of reasons (schedule, check ride, etc)... i think it is good to have variety as they all have different styles... Rod is still there... it's his company after all :-)

• April 20, 2011

kwheli70 Here's a video of the flyby https://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=216033991745215&comments

• April 11, 2011

fly911 Congrats Keith!..... Mike

• March 12, 2011

mlanger Congratulations!

• March 12, 2011

kwheli70 Thanks folks...

• March 14, 2011

tomtom my advise,, find an instructor, talk about hover auto's and about your issues, then do "couch flying hover auto's, then with instructor in heli.

• March 3, 2011

chrnxn i agree with tom ???? my problem when doing them is i get real tense and you should ? dont horse it height off the ground is a big kicker what is your skid height????at the start? one instructor i had wanted about 18 inches things happen real fast ??!!!...  morei agree with tom ???? my problem when doing them is i get real tense and you should ? dont horse it height off the ground is a big kicker what is your skid height????at the start? one instructor i had wanted about 18 inches things happen real fast ??!!!! the next one had me up about 3 to 5 ft gives you more time to settle these are just issues i had hope it helps  

• March 3, 2011

kwheli70 "couch flying hover auto's" - so how do you do those... is there some trick to building the muscle memory needed for this? Don't get me wrong, my instructor is good and i'm happy with him...and I know I'm capable of doing them... just trying to improve b...  more"couch flying hover auto's" - so how do you do those... is there some trick to building the muscle memory needed for this? Don't get me wrong, my instructor is good and i'm happy with him...and I know I'm capable of doing them... just trying to improve between lessons as well...  

• March 3, 2011

chrnxn think about the whole process lower coll,roll throttle off right pedal, raise coll to cushion landing practice ,practice i dont think mine are the greatest????!! just keep at it

• March 3, 2011

scottswanberg This helped me alot: Next flight, ask your instructor to roll the power off slowly, so you can feel what is going on and have more reaction time. You don't NEED to chop the throttle quickly. Have him just ease into it for a few tries, then speed things...  moreThis helped me alot: Next flight, ask your instructor to roll the power off slowly, so you can feel what is going on and have more reaction time. You don't NEED to chop the throttle quickly. Have him just ease into it for a few tries, then speed things up slowly. If you are the one on the throttle, slow yourself down. And try not to anticipate the loss of torque or you will be chasing heading. Also, wait a tic for the heli to start to settle, then keep raising the collective (all the way into your armpit) untill touchdown. Once on the ground, lower the collective smoothly but rapidly so you don't bounce. The "couch flying" technique is simply sitting on a chair, imagining you have controls, then moving your feet and hands in the coordinated movement you would if you were in the helicopter. It's a thought exercise as much as a muscle memory exercise, because you need to think about everything that would be going on and in what order.  less

• March 3, 2011

fly911 Nice video! Nice helipad.

• February 20, 2011

kwheli70 Thanks... not my video but does a nice job on showing it... can be quite intimidating when they the Huey, 2 A-Stars and an R66 all outside when you're making an approach ;-)

• February 20, 2011

fly911 I hear that Frank Robinson said that they weren't worth overhauling after mustering.

• February 17, 2011

WestOzHeliPilot We get a lot of mustering helicopters down for maintenance where I train and I have to admit, they get thrown around a fair bit! If you want to see more of that kind of flying, check out "Keeping Up With The Joneses" I'll post a few links shortly for it

• February 18, 2011

mlanger They do this near where I live. Outfit out of Texas comes in with an R22. Balled one up last year, tho. My current insurance allows this kind of operation, but I wouldn't do it in an R44; too big.

• February 19, 2011

translift I'd much prefer to be doing it in a 300 than a 22.

• February 19, 2011

mlanger I think a 300 would be a better ship for the work. Smaller rotor diameter, shorter tail. It can get into the tight spots and there's no need to worry about low G operations.

• February 19, 2011

scottswanberg Ah the Santa Anas... I have some stories about THAT!

• February 9, 2011

Turbotay19 nice who do you fly for out of RAL?

• February 9, 2011

translift It'll make you a better pilot flying in that wind!!

• February 9, 2011

kwheli70 Thanks Guys... I did get to fly and it does add to the challenge / experience... I actually train with Helistream from SNA... we do crosscountry to RAL

• February 9, 2011

chrnxn that usually gets me pretty tense, the first one after not doing one for awhile glad to hear i am NOT the lone ranger

• February 7, 2011

hkutcher Nothing like a metal on metal grinding noise to put you at ease. This is my least favorite maneuver, as well. My mental reminders: keep it between 20-30 kts, keep nosing forward, lower the collective slowly (otherwise you get to test your seat belts). :-)

• February 7, 2011

fly911 It does come in handy though. I had to use it last year when my Bell 206 hydraulics sprung a leak and you tell yourself that it's no biggy. You've done it a hundred times before. Still you've earned a big :-)

• February 7, 2011

scottswanberg chrnxn you are definitely not the only one. I am halfway through my CFI and learning how to teach advanced maneuvers, my instructor told me this is the maneuver that scares pilots the most.

• February 7, 2011

timcrum We just had a S92 have to do a run on. Touched down at 72 knots. It comes in handy.

• February 8, 2011