EP 19 "Flying Helicopters Then Fixed Wing On A Daily Basis?"

Foreign. We're back for Hogs Daily Flight Free. Go down below for a free maneuver guide PDF. Download below in the description box. I'm Kenny Keller, creator of Helicopter Online Ground School. This is Chris hauser, Chopper Guy, 53, currently with Sweet Aviation.com Flying to Cadbury and doing charter work. And what are they? What are you, what else are you flying? Let the viewers know what Eric for Sweet.

Oh, Sweet Aviation. Sweet Aviation obviously is this. But for Sweet helicopters, we are flying Airbus H130s. We also have an Agusta 109 and we have an AAR.

Nice. And you're going to see that H130 coming up in the next week or two. We're going to do the top 10 DPE pet peeves and we're going to do it in the H130. Going to be fun. So this question, and I'm gonna look for Chris's input as usual on this one because he's got a little more experience in this than I do, but I've got some. So the question is from Randy. He said, can you discuss flying helicopters then fixed wing on a daily basis, not training after training and licensing back and forth one day, fixed wing day. And he's like, fix the wing in the morning, helicopter in the afternoon. Same day. I'm like driving a car, then stopping and immediate driving a motorcycle. Question mark. How does the body and reaction handle the switch? That is a great question that we haven't done. I don't know if I've ever done this one. I'll put my two cents in, then I'll let Chris take over. I did all my helicopter ratings first, then did my airplane after the fact. So I only have private privileges in an airplane. So for me, the takeaway is I struggled learning the airplane because, you know, the slow approaches in a helicopter causes you a problem. When you learn to fly an airplane right, because your instructor's going, you're gonna kill us. You can't slow down. And then I found myself flying probably too low sometimes in an airplane. I had to make myself go up because I was used to the, you know, height of a helicopter. But I've done helicopters professionally for over 20 years. The fixed wing was just recreation for fun only. So I feel like I've always been able to kind of keep them separated because I again, airplanes, I'm gonna admit, it was, they're fun and it was. But it was a struggle for me to learn because, you know, you learn one thing and then you gotta learn the other. And there's Some things in a airplane or in a helicopter, if you. If you get confused between the two can definitely kill you.

Yes.

You know, and I'm not trying to make it sound bad, but you definitely have to switch hats. You have to be. I'm in an airplane right now. I'm in a helicopter. And I know I had to do that. So, again, I got about 100 hours in airplanes, so not a lot of time. Chris owned a couple airplanes and has a lot more fixing time than I do. So give us your input, Chris. And I know you used to fly an airplane to take helicopter lessons, and you fly in an airplane to work, to fly a helicopter. I know you've done that. So you've got that firsthand experience switching both in the same day. What would you say for Randy?

You know, I did the opposite of you. I got my airplane rating first. I only have private privileges in that also.

That's funny how we're reversed.

Yeah. And the easy. I mean, the only reason I did that was.

But we're reversed, right?

Yeah. The passion was always going to be helicopters, But I did my airplane rating first just because the air. The airport was close to the house. It was cheaper. I had more time to get out to the airport and all that. So. Plus I got my feet wet. Learned about different stuff.

Sure.

And just get some flight time and all that. So anyway, so, yes, I got my airplane rating first, and then I transitioned into helicopters about a year later. And Kenny is correct, When I did own the airplane, I used to fly the airplane to wherever the helicopter was. And then I would fly my hour or two in the helicopter, train in that, and then I would fly my airplane home. You know, honest, for me, it wasn't that difficult. I didn't really. I think it's one of those things where if you don't think about it, you do better. If you really concentrate on, okay, I'm flying an airplane this time, you know, then I'm fl. I think you will actually do worse. You get used to it. Honestly, I don't really think of a time where I said where I put myself in jeopardy because I was flying the airplane like I would a helicopter. I think it just becomes natural and you just get used to it. You don't even think about it. There were several times where I would fly the airplane to go fly the instrument. And then after the instrument, I flew the H130. And then after I flew the H130, I flew my airplane home. You know, there were times where I think the I think the best thing I did or my record per se, it was, I think I flew four different aircraft in one day. Four different types of aircraft one day. And it's just, it's really. Just don't think about it. You just, you just get used to it. I guess. I don't know if that's a good answer or not, but kind of like.

Me overthinking the cabaret G2 when I tried flying clockwise for the first time and I made a big mess out of it because I over obsessed over it.

Correct, Correct. I think it's just, you know, if that what you want to do or that's how or what you're gonna be able to do, then I think you just kind of get used to. You don't think about it like I would again. I would, you know, when we, when we picked up the G2, you know, there were times where I would fly my airplane to Smithfield. I'd do a lesson in the instrument and then I would get into the G2 with a different student, you know. And then after that, then I'm flying my airplane home. So I mean you, so there you go from fixed lane to a helicopter, that's counterclockwise to a helicopter, that's clockwise back to the airplane. And I don't really, like I said, I just don't really remember any time that, that I put myself in jeopardy, I guess because I was flying the aircraft wrong. But you just kind of, you just get used to it. It just kind of becomes natural, I guess.

I guess the only thing I can add is, you know, if you want the bad side of things, probably the worst mess I ever got myself in, flying where I endangered my life more than any other. One of the times would be flying a fixed wing home from one job from one state to another for the weekend and being used to flying low level in a helicopter where I have lots of places to land. Not having the proper mindset for the airplane because I had get home itis and I wanted to stay. And I even had a fellow instructor that day who was even an airline pilot and we were discussing the weather and he was like, dude, just stay because I know you want to go home, but hi, I wouldn't recommend flying today. And I'm being transparent here, okay? And even at flight service, the guy said VFR not recommended I wanted to go home. Yeah, well, I got myself in a mess. Thank God I survived. But I should have, you know, took the advice of the fellow pilot and I should have took advice of the flight briefer when he said, bfr not recommended. I can promise you, I've never. I've never made that mistake again. After a flight, Reefer has said, vfr not recommended. I don't do it. I was younger, and I took the chance, got myself in a mess, got disoriented, and thank God I survived it. And it's one of those experiences that you go, okay. And a little bit of that, I think, was me not prioritizing. I'm in an airplane. I'm not in a helicopter where I can land anywhere. I'm in an airplane. So to give you, you know, the flip side of, you know, just, you got to be ready to change hats, I guess, and realize your own limitations.

And as an instructor side of. I've transitioned many of airplane guys to helicopters. And, you know, you see it in them. They're getting used to the helicopter. They do not want to fly slow. You know, that's just the way it is. Because an airplane, you always got to have airspeed to keep lift. Right. So they don't like to get slow. So their approaches are extremely fast. They're doing everything kind of fast in the helicopter, you know, but after time, they get used to it, and they. And you can see them now flying as a helicopter pilot instead of an airplane pilot. But. But again, you just get. You just get used to it.

Yep. So we want to reiterate again that we started this series off as these are our opinions. You know, anybody in any part of the world can have a totally different experience than what we've had. We're just talking about what our experiences are. So it's food for thought. Put your comments down below. Anytime we're doing these videos, it's just food for thought. You know, you're welcome to comment below. We're not telling you you have to do this, right. It's.

It's.

It's food for thought. It's a discussion. Okay, so free maneuver Guide down below. Helicopter Maneuver Guide. Free PDF down below. Be sure and subscribe the channel. Click the bell so you can see the next video coming up. And the next video, we're going to talk about solo time and how long does it take. And just a little bit about soloing a helicopter. It's a great topic. So we'll see you in the next video. That's good. Cool.

That was a good one. That gave me a thought for another topic.

What's that?

We should do something like, you know, not regrets, but things that we look back on that we shouldn't have done.

Yeah, that would be a great one.

You know, we talk about all the things that we. We do and we're good at and all that, but, you know, we're human. We, you know.

Exactly.

We should. And you were kind of touching on there. I mean, you know, I can think of flights where I'm like.