Phil: the Cirrus should be a bit more comfortable and quieter than the Diamond Star and the quiet is especially important to the dog (no headsets for him). We flew the helicopter every morning at 6 am and every afternoon at 5 pm, based at RIC.

Jason: I don’t think any 206s are FADEC-equipped; that is only for the newer/fancier Bells.

John: helicopters are not as dangerous as the news reports of military crashes would lead you to believe. The military does stuff that is inherently challenging/dangerous. If you go airport-to-airport in a helicopter it can be very safe, especially if professionally piloted. I think the Jet Ranger was/is a little safer than the Cessna 172 and other super-safe single-engine airplanes. But that statistic is a little skewed because the $1 million Jet Ranger is almost always piloted by a professional whereas the $50/hour C172 is usually piloted by a weekend amateur. If you want to be safe, of course, you need to go from huge airport to huge airport on a clear day in a twin-engine jet piloted by two professionals.

Great explanation of the joys and dangers of helicopter flying.

Someone I grew up with died in a helicopter crash. Not in combat either, unless you consider the airspace over New Jersey a war zone.

Do you know, what are the safety statistics on helicopters compared to fixed-wing planes?

The only helipcopter I’ve ever been in was a Bell Jet Ranger that was used for agricultural spraying in a County Mosquito Commission. The pilot was actually so small (light) that when transporting passengers for drop off only and flying back on his own, they had a bag of lead that accompanied him, as he was reportedly too light to fly alone. This was rare, since most often the helicopters had a big tank and agricultural booms installed, but there were occasions when they would need to transport staff to remote locations on the salt marsh and leave them behind.

I got to fly with them once as an excuse for ballast, since Skip (the small light pilot) was dropping people off. It was also my chance to fly, which was part of the fun of the job, but rarely done by us lab monkeys. We dropped off the passengers, then he showed me some beachfront property from the air, showed me what AG turns were, did a little bit of an autorotation to tell me just what would happen if the engine DID quit. Then we flew back. The interesting part of this place is that the helicopter pad is very near a cemetary, meaning you fly out over it, and fly back over it anytime you’re headed North South or East. (You had to because of homes in the area, I was told). Flights west were very rare, but you were permitted to take off that direction.

Another side note, my wife is named Alisa – a rare name, to be sure.

Hey Phil! I found this blog via your “SQL for Web Nerds” -which I LOVE and is proving very helpful in entertaining –thank you btw- and being the curious person that I am, I went to the site root philip.greenspun.com and to my surprise found that you are, among a hundred other cool things, a helicopter pilot! I’m a check ride away from finishing my rotor-wing the R-22 beta myself. Flying helicopters is one my favorite activities. I live in Grand Rapids Michigan and go to Western Michigan University as an aviation flight science major. I’ve always worked IT related jobs and recently picked up a position at Grand Rapids Community College as PeopleSoft Upgrade Analyst and part-time db assistant. That’s why I’ve been working my way through SQL tutorials and learning as I go. Sadly, WMU mothballed the rotor program so I’m helicopterless and shy a check ride. I think that’s awesome you can grab some logable seat time onboard the 206. What an awesome idea. Other than Kalamazoo EMS AirCare Dauphin2 365N-2 which I job shadowed on for a day the R-22 is all I’ve known -I have a whop’n 52 hours in helicopters and ~ 300 in airplanes. I’d love to log some turbine time. Guess I better learn my SQL, start making the big bucks so I can afford to fly again! Thanks for sharing all your adventures and knowledge.
*do any 206’s come with / have FADEC or is that only on the 407’s? Is it an option for 206’s?

Happy hovering-
Jason Johnson

Grand Rapids Community College
Information Technology – PeopleSoft Upgrade Analyst / dba Assistant
Academic Support – Professional Tutor

________________________________________
jason johnson – student / geek / pilot

w -homepages.wmich.edu
e – helicopterhead@gmail.com
b – http://www.anxietysociety.blogspot.com
aim – cyclicswitch@mac.com

Look forward to your comments on your flying this week. Hope the weather stays good. Looks like a few showers on Th-Fr-Sa. Temp looks great!

What hours do you fly?
Where is the machine based?

Why the change to the Cirrus? More room for the dog?

There you are!
http://www.nbpa.rotor.com/pictures/wwbtsk12.htm

It aways interesting to read your adventures Phil. Although the only piloting I do is with MS Flight Simulator, I’ve been a flight enthusiast since the age of 5.

I hope you post some pics from above Richmond on photo.net