#31 HESITANT to fly EXPERIMENTAL HELICOPTERS

Would you fly in an experimental aircraft gonna do this video again? I did it the other day and I took it down. So I'm Kenny with Keller with helicopter land ground school. There goes the coffee machine. I'm gonna tell you what this member just asked me and he's a longtime member. So I'm re approaching this video that I did a couple days ago and I took it down because I didn't like the video and I. And I just wasn't, you know, sure of it. So back to this experimental subject. You know, my coffee cup for today. I worked very hard for this drink and I have, I've worked my entire life and I've worked hard. Like most of any of you out there, I have survived a helicopter crash. That was when there was a new part. We won't call it experimental, but a new part on an aircraft that hadn't been changed in 30 or 40 years. They tried something in the rotor system and it didn't work out and I got ejected from the aircraft, okay? So there's one reason why I may say the things that I say in a video, okay? Because I like time tested proven. I'm a Jeep fan, okay? Time tested proven. Been around forever. At this stage in my career, I want to be comfortable. I did this video the other day. I didn't like it. Ultimately I have to like my video. So I'm taking them down. So coffee with Kenny. Excuse me, sorry. I'm gonna call this a down and dirty video because down and dirty means I'm just rolling the camera and we're gonna. And we're gonna go from there. So this member's question, and I like it. This morning I get had two emails. Coffee with Kenny, unofficially named. I just started doing this a month ago and everybody named it Coffee with Kenny. So I kind of like it. It's kind of cool. So last night I went to bed. I wasn't sure what video I was going to do today, which is a lot of time, the formula. And then I get up and I see a comment. I'm like, oh, there's what I'm gonna do today. So this one. Good evening, Kenny. I've been watching your coffee with Kenny videos, enjoying the short and point Q and A format. Really appreciate you putting this content out there for free. Thank you very much. I enjoy doing them. You posted a few days a video a few days ago about using experimental aircraft as a cheaper way to build time. Yes, I did. And I wasn't comfortable with it and I took it down. I was looking Forward to seeing the comments on this, but can't seem to find the video now. He says, I'm torn because I own experimental ppc. I'm torn too, and I'm torn on this subject and that's why I took the video down. I've made my livelihood out of really kind of just saying what's on my mind and putting out there what I'm passionate about. Experimental. I have limited knowledge on it, so that's why I was really kind of being careful about this. But again, I've made my living, you know, saying what I want to say. So my intent is not to upset people. My intent is to get a discussion going and let people, you know, jump in the conversation. And that's what we want you to do down below. We want to hear your thoughts about experimental because I'm sure it's going to get kind of crazy in the comments. So he says, I have flown in quite a few experiment experimental airplanes, Warbirds, carbon Cubs, Van RV series, etc. And always felt very safe in all of them. Good. If you feel safe, that's great. I got my rotorcraft add on in an R22, which coincidentally a lot of pilots bash on as well, which we know that in the industry. Right? That's another video for another day. I fly Robinsons. I believe if you maintain them correctly and you fly them the way they're intended to be flown, you'll be just fine. Which coincidentally a lot of pilots bash as well. However, I've always been hesitant to get into an experimental helicopter. Me too. I tried it once I got out and I'll tell that story. Not sure why, but it's obvious you feel the same way I do. I've never had the opportunity to fly an experimental helicopter and perhaps I'd feel differently if I did. Anyways, hoping you put the link back up so I can see what the community has to say about the subject. Which that's why we're here, right? We're here to open these discussions up and let people talk about them. Keep up the great work. Sincerely enjoy sharing a cup of coffee with you every day. Thank you. This is a blast. So experimental. Gotta be transparent and say I have limited knowledge, so I'm not an expert on the subject. Don't claim to be. That's why I want you to go in below in the comment section and tell us your thoughts about experimental good and bad. And particularly I kind of want to gear this toward owners. I'm sure there are some people that own experimental aircraft and just Love them, right? Because they build them at home and they just passionate about them. So that's why I'm not gonna bash experimental. I'm just gonna say what I think. Gary Cleveland, that works with me at helicopter Highland Ground School, you've seen him in our videos, if you're familiar with our videos. If not, we have helicopter land ground school. We have seven online. Seven. We have online courses. We're getting ready to celebrate our seven year birthday online. Gary has owned one rotorway and he's owned a Hiller that wasn't experimental. But another story for another day. So Gary's owned a rotorway and I've watched what went on with him. And the other day a member asked me this question, similar to this at. I'm getting these questions very often ever since I did the video on should you own your own helicopter? Okay, I'll put that link down below because that's pretty hot topic right now and that video is going kind of crazy. I'll put the link below on that one. But that video was geared toward when I said, you know, should you own your own helicopter? I was talking about FAA certified aircraft, you know, instruments, Robinsons, Schweitzer and up. Wasn't really thinking experimental when I made that video because again, I don't own one, haven't owned one. So I'm only going off what I hear. I know what I've heard over the years about experimental. Gary bought a rotorway, brought it back to our home airport and he wanted me to go fly with him. And when we walked out to the aircraft, you know, I'm thinking in my mind, okay, he got some, he got some training somewhere else. But this aircraft came from somebody's backyard somewhere. I don't know the aircraft, I know nothing about it. And when I walked up to it, there's a tag right inside the. Right when you get ready to step in the aircraft. And it says, this aircraft does not conform to, you know, certain FAA standards, blah, blah, blah. So I'm kind of scratching my head thinking as I climb in, I have my experience, right? I'm going to feel differently about this than many of you that are trying to build time and build your careers. So back to. I worked very hard for this drink. I worked very hard for my career. I've done the EMS flying, I've done 135 charter, I've chased boats on the lake. You know, I've done television stuff. I've had my opportunity to do all the really cool stuff. I love what I do now. Helicopter Land ground school. I still fly, I still teach, and I love it. Okay. I'm not in that position where I have to build hours. So I fly aircraft that are FAA certified, maintained by mechanics that I know. I really don't like it in a helicopter that when I don't know the maintenance behind it and I don't know who's working on it, that's just me. Okay, Again, I like time tested, proven. That's me. So back to the rotorway. This question came in the other day and a member was asking me, what do you think I'm interested in buying a rotor way to build time. And I'm like, I didn't know how to answer the question, so I gave it to Gary. And basically what Gary said to this member in the email, he said, hey, you know, Kenny's been flying for 20 years and he's had, you know, very few mishaps. I have had the one where I was ejected from ground residence. Okay, that was a failure of a part, but that was a new part on an aircraft that had changed the from a hydraulic damper to elastomeric damper. I was one of the first ones in the world to be flying this aircraft with this new part. It failed and we went to ground residence and I was ejected. Lost my medical for a little bit. Well, I didn't lose it. You just can't fly once you're hurt, right? Had a back injury. So for a while, I mean, that changed my whole life. Getting ejected from a helicopter is going to change you probably for the rest of your life. And it did. I climbed back in them, I started flying again. Wasn't like I didn't fly the aircraft again. It's great. That series of aircrafts are great aircraft. This was a, this was a bad thing that happened, but it changes my thought process, right? So, you know, again, I'm a mechanical kind of guy. I've built cars in my lifetime. I've had trucks and I've rebuilt stuff. But you know what? I'm always feel that you always feel the safest when it's factory, right? When things are put together the way they're supposed to be and you're using the factory parts. Anytime you modify something, you go out and you see, is this part going to work or what's going to happen? That's coming from my background. So Gary tells this guy, Kenny's only had, you know, one real problem in 20 years. Gary's been flying like seven or eight years. And he explains to this member, in the time he's been flying less than 10 years. He has had seven full down auto rotations that were forced landings. One of them was right over the city of Plymouth where, where we're located and he was with his dad and luckily he had a drive system failure so he auto rotation was no choice. He found a hole over the city, went to a small ball field, got it in there, hit no trees, hit no wires, got it on the ground, squashed the skids, but him and his dad got out and walked away and they were safe and they were okay. But seven times and most of those in a rotor way. Couple other, the two of them I think were in a hiller but the rest of them were all in rotorways. He was down in Florida in a rotor way with a turbine in it. They had some kind of a. I wasn't there but they had some other kind of failure there where they had to land. So when you do the math, is an experimental going to be as safe as this FAA certified aircraft? I don't think so. Not saying it couldn't be somewhat safe, but again I don't have enough to really judge. I know it at this stage of my career I don't want to fly them and I'm not going to fly them. Should you fly them? It's really kind of your choice. Again, you're going to need to research, see what people say, man, it's a tough subject. So that's why I did this video a few days ago and then I took it down because I didn't feel good about it. And then here's, you know, members asking again. I thought, you know what, I'm just going to shoot it again. Coffee with Kenny. It's down and dirty. I'm finishing off my coffee for the morning, had a good night of sleep. So I guess this is where I'm ready for you to chime in. Experimental aircraft owners. I'm sure some of them, some of you are going to get on there and say, hey, mine's great, it only cost me this much and I've never had a problem. And I'll bet we'll get some people in there that'll say I've owned them and don't do it, you know, so tell us but put your comments down below. Little background about you fly them, you don't fly them, you've heard bad things, you've heard great things, you've got one and you've built a thousand hours for 800 bucks. You know, oils always boils back to money. If you're young and you're trying to start your career out, you're going to be tempted to fly stuff that may not be the safest aircraft in the world. I did it as a younger pilot when I wanted my hours to move on. I've flown stuff that you were flying around, not feeling easy about it. And I can remember the first opportunity I had to move to a turbine aircraft and the owner's like, well, you know, I kind of said, well, I've been flying some real junk, you know. And he's like, well, we've all done that in our career, right? We've all done flown things that we were a little iffy about. So I did do it when I was younger, I did do it earlier in my career, me. And now at this point I'm not gonna. I want to feel safe in what I fly. I want an FAA certified aircraft. I want to know who's doing the maintenance. I want a reputable mechanic working on it. I want to feel safe. I when I go fly now, I go fly for fun. I still train, I still teach. I want to be an aircraft that I feel 100% good about or I'm not getting in it. So put your comments down below. Please subscribe to the Channel Support the daily videos this has been awesome. You know, people now emailing me going hey, I'm really enjoying coffee with Kenny. I keep saying unofficially named because that's what members just started calling it and I'm enjoying it. So subscribe. Click the bell and if you're interested in helicopter land ground school, I'll put the link down below for helicopterground.com private commercial CFI instrument you can do yearly or monthly packages. Then we have a professional pilot package where you can get everything unlimited, doesn't expire. So one thing I want to tell you on the monthly and yearly you get a 24 hour test flight. You can go in for 24 hours, check out the training. If you decide it's not right for you, you just remove your credit card before the 24 hours is up or go on PayPal and end your subscription before the 24 hours up and you'll be billed nothing. The big professional pilot package that you can get 25% off because you stayed clear to the end of this very long video that I went on and on in KK 25 off you can get 25% off. The professional pilot includes all our courses. KK 25 off in the coupon box during checkout and it will reveal the discount price. Pretty good savings on that one. So again, Kenny Keller with Helicopter Line Ground School. Subscribe. Click the bell. Leave your comments down below. Please give us a thumbs up. Excuse me. Too much coffee. And we'll see in the next video.