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I got excited when I saw something about helicopters. There are hardly ever any articles about helicopters on HN. I have a commercial helicopter license and almost 900 hours of combined helicopter and airplane flight time. If any extra rich people in the bay area or Sacramento want to buy a heli I will be your personal pilot available 24/7. Helis can go almost anywhere. I love to fly but it is hard to fly them unless you have a lot of money. You can get a used Robinson R-44 4 seater for about $500k. Maintenance and insurance are expensive but no insurance is required if you pay cash. Let me know.

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I love your enthusiasm no matter how not directly on topic it may be ;-)

The R44 is the one the keeps crashing isn’t it? That and the R22.

New Zealand isn’t the ideal environment for them, we have 250. 18 deaths in 14 crashes.

https://www.taic.org.nz/watchlist/robinson-helicopters-mast-...

i did an open door heli flght in Kauai, Hawaii - as well as an over night Tokyo ride. Both were unforgettable. And I'm definately done dancing with the devil!

Helicopters in general keep crashing, light ones with low rotor inertia crash harder and faster.

They do. However NZ’s civil aviation authority has flagged this as a standout.

But are you available for parents? It’s usually flying low, around parks etc.

If you're feeling game you could try for a cattle station job where I grew up ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B-zWxDJOZU

And there's always heli-hoggin.

TBH ground sweeping in teams with dogs and quad bikes seems way more efficient for culling feral pigs humanely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTpTIVlC7Ho

> almost 900 hours of combined helicopter and airplane flight time

If I were in the market for a helicopter pilot, I would be very keen to know what the breakdown is!

Is there a specific breakdown above which you’d not consider someone claiming combined heli+aircraft experience a heli pilot?

If I were to say combined 5 years of professional experience in rust + C++, employers would definitely want to see the breakdown, unless they really don't care if it's 0+5.

(And in the case of my claim, it is indeed 0+5)

I think there’s a certain point at which you are considered safe to fly by yourself? Most commercial pilots seem to have hundreds to thousands of hours of combined flying time.

I'm not sophisticated enough to know for sure, but I wouldn't give that much extra credit for airplane hours. For example, if I thought that 500 helicopter hours was sufficient to entrust my life to someone, I wouldn't take someone with 300, just because he had 200 (or even 300 or 400) hours flying a completely different type of craft.

If it were going in the other direction, I might be more likely to be accommodating, since my sense is that helicopters are harder to master than airplanes. But I'm no expert here, and I would definitely ask around to see if my understanding is correct.

I upvoted the whole submission just so more people can read this comment.

Then you have a persponsibility to your profession/hobby and you should submit more helicopter stories to HN :).

Best comment on this thread made me laugh

> I love to fly but it is hard to fly them unless you have a lot of money.

I have a comfortable amount of money, and I have been certified to fly some small airplanes, including one turbojet model, yet helicopters still elude me - it's just so much harder. Much respect to you sir.

I have an uncomfortable amount of money, so uncomfortable it makes flying in a helicopter a pipe dream.

Guess I'll have to drive my kid to football practice in a plain ol' car. I know, car's are very 1999.

If it's any consolation, it would be very uncomfortable to land a plane in a football or soccer field.

And even more uncomfortable for the people in the field.

You need a gyrocopter. Not quite a plane, but not a helicopter either.

Not gonna lie I also clicked because of "Helicopter" not that I know how to fly them but I agree that they are neat !

Which is statistically more dangerous—motorcycles or helicopters?

Motorcycles are far more dangerous per mile of flight.

Motorcycles are more likely to have you killed by someone else.

Most small aircraft deaths are directly or indirectly pilot fault.

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