Do People who fly Airplanes look down on Helicopter Pilots?

I don't know about other cities but, in Kansas, it seems that there is no place for Helio's pilots to belong to any clubs. It is mostly Airplane pilots. There might be maybe 2-3 people in these clubs that fly Helio's. What is it like in other area's?

Reply to
SnowFalcon
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"SnowFalcon" wrote in news:1128206496.547826.12570 @g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

The field where I fly has a lot of both; there's a dedicated heli area in addition to the airplane runway. I'd say that the heli pilots make up about 25-30% of the total on average.

As for the title thread - "look down on Helicopter Pilots?"- not at all, and I'm a little baffled by the question. Helis are not something I particularly want to dive into, but I have a lot of respect for heli pilots. I've never heard anything from the other airplane pilots that would suggest that they felt otherwise.

Reply to
Mark Miller

Only when they're lying on the ground reaching under the rotors trying to stick their finger up their exhaust pipe. :) Location joke, see "stopping a heli" thread. I really don't know any heli pilots. No one at my club seems to ever say anything bad about them. mk

Reply to
MK

We only have a couple of pilots that fly heli's in our club and have never heard anyone make snide remarks about them.

Reply to
Vance

Full scale fixed-wing pilots often look down on helicopters -- fixed wings just fly higher...

Our club flys both rotor and fixed wing, we all get along fine.

Reply to
Tim Wescott

I don't think fixed wing pilots look down on them but, we sure get aggrivated when they do their stuff right over the runway, especially on a crowded day.

Phil AMA609

SnowFalc> I don't know about other cities but, in Kansas, it seems that there is

Reply to
pcoopy

On 1 Oct 2005 15:41:36 -0700, "SnowFalcon" wrote in :

Our club is called "Wing and Rotor." It was founded by folks who flew both.

That said, the wing guys way outnumber the rotorheads.

I'm trying to make my way over to the dark side. I've got

12 or 15 flights on a Lite Machines electric heli and bought a somewhat used Raptor .30 to play with next.

Marty

Reply to
Martin X. Moleski, SJ

There are many people in my club that despise the model heli's but not the folks flyin' em. A hovering heli even 40-50ft away is a loud, distracting thing. I think this is the reason many clubs try and find a dedicated area for the heli crowd. Q:What's the difference between a trampoline and a model helicopter? A: Ya take your shoes off before jumping up and down on a trampoline!

Reply to
J.Hardy

Sounds kinda like the distaste alpine skiiers have for snowboarders. We have no problem with the snowboarders themselves, but the boards rip up the trails (make huge ruts on groomed surfaces) and make them less pleasant for the skiiers.

M
Reply to
"Doc"

Having tried the "heli's" in RealFlight, I have nothing but respect for these guys. I am a full scale pilot and have tried the real thing as well and let me tell you, it is no "walk in the park".

I do not fly Heli's because they are more expensive per crash, take MONDO concentration, and I just do not think I could relax while doing it. Relaxing is what flying fixed wing is all about to me : ). And there is nothing more beautiful than a sweet looking airplane on final right before the mains touch-down....ahhhhhhhhh...

So, hats off to the heli flyers...just don't hover over the runway, ok ? (lol)

CJ

Reply to
CJ

| There are many people in my club that despise the model heli's but | not the folks flyin' em.

There's a lot of similar divisions in the hobby.

Glider pilots look down on anything with a motor. Helicopter pilots look down on `planks'. Pattern fliers look down on 3D guys. Electric fliers look down on `slimers'. Bigger plane fliers look down on `park fliers'. etc.

Ultimately, it's more of a gentle ribbing or rivalry than anything else.

| A hovering heli even 40-50ft away is a loud, distracting thing.

Of course, the same goes for hovering Cap 232 ...

| I think this is the reason many clubs try and find a dedicated area | for the heli crowd.

Well, different types of flying don't always co-exist that well. Any sort of hovering over the runway interferes with those wanting to land. Gliders tend to fly more slowly and don't stay `in the pattern' with the powered planes, and a hi-start or winch could interfere with other planes as well. HLG or DLG fliers tend to launch a lot, and may not like having powered planes buzzing over their heads while they do so ...

None of these conflicts are unresolvable, but they may require a little extra work.

Reply to
Doug McLaren

That can be annoying. When I first joined my club, one of the copter pilots was doing exactly that, hovering and such right above the runway. Well, I announced my taxi intent, got what I thought was an OK from the pilot and took off. Flew around the pattern, giving the copter plent of space, announced my landing at the proper time, brought it in, etc. The other copter pilots then informed me, in no uncertain terms, that when a copter was in the air, all other activity was supposed to stop. Meaning they wanted me to NOT taxi out and fly my plane. I was the newbie so I went along with it. Was later informed by the club owner that the copter pilots had their own pad off to the side of the runway and were supposed to fly there. So as NOT to restrict the other members of the club from flying. Seems the snobbery was running the other way.

Reply to
Fubar of The HillPeople

Not around here! We airplane pilots are mystified by how anyone could actually fly one of those things! Lots of our club members do both. Choppers are more than welcome at the two clubs I belong to. There is an area set aside for choppers that don't interfere with the regular runway.

I'm originally from Wichita, Ks. I thought folks there were nicer than that!? But then I do remember there were a few stuck up, arrogant, buttheads there....just like everywhere else. The problem sets in when they are allowed to take control of a model club.

Just my opinion ... no stone throwing please!

Reply to
Jim Slaughter

I've been debating about trying to start a club for ALL flying members.I would want the members to be able to go to the field and fly when they want to, not just at club meetings and fly-ins. Of course we would have to address the safety issue but, if you can fly an object in the air then you should pretty well know what's going on around you. Newbe's would have a trainer with them.

Just some idea's off my bald head!!!

Thanks to all those that wrote!

Brian

Reply to
SnowFalcon

Some people do not like anything different from what they are used to doing themselves. I can be that way about certain things. It depends upon how those doing things differently behave.

No, I don't look down on heli pilots, since I have been one myself.

I was amazed at the hostility displayed from some "plankers" when they learned that I had purchased a helicopter. Questions like, "What do you want that for?" were asked from time to time.

For me, one of the attractions to helis was not having a need for a mown and peticured flying field. If I wanted, I could pull it out of the car or van and fly it in many more, unofficial, locations than I could an R/C airplane. I had no intention of inflicting my heli flying upon the local airplane crowd. I didn't need to and I didn't think that it would be as much fun flying a heli under the rules established to permit heli flying at the club field. Those rules, while sound, were just too restrictive.

Fortunately for me, these days I do all of my heli flying via a heli simulator program running on the computer. No maintenance, no expense and no big deal if I lose it. My fellow plankers at the field will never know that I enjoy flying helis, now and then.

Ed Cregger

Reply to
Ed Cregger

| I was amazed at the hostility displayed from some "plankers" when they | learned that I had purchased a helicopter. Questions like, "What do you want | that for?" were asked from time to time.

That goes both ways. In fact, it goes every possible way in this hobby.

Though I'd not consider `What do you want that for?" to be hostility

-- either curiosity or friendly ribbing instead -- though I suspect you had something else in mind.

| For me, one of the attractions to helis was not having a need for a mown and | peticured flying field. If I wanted, I could pull it out of the car or van | and fly it in many more, unofficial, locations than I could an R/C airplane.

You can have that with planks too -- just get something without a landing gear.

| Those rules, while sound, were just too restrictive.

That statement speaks well of you.

| Fortunately for me, these days I do all of my heli flying via a heli | simulator program running on the computer. No maintenance, no expense and no | big deal if I lose it. My fellow plankers at the field will never know that | I enjoy flying helis, now and then.

But do they know that you've crashed over 600 of them, 100 of them just last week? :)

Reply to
Doug McLaren

Look down? Nah. I just peer out anxiously from behind the shed.

Texas Pete

Reply to
Pete Kerezman

Agreed. The heli population at our club is about 30% to 40%, we hav enough space for a dedicated very wide hover area, that can double as flying area and if one wants to fly in the "normal" area, one must fl in the pattern and hovering cannot occur over the runway when other are present (same is true for 3d flying BTW).

I'm a planker turned part-time rotor head, while I've gotten som friendly ribbing about going over to the dark side, it is amazing ho much my concentration levels have increased and it has actually made m a better planker. This is especially true of less than well behave taildraggers.

We also have a lot of flyers that do both at our club

-- sfsjki

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Reply to
sfsjkid

Only when they are at a higher altitude than the helicopter.

Ed Cregger

Reply to
Ed Cregger

When I belonged to a club, we used to have a specific area for the heli guys to use such that it wouldn't interfere with the strip for the fixed wing flyers and placed so the the fixed wing guys didn't overfly that area in any circumstances. This was chosen to suit wind direction on any particular day and could be changed quickly should the wind change direction.

However, some heli pilots could, and did "join the circuit" with the fixed wing pilots.

Malcolm

Reply to
Malcolm Fisher

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