Biff Douglas wrote in message . ..
On Thu, 2 Dec 2004 11:33:33 +0200, "Hennie Roets"
wrote:

Given a choice, I'd do full touch down autos but not in my helicopter.
Ever price new skids? I'll pass on doing full touch downs in a R-22.
In fact, I'll pass on doing anything in a R-22.

Biff I do not think you should write off the R22 that quick.

There are about 80% more new R22 sold than any other helicopter in the
world together. More of them are
used for training than any other heli. If you look at the hours flown
worldwide they fly the most as well.
I saw statistics a while ago on the internet about helicopter accidents in
Australia and do you know who came
out on top. Guess?????
It might not be the most rugged helicopter in the world. I also do not have
the highest inertia in the main
rotor blades but I can tell you if you can safely fly an R22 you will not
have problems with any of the others.


Regards

Hennie

I agree with your comments re flying the R-22 safely. It demands
respect. I have flown them and agree that if you can fly the R-22 you
can pretty much fly anything. I just dont think that the way the R-22
is built I'd be doing full down autos in one if I owned it.
********************************
Why not? Is the R-22 not safe for full down autos? Is your skill or
training level not up to it? Or is it just a matter of dollars? I
don't believe in crashing my car just because it has all the airbags
either but I've driven enough miles that I can avoid most of those
accidents. Same in helicopters and airplanes. Now just watch....I'll
trip over a damned tiedown cable and break my neck at the airport!!!
ggg
Part of what I perceive to be a problem is, if there is too great a
potential for damaging the training equipment, we don't do the
training in that equipment because it costs too much to replace it or
fix it. So, let's just talk about it and not actually do it. Wait
until you are actually faced with the real emergency and see if the
talk works?
I think that kind of training only leads pilots to be shaky in their
own abilities, or on the other side of that coin, to be overconfident.
There it becomes mostly a matter of the individual being able to adapt
to the situation. When I was asked to ferry some Hughes 500's down to
South America, I demanded some recurrent training before I did so.
Hadn't flown one in a few years and wanted to make sure I was up to
speed before I headed south. It included some touchdown autos. No
problems and it certainly made me feel better.
Glad to see some good input and response to this question. Thanks for
your response.
Ol Shy & Bashful