I had more trouble with the hover taxi than the hover itself. Weird,
but thats the way it was for me. I still don't have my license yet.
My goal is to shave the cost, not so much the hours. Its just that
you can get a small fixed wing and train partly in that for $25/hour
dual. If those cheap fixed wing hours can be utilized, then I'm all
for them.

Dennis.


"Stu Fields" wrote:

I definitely think that the focus needs to be on acquiring the necesary
skills no matter what or where the hours are obtained. Trying to get by with
the minimum of training can be fatal. The helicopter is much more demanding
than a fixed wing. There are several fixed wing responses that need to be
changed in a helicopter. Yes in forward flight, they fly like a sloppy
fixed wing. However, the hover and yes the approaches take a bunch more
time to learn than the fixed wing. In fact more than one instructor has
told me that the hardest thing to learn is not the hover but a Normal
approach. My experience agrees with this. A good Normal approach is like
an Outstanding spot landing in a fixed wing. My helipad is 40'x40' and the
target is the center 5'x5' to avoid kicking up too much dirt from outside
the 40x40. Also I don't have much overshoot room.
Stu Fields Safari pilot

Dennis Hawkins
n4mwd AT amsat DOT org (humans know what to do)

"A RECESSION is when you know somebody who is out of work.
A DEPRESSION is when YOU are out of work.
A RECOVERY is when all the H-1B's are out of work."

To find out what an H-1B is and how Congress is using
them to put Americans out of work, visit the following
web site and click on the "Exporting America" CNN news
video: http://zazona.com/ShameH1B/MediaClips.htm