first hour in a r22

[jebthereb]

stan?
gabor?
arnie?
shawn?

any advice or suggestions?

i am certain that most of what i get out of this training is me and my attitude.(which is positive ahead of the difficulties that i face. if it was easy then it would pay minimum wage.)

is there any input on things i should look for in a quality instructor?

the gentleman that i trained with seems calm and informative.

i have done a little reading in reference to the r22 and its handling, the ups and downs as pertains to this particular rig.

any pitfalls that i could face?

when do i know if i am wasting my time with an instructor? (the one im working with now says that he wasted many hours with a bad instructor)

thanks
jeb

[choppergabor]

Jeb take it with a grain of salt!
The very first thing an instructor needs to develop with the student is the mutual respect and his thrust. An instructor has your life in his hands and you need to be comfortable with that as in exchange he will put his life into yours as time goes on! He needs to LET YOU FLY!!!!
I am the guy who sits next to you with my hands on my knees! Ask Miss Kandace or Mike! You are not paying me to fly.
Besides I already know how to (at least I'd like to think that) Sitting in the helicopter while it is running having the instructor explain things is a waste of money. Explanation and for all purposes need to done in the classroom on the ground.
Make sure you have evaluation of the daily maneuvers and the recognition of the problems turns into correcting them and finally avoid them. If you keep repeating the problems there is an obvious communication breakdown or he is not paying attention to your reactions.
He needs to see the "why" you are not getting something. So if you spend excessive time on particular exercises that should be a red flag. (maybe the exception of autorotation.....that seems to be sometimes the most difficult task but just because they make such a big thing out of it.....I prefer to tell that, it is just another routine maneuver....and it is....if you take the self created psychological anxiety out of it!)
Make sure you are following a plan and all the instruction is straight forward and understandable. Good luck Jeb, This is going to be one of the best things that can happen to you GO get it!

[jebthereb]

Gabor-thanks. i get what your saying. i spoke with the instructor today and one of the things he asked me was about "planning" my education towards specific goals. i guess i put him at ease with my "take it easy and make small inputs" approach to flying.(i learned that from desmon)

he did not make me feel nervous at all and i was not hesitant to pass off the controls when i felt uncomfortable with where i was during instruction.

i guess what im asking is where the bull$h!tometer should go off with an instructor that isnt helping and just taking my money.

thanks
jeb

[Arnie Madsen]

Jeb - I had three different instructors (all at the same school) .... one I learned the fastest with ... he was easygoing and coached me on "how to do it right" compared to an older ex-military who was always barking at what I did wrong .

In the end it made me realize variety was good but if I had a choice I would pick the first guy ..... I learned the most in the least time and (to me) was the best value for the money. He also really enjoyed instructing which helped a lot. It sounds like your instructor is similar.

My biggest disappointment was around hour #6 ... I still could not hold a steady hover and thought I should quit .... the instructor said almost everybody goes thru that knothole .... he was right ... it got better after that and by 14.7 hours I did my first solo.

[StanFoster]

Jeb- Gabors advice is absolutely correct. Arnie mentioned having an instructor that waas always barking what he did wrong. My helicopter instructor was very patient with me. However years ago when I started taking flying lessons in a Cessna, I had an instructor that barked , cusses at me, , had veins bulging in his neck, etc. I let it go the first lesson, but the second lesson he started cussing at me insanely. I just let go of the yoke, crossed my arms and told him he has the plane. I proceeded to tell him I am NOT paying him to give me an ass cussing, and to take me back to the airport NOW. He apologized , and I went on to get my license with him. ...............................now granted, they need to get your attention , but a more professional attitude works much better in my opinion. Stan