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"The thing is, helicopters are different from planes. An airplane by its very nature wants to fly and, if not interfered with too strongly by unusual events or
by Wistar 6y ago
"The thing is, helicopters are different from planes. An airplane by its very nature wants to fly and, if not interfered with too strongly by unusual events or by a deliberately incompetent pilot, it will fly. A helicopter does not want to fly. It is maintained in the air by a variety of forces and controls working in opposition to each other and, if there is any disturbance in this delicate balance, the helicopter stops flying; immediately and disastrously. There is no such thing as a gliding helicopter."*
"This is why being a helicopter pilot is so different from being an airplane pilot, and why in generality, airplane pilots are open, clear-eyed, buoyant extroverts, and helicopter pilots are brooding introspective anticipators of trouble. They know if something bad has not happened it is about to."
Harry Reasoner
February 16, 1971
* Helicopters do autorotate which is a glide, sort of, at least with sufficient translational lift and rotor speed.
- kogus 6y agoThis is a fun quote, but I don't think it's accurate. Source: http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/05/helicopters-wont-just-fall-like-a-rock-if-the-engine-dies-they-usually-can-be-landed-safely-this-way/ http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/05/helicopters-...
- Wistar 6y agoIt is not accurate, hence my footnote. If one has sufficient skill, altitude and/or forward speed an autorotation can be made to a forced landing, and arguably more safely than a fixed-wing forced landing. Of course, this depends on the main rotor and flight controls still working well enough to perform an autorotation.
- davidjade 6y agoYears ago I spent a lot of time in helicopters in remote Alaskan mountain ranges with pretty high-end helicopter pilots and got to know some them pretty well. I think the "brooding introspective anticipators of trouble" is a good description. I know that many of them practiced autorotation nearly every time they left a mountain peak to descend back down to the glacier floor. I also once got to fly a 400+ mile trip over rugged wilderness and the pilot was always thinking about the next possible emergency landing spot. The flight altitude was often adjusted for this as well if over terrain where options would be limited (such as water). Well maintained helicopters - nothing wrong with them - just always being aware of your options when in the middle of nowhere.