HeliFOs

[Flying Low]

Here is an article that was in Rotor and Wing (which you can get for free) about TFO's in police helicopters. Pretty interesting read.

http://www.aviationtoday.com/rw/publicservice/police/23081.html

 

[Gatordev]

let me ask:
How could NFO flight training change in order to take on co-pilot flying responsibilities? Whether it be a Helo or Jet?

-ea6bflyr

You could change it so they get more pilot time...but that kind of puts us back to where we are, training two pilots. As Noze and others (including me, I think) have said, it definitely can be done, but the training is going to grow much longer for the pilots. No bucks, no Buck Rogers.

 

[ea6bflyr]

I know, I get it, no harm, no foul ... just make certain you wear a cruise sock over your head ... you know; for the "mental" part ...

Might I borrow yours? My socks are small....just ask my wife

Me: Naked.
Her: Pointing and saying "Who you gonna please with that?"
Me: "Me."

Bada-bing!!! Rim shot please.

-ea6bflyr

 

[busdriver]

Sorry to through my stupid Air Force opinion out there....

Maybe I'm a shitty pilot, but I did not really start to "get it" as a young co-pilot until I'd been flying for about a year after the school house (RAG). That's a lot of additional flying to get a guy up to speed to be the aircraft commander straight away.

Obviously you could make it work with an NFO in the left seat, but what's the benefit? Otherwise this is all mental masturbation.

 

[NozeMan]

Here is an article that was in Rotor and Wing (which you can get for free) about TFO's in police helicopters. Pretty interesting read.

http://www.aviationtoday.com/rw/publicservice/police/23081.html

According to him, being a helicopter pilot is an easy job. Thats the equivalent of helo NFOs calling us busdrivers, what kind of propaganda are you disseminating here???

Smiles in effect. I couldn't imagine trying to concentrate on a flir image in a bouncing Jet Ranger (or small helo equivalent). Just thinking about it makes me want to puke.

 

[HeloBubba]

Comin' late to this party, but to address a comment a page or two back and a recurring theme in this thread:

Speaking as the GIB in a LAMPS (MK I) bird, I was very happy that night (one of those nights were the ocean is glass and the stars reflect off of the water. So the flight deck looks like it is floating in space. Kind of a cool effect when it is not trying to kill you) when we were about to land and the pilot at the controls (right seat) says "I have vertigo" and without missing a beat the other pilot says "I have the controls" and continues on to make a sweet landing, cross-cockpit style. It was only the second time I was ever scared flying. Fortunately, the feeling didn't last long as the other pilot got us down safely in short order.

This was back in the day when ASW was the primary mission and we trained on it a lot, so an NFO as TACCO in our community could have come in handy. In my particular det's case, the ship used us primarily for OTHT. Five hour patrols two times a day (dawn and dusk). At that point the NFO starts becoming under utilized.

My apologies to the double-anchor guys, but in my experience, two stick-monkeys are better than one