Has anyone ever flown one or do you hold a PPL?

I've been told so many times that it's incredibly difficult to fly a helicopter but I have always had the feeling in my head that I'd be able to fly one without too much training. Maybe not at any great level but I'd certainly be able to get from A to B and land it.

I'm tempted to get a 30 min trial lesson to give it a go as it's something I have always wanted to do.

Flying a helicopter is incredibly difficult and no matter how many times you've watched it on TV, I don't think that you'd even manage to take off- at least not without crashing into something 30 seconds later, but hey, what do I know? I've never flown one either.

I have read Apache, by Ed Macy. He was explaining what it's like to fly- and fight- the Apache. You have to be able to use both eyes independently. His girlfriend apparently asked him if he could read two books at once and- according to him- he did it!

LOL

Flying rotary-wing aircraft can't be that difficult, and my reasoning is thus:

You join the RAF to be a pilot. If you can't fly fast jets then they move you to cargo planes. If you can't manage cargo planes they train you for rotary-wing aircraft instead.

So.. you're saying that Apache pilots are the equivalent of failed Stobart's drivers?

I've flown in hundreds, but thankfully I've never been at the controls.

A mate told me he didn't get a choice in what to be trained in. Whatever was the next available aircraft they were trained to fly. The group before him got Eurofighters. He got apache gunships.

I thought helicopters were more difficult because of more controls and the inherent instability of the aircraft.

I'd love to be able to fly a helicopter. Since I was a teen, I dreamed of owning a bell 222 chopper, painting it black and white and calling it Airwolf!

I have a mate who flies helicopters.

He was an experienced fixed wing pilot before training on helis, and said it felt completely unnatural.

The collective lever changes the pitch of the rotor blades when you raise or lower it, but it also has a twist grip throttle that must be adjusted whenever you change the pitch. The Cyclic allows the craft to move forward, back and side to side by changing the nose attitude and angle of the rotor blades. And finally, the rudder pedals allow you to bank the craft to the left or right by altering the pitch of the tail rotor. So, each of your limbs have one control to deal with.

At least I think that is how he explained it. Sounds damned complicated to me.

Have you tried flying a simulator or a scaled RC Model?

At RNAS Culdrose air day, I tried the Merlin simulator and one of the guys there said I was one of the best civvies he'd ever seen. However, that was just with a Satiek X58 and no pedals. They simulated the collective though. I've always dreamt of flying a helicopter and I love the inherent instability. I'm inherently unstable too and it takes deal of energy and focus for me to pilot myself in a straight line through life, so I've always wondered if I'd be suited to it or not. I've read a lot about Apaches too and I'm aware of the eye thing. However, that's largely because of the HUD and night vision element to their role as tank hunters. A regular chopper just needs you to do 4 things at once, not 5!

If you do try it, let us know how you get on. I'd love to hear about it.

That's correct.

The collective is in the same position as the handbrake on a car and controls the throttle speed and angle of the main rotor. (i.e. up and down)
The Cyclic controls the pitch and roll. (i.e. whilst looking in the same compass direction you can move forward, backward, left and right)
The pedals controls the yaw (I think). (i.e. whilst staying in one place you can change the direction you are facing)

Well, it's about £125 for a half hour trial lesson at my local heli club so maybe in a couple of months I'll give it a go and I'll definitely let you all know how it goes

OK, Oliver, what if I put the IS in italics-?

Flying a helicopter is incredibly difficult...

It's ok, I just thought it was funny at the time.

The italics make it clear that you were just reiterating the point though

I can say model helicopters are very hard to fly, but as some of our royal playboys fly real ones they must be easy

I did have a chat with stupengs a while back and he was going for a lesson, but he has not been around for a while so no idea how he got on.