L Edge
Master member
After a session of heli flying, son and I stopped at local air field to watch the planes land and the owner of Heli flight School saw our birds in the car. We talked awhile and he could not believe what we could do(rolls,loops,hover,etc). He invited us to give a demo for about 20 students on a Saturday where I let my son give the demo.
It blew the adults mind to see a 15 year old, hover, and do axial rolls, loops, stall turns, (FAI routine) and auto(engine shut off) and land 2 ft from himself. I also brought along the Cricket heli and challanged the owner to fly it(no gyro). We cleaned out the hanger(so no wind) and I took off and flew the Cricket around the hanger. Then he tried and it struggled to get airborn and was out of control. After a number of attempts, he got it flying around and one time it picked up speed and ended up headed for a toolbox and he hit it dead on. The student pilots got quite a kick out of it when the master became the student and screwed up.
The owner/pilot said to us, Would you like to try a R22 heli? After showing us what to do,( the right hand was aileron/elevator) and the left hand became the collective and the foot became the rudder. So, I let my son go first and we were each treated to a half hour flight!!!! After the owner lifted and taxi, let each of us follow his hand movements and as we climbed, gave us right hand and foot control to climb and turn. Both of us were jerky and finally calmed down, so the flight got to be quite smooth and then he allowed us to change the collective to go up and down. By that time, we had to return and he gave us his practice auto stopping about 50 ft above and then descending to hover. He handled height and we each got to try holding it fixed in a spot to hover. Man, that was tough.
I don't know what it cost/hr for lessons in 1985 for the R22 heli, but I fixed the Cricket for a total of $12. What a deal.
We have pylon raced at speeds of 180+mph and flying a real helicopter gave us a rush that far beat the "go fast and turn left feeling".
It blew the adults mind to see a 15 year old, hover, and do axial rolls, loops, stall turns, (FAI routine) and auto(engine shut off) and land 2 ft from himself. I also brought along the Cricket heli and challanged the owner to fly it(no gyro). We cleaned out the hanger(so no wind) and I took off and flew the Cricket around the hanger. Then he tried and it struggled to get airborn and was out of control. After a number of attempts, he got it flying around and one time it picked up speed and ended up headed for a toolbox and he hit it dead on. The student pilots got quite a kick out of it when the master became the student and screwed up.
The owner/pilot said to us, Would you like to try a R22 heli? After showing us what to do,( the right hand was aileron/elevator) and the left hand became the collective and the foot became the rudder. So, I let my son go first and we were each treated to a half hour flight!!!! After the owner lifted and taxi, let each of us follow his hand movements and as we climbed, gave us right hand and foot control to climb and turn. Both of us were jerky and finally calmed down, so the flight got to be quite smooth and then he allowed us to change the collective to go up and down. By that time, we had to return and he gave us his practice auto stopping about 50 ft above and then descending to hover. He handled height and we each got to try holding it fixed in a spot to hover. Man, that was tough.
I don't know what it cost/hr for lessons in 1985 for the R22 heli, but I fixed the Cricket for a total of $12. What a deal.
We have pylon raced at speeds of 180+mph and flying a real helicopter gave us a rush that far beat the "go fast and turn left feeling".
green with envy hehe
