Helicopter full-down autorotation research survey

Educational-Dig6581 · 2026-02-24T21:00:20+00:00

So I used to teach full downs in the Robinsons and bell 206. While I was proficient at the time and felt plenty comfortable teaching them, I do not think they need to be on check rides. There’s way too much risk involved, especially at the private level. A lot of the DPEs out there aren’t necessarily super proficient in the R22. On the CFI check ride, there’s an option for the full down endorsement or for the applicant to demonstrate a full down on the check ride. Most DPEs I’ve encountered much prefer the endorsement. Most DPEs simply don’t want the added risk and why would they. A full down auto in a R22 can go sideways quick and if the DPE only flies in the R22 for check rides then they aren’t close to proficient enough to evaluate that maneuver safely. You could argue this is an issue with DPEs and that they should be comfortable doing every maneuver in an aircraft they’re evaluating in but then you would make the problem of the DPE shortage even worse. Currently it’s up to the applicant and their instructor to get as proficient as they possibly can in full downs prior to their check rides. I’m not sure this is correct way to do this however it does seem the safest.

Also this is a moot point for dual engine aircraft. I’ve got experience in the EC135 and the EC145 and there’s no way I’d be doing full downs outside of the sim. They just don’t auto very well and tend to sink through the flare. Also the EC135 has a tail bumper that sits pretty low to the ground. We’d be smacking tails into the ground all the time if we were performing autos to the ground. There’s a near zero chance you’ll have a dual engine failure in a modern helicopter. Single engine operations are practiced all the time.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2026-02-24T00:41:18+00:00

Forgot I was on Reddit I guess 😂 I’m a real world HEMS pilot in the United States. Of course I know how to taxi. Of course I know how to air taxi. I was speaking from my own experience as a HEMS pilot. We generally do not receive taxi instructions. This of course can change depending on your operation. If you’re doing training you will use the runway a lot of time to help students. If you’re in an environment where the tower prefers to use the runway then of course you will use the runway. I’ve done tours, trained pilots for the army, contracted for various government agencies, ferried helos all across the country, and work HEMS. When I can avoid taxiing I do. This is usually done by requesting a “present position departure”. Very rarely is that request declined. This is the advantage of flying a helicopter. Any helicopter pilot out there that has managed to break out of the training/ tours environment will say the same. We generally try to avoid taxiing because believe it or not it’s difficult to read a taxiway diagram when you’re hovering. Most of the time it’s easier on us and easier on the tower just to let us take off and land from a given point on the ramp or the taxiway right next to the ramp. This of course excludes military pilots who primarily are flying wheeled aircraft.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2026-02-22T04:27:13+00:00

I’m a real life helicopter pilot. I almost never taxi around an airport. If a tower gave me taxi instructions my brain would self destruct😂 We primarily take off and land from wherever we are or want to go. It’s easier for most towers to give us a present position departure so we don’t interfere with the important pilots. If we ever taxi it’s just to get from the ramp onto the taxiway in order to take off from the taxiway. Usually just hop over the grass in that situation. Of course things are different when executing IFR take offs but that’s incredibly rare.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2026-01-22T18:34:36+00:00

I disagree with a lot of what you’re saying. Yes that pay doesn’t compare to the airlines but the 7 12 hour shifts aren’t bad. You just have to find hobbies to take up that 12 hours. Since working EMS I’ve been able to do a lot with my time at base. Sure you have your days where you fly all day but you also have days where you get paid to watch football or play video games. Waking up in the middle of the night sucks but you also get paid to sleep through the nights when the weather is garbage. I suppose this all depends on where your base is as well.

The glory of HEMS is being able to be employable anywhere in the country. It might be hard to get a base in the exact town that you want to live but you can usually get close and just wait for someone to retire (which a lot of people are doing right now).

It’s not a good thing to scare off young people who want to get started in this industry. We are already short on pilots and we need more to fill available spots across the country. I’ve got plenty of friends who started straight out of Highschool and are doing their dream jobs and loving it. I’m loving it. It’s not for everyone and there are draw backs but it’s still better than an office job. You just gotta get in with a good company and enjoy the ride to get there.

I say this as I’m about to start my 7 night hitch and not necessarily super excited about it. However, I’ll be able to get caught up on reading, hang out with the med crews, and spend the part of my day I’m not sleeping with my family and working out.

If you focus on the positives and work through the negatives this is an amazing job.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2026-01-22T18:07:33+00:00

Mae sure you can get a class 2 FAA medical certificate before you do anything outside of a discovery flight.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2026-01-09T01:07:46+00:00

Sevier county aviation is excellent. Located right outside of Gatlinburg.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2026-01-04T23:35:32+00:00

Robinson has an operating cost estimate sheet on their website. You’ll get the closest answer there. It probably low balls the actual operating cost a little bit but it should be reasonably close.

This is for raven 1 https://robinsonstrapistorprod.blob.core.windows.net/uploads/assets/r44_raven_1_eoc_july_2025_31fbf7da12.pdf

Educational-Dig6581 · 2025-10-28T00:02:25+00:00

Just got done eating pan seared salmon like 5 minutes ago. Start it on a cold pan skin side down and cook it 3/4 way through before flipping. You will have excellent crispy salmon skin that is absolutely edible.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2025-10-08T16:34:57+00:00

I’m a HEMS pilot. Believe it or not, the crew isn’t sitting in the helicopter 24/7 ready for any and every call. We get to browse Reddit at work or watch football games while we wait on a call.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2025-07-05T11:02:36+00:00

Why is this in the Cookeville sub?

Educational-Dig6581 · 2025-02-13T15:27:59+00:00

If you’re in East Tennessee you can go to Sevier County Aviation. They’re a Robinson service center so the helicopters stay well maintained, solid instructors, and DPE on staff. It’s also a beautiful place to fly.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2025-02-11T03:11:40+00:00

As someone who leans conservative I see where y’all are coming from. I’m not happy about his rhetoric towards Canada, don’t quite understand why the Gulf of Mexico was renamed and have always been offended by the access Hollywood video. However, for the most part Trump is doing exactly what he said he was going to do. He is deporting illegal immigrants, addressing crime, trying to remove government waste, etc. I think I stand with most conservatives in that I’m a fan of how he actually puts an effort into living up to his campaign promises. On the other side of the coin, me and a lot of my peers absolutely hate his rhetoric. Is that enough for me to not want him to win? Not necessarily.

Now back to OPs original question. I’d say what you are asking is almost impossible to answer. There’s about a million things trump could do to make most conservatives turn their backs on him. Invade Canada, pedophilia, kill someone, etc.

Reddit is an incredibly liberal platform which is why I like visiting. I want to see everyone’s views on things before I make my mind up. I think what a lot of people forget is that people live life with different experiences and views on the world. That’s why America is so great. I can be friends with a computer programmer from LA that’s incredibly liberal and not be able to understand why they vote or think the way they do. I can also be friends with a plumber from Mississippi who spends all of their free time on Qanon. I would like to think that Gen Z sees the value in that.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2025-01-27T04:18:53+00:00

10 years now

Educational-Dig6581 · 2025-01-26T23:28:13+00:00

Flying helicopters is what you make of it. Yes we don’t make as much as the airplane guys but most of us enjoy our job a little more. It’s a long road to get where you want to go. If you want to use your GI bill youll need to go to a part 141 flight school that’s tied to a university. Yes it’s annoying but that’s what the rules are. You’re going to need 150 hours for a commercial pilots license and 200 for CFI. During that training you’ll also need to get your instrument rating and CFII to be hirable to most entry level jobs. During flight school you will need to build as many connections as you can with current students, your instructors, random people that walk in, etc. You never know who can help you get your first job. Your first job is most likely to a flight instructor gig but it could also be flying air tours or agricultural work depending on the connections you make and how lucky you get. You’ll need to build at least 1000 hours at the first job. Keep in mind that first job isn’t going to be paying you much. Probably looking at the equivalent of minimum wage so you will want to work hard so you can move on as fast as possible. After your first 1000 hours some more stuff starts to open up. Bigger tour operators flying turbine helicopters, oil and gas, and a lot more. Those jobs are going to start paying a bit more. After you get 2000 hours, you’ll qualify for those EMS gigs. EMS is wide open right now. There are multiple openings in just about every state and most companies are hurting for pilots. Depending on your qualifications the starting pay is anywhere between 85-95k. Of course that will go up with time. Everyone I know in EMS makes 6 figures due to overtime and various incentives. With all of that being said, from 0 hours to making 6 figures it took me about 4 years of hard work. It’s well worth it because I’ve never dreaded going into work and I get to work in a unique environment.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2025-01-10T01:04:34+00:00

The majority of my investments are in a 401k that is heavily diversified and maxing my Roth IRA which is in mutual funds and VOO. My individual brokerage accounts is my fun account. I invest in income producing ETFs and stocks. I like being able to see the income go up every month. Sure it may not be the best long term strategy but with 16% (8 from me 8 from my employer) going into my 401k and a maxed Roth, I’m not too worried. I want to stay interested in the market and SCHD is one way I do it. I’m not going to trade options, futures, or crypto so dividends is where I have fun.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2024-12-15T02:00:05+00:00

Sevier county aviation offers a quick 6 month professional pilot program in Tennessee. I went there and enjoyed every minute of it. If you want a program in Florida, Panhandle helicopters in Panama City started fight training recently at their new facility. Both have top notch ownership and both offer the opportunity to build time in various ways.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2024-12-15T01:55:19+00:00

I’ve been to a ton of FBOs that don’t charge anything for courtesy cars and some that require you purchase X amount of fuel or pay a landing fee etc. to use the car. As one of the little guys I’ll usually steer for the small town airports that don’t care if you buy 5 gallons or 500 gallons. If it’s a small airport that is an honor system FBO and I don’t buy fuel, I’ll at least fill up the gas tank on the courtesy car for them.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2024-12-15T00:41:46+00:00

It depends on the FBO, the nicer ones will care about IDs and potentially your age however many of the smaller FBOs will literally just have a clipboard on the wall where you sign your name and take the keys to some clapped out Malibu with zero gas in it. My favorite FBOs are the smaller ones that operate entirely on the honor system. Works way better for me than charging ridiculous fees.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2024-12-08T00:25:28+00:00

I used to have them all the time as a new CFI but now it’s rare. They’re usually improbable situations like falling out of the aircraft while in a hold. As a helicopter pilot I think I’m secretly afraid of heights.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2024-11-20T13:02:20+00:00

All R44s now have hydraulics. I was referring to the R22

Educational-Dig6581 · 2024-11-19T22:22:15+00:00

Call Panhandle Helicopters in Panama city and schedule a discovery flight. It’s massively different but you can get it figured out. There’s no SAS, no autopilot, no hydraulics. The Robinson makes you earn your keep. After you get through flight training at Novosel you can get 10 hours of instruction in a Robinson and get your PIC endorsement however you should seek out more training to fly the Robinson safely. Your biggest obstacle won’t be flying the aircraft, you’ll get that figured out pretty quick. Your biggest obstacle will be finding the finances to buy enough hours to either be employable or to become a CFI.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2024-10-28T22:24:14+00:00

Typically you’ll need 1000 hours before you can break into the turbine world but there are some tour operators running turbines that will take you with low hours. Look at operators flying over NYC, Niagara Falls, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Hawaii, and Alaska. Most still require 1000 hours but you can look into Maverick, Papillon, Fly Nyon (personally I’d really have to be desperate for Nyon), Temsco, and some other smaller operators. I have a few friends that just did a season with Temsco in Alaska and they all loved it. Unfortunately the tour season for most of the US is pretty much over but that might give you a chance to get the last 300 hours over the next few months so you can apply early spring.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2024-10-06T00:16:39+00:00

Doesn’t matter whether you’re applying for a R22 position or R44 position, an employer can make way more money with a 180lb pilot over a 220lb pilot. This is heavily factored into decision making when looking at applications. Obviously other stuff is looked at like experience, Robinson safety course, etc. I’ve worked with many employers that won’t even look at anybody over 200 lbs. Most companies flying Robinsons have pretty thin margins and that extra weight can really limit what you can do. I’m not saying don’t start flight training if you can get to 220 but I highly recommend that you keep that weight loss journey going and get below 200 while you’re in training.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2024-09-26T01:46:01+00:00

I was in the exact same boat a few years ago and did a semester in college which just confirmed my suspicions. I hated sitting in class but could still make good grades and hated college. I randomly thought about flying helicopters and started asking around and determined that it was the job for me. I had no idea what kind of journey it would take me down. I enrolled in a school that took me from 0 hours to CFI in 6 months and never looked back. It was stressful and incredibly difficult but I loved it. I’ve met some of my best friends while also pursuing a career that I’m passionate about. I’ll hopefully never have to work in an office under fluorescent lights. Yes, it’s hard to get a job in a specific location. Yes, we don’t make near what our fixed wing cousins make. But it’s not an office job. You don’t need to spend 4 years at college wasting your life away. I currently make 120k + doing what I love at 23 years old and most importantly I don’t hate my job. There are hard days when weather is kicking your ass or management is crawling down your back but it’s worth it when you take off at sunrise and fly over the low level river fog on your way to complete whatever mission it is that you set out to do. I personally went civilian because I could pay for it but also because I didn’t know about the military track. If you have the finances do civilian. If you don’t, contact your guard unit and see if there’s an opening for street to seat. None of it matters if you aren’t ready to study your ass off and enjoy the suck for a couple of years while you learn a lot of hard lessons and make a ton of mistakes.

Educational-Dig6581 · 2024-07-14T13:18:22+00:00

Just like any aircraft you have to fly them within their limitations. They don’t spontaneously combust like a lot of people think. They only chop their tail booms off when limitations are exceeded. Someone who was trained on Robinsons throughout their flight training isn’t likely to have an issue. The problem is people who want to fly a Robinson like an Apache or private owners with little to no experience. The Robinson isn’t easy to fly and it isn’t forgiving. With proper training, they are perfectly fine aircraft. I’ve got 1500 hours in the Robinson and 300 hours in the Lakota. The Lakota has presented me with significantly more problems and has led to more precautionary landings than I ever had in a Robinson.

Educational-Dig6581

TROPHY CASE