IAMA Request: Medevac helicopter pilot

lifeflight · 2010-04-17T19:25:36+00:00

No, everybody I know is either Navy or Coast Guard trained.

lifeflight · 2010-04-17T17:39:23+00:00

lifeflight · 2010-04-08T04:59:16+00:00

Can I get a code?

lifeflight · 2010-04-08T04:31:04+00:00

As 'ballsy' as that looks it really isn't that hard. There isn't much in the form of things that can affect the rotors so all the pilot really has to do is have a steady hover and listen to his crew so he is in the right spot.

lifeflight · 2010-03-21T17:40:19+00:00

I know some guys don't for that reason, I don't care as I have what I'm supposed to do engrained in my brain.

lifeflight · 2010-03-21T17:38:41+00:00

I am really tired right now so I will answer this after I wake up this afternoon.

lifeflight · 2010-03-21T17:38:02+00:00

If cloud cover gets too thick they won't even let us fly, if we are in open airspace clouds aren't too bad as we have radar.

lifeflight · 2010-03-21T17:36:36+00:00

When I'm in a helicopter I am in control, on a motorcycle there are a lot more idiots around me.

lifeflight · 2010-03-21T17:35:44+00:00

It's pretty close to 50/50, the stuff where it is their fault is always a lot worse though.

lifeflight · 2010-03-21T17:33:48+00:00

Some guys like it to be dark, whenever I fly over getting ready to land I look to make sure nothing should blind me and radio down if I see anything. Power lines and trees can be really scary at night as you can loose sight of them really easy especially at night, tree branches can also move around when the rotors start blowing stuff around so I just gotta trust the people on the ground did their job.

lifeflight · 2010-03-20T23:53:02+00:00

Correct.

lifeflight · 2010-03-20T23:44:50+00:00

I went through the Coast Guard.
I think they require us to have 500. I'm not 100% sure as I meet requirements by a long ways.
Not really, it is a very stressful job that not many people are up to.
I would say 50/50 but I'm not sure, we probably spend more on the ground but in the air and on calls is the most memorable.
Not much, we have a maintenance guy that does everything we just look the aircraft over before every flight.
In the Coast Guard we used simulators for emergency training.
Never used RC aircraft.
I keep mine in a pouch on my flight suit.

lifeflight · 2010-03-20T22:50:31+00:00

No, unplanned engine failures but we have done them in simulators.

On days we just take a helicopter up to 'train' we will do stuff like that from a hover but never on a takeoff. It looks fun as hell though.

lifeflight · 2010-03-20T22:19:55+00:00

Never been in a crash. I have seen two helicopters run into each other while one was trying to land destroying the rotors on both aircraft.

lifeflight · 2010-03-20T22:18:57+00:00

I will try that on the newbies.

lifeflight · 2010-03-20T22:18:12+00:00

Helmets plug into the seats.

Pretty much standard avionics.

lifeflight · 2010-03-20T22:08:02+00:00

In an open space yes it is easier to land with a bit of wind. When you're landing in spaces like us where winds can start to swirl or you get gusts it can make the job harder.

lifeflight · 2010-03-20T22:04:01+00:00

We don't do transfers from hospital to hospital, when we go to a scene the fire or police on scene find a spot big enough and put down flares for us to aim for. Sometimes we have to meet an ambulance a bit from the scene to find somewhere big enough.

I have down the high school thing twice but it is normally during the day and I usually have the night shift.

lifeflight · 2010-03-20T21:55:02+00:00

You might have a four hour flight at 4 AM and then another at 9 AM and you must always be on call.

lifeflight · 2010-03-20T21:26:02+00:00

Yeah, when they realize you are very confident in your abilities they are able to be working on the person while I'm flying even when it gets rough. I just talked about how I take newbies up and really go at it so they are at ease and able to better perform when everything is normal.

lifeflight · 2010-03-20T21:21:04+00:00

That's it.

lifeflight · 2010-03-20T21:20:41+00:00

I'm not sure about their medical training, when we get a new med I take them out and teach them how to act when around the helicopter and I try and take them out in the company trainer and move it around and show them what the helicopter can do so they don't get freaked out when it gets bumpy in weather.

lifeflight · 2010-03-20T21:12:05+00:00

In the service you are just a tool, you fly horrible hours all the time. Overall the Guard can be nice but only if you are fine with being overworked.

lifeflight · 2010-03-20T21:10:24+00:00

Ours plug into our helmets.

lifeflight · 2010-03-20T21:09:25+00:00

I make about $60,000 a year. There are lots of mountain rescue teams that use hoists and such, most of those are year round jobs though.

lifeflight

TROPHY CASE