i'm interested for the longest time to learn to fly helicopters,i was told not easy.any info that could help m

Question

first of all i'm acrophobic,but still i have this urge to know how to fly this things.any info online that i can check out before taking the plunge.i know it cost a lot to learn flying choppers

Answer 1

Learning to fly helicopters is not particularily easy, but it is possible for the right people. I suggest you find a helicopter school in your area and go for an intro flight to see if it is something that you could handle.

However concerning your acrophobia, I know a couple heli pilots that have (or had) a fear of heights and while they were scared at times, it was mild enough that they could fairly easily overcome it. If it is serious enough for you that you call yourself acrophobic then this is probably not the right activity for you.
During your training you will be extensively practising emergency maneuvers and they can be a little scary even for the hardened thrill-seeker. It is extremely important in these situations to remain completely in control and to maintain spatial orientation, which can be challenging for anyone. I did my training in a warm climate and we almost always flew doors off, when you fly doors off and the helicopter is being banked towards the side your sitting on there will be nothing between you and the ground below except of sky. I would imagine that that would be pretty scary for someone with acrophobia.

You should feel sure that you are going to be able to handle those situations before you start training as you could endanger your life and your instructor's. Panicing in the helicopter is simply not an option.
But I'm not trying to scare you off, go try it out, but warn your instructor of your condition beforehand.
Good luck and have fun.

Answer 2

My dad flew helicopters for 25 years. One has to be ambidextrous, and be able to use all four limbs at once to fly a helicopter. Furthermore, there are windows in the floor of the cockpit to allow a pilot to land carefully and avoid debris and obstructions like electrical wires. If you are acrophobic, being able to look 3,000 feet below you while flying will be a very frightening experience, and that fear WILL affect your ability to manage the aircraft safely. I would suggest you find a new interest-- may I suggest Go-Cart racing?

Answer 3

Learning to fly here in Florida costs about $5,000 on average. This amount varies dependant upon your location. http://www.flyoft.com/ For a list of Helicopter and other flight schools in Canada check out this site: http://www.tc.gc.ca/aviation/ActivePages/ftae/ftuprv.asp?category=H

You can also learn to fly a Chopper in the United States Army http://www.goarmy.com/flindex.jsp

However, I think the most important thing about flying is learning how to land. LOL Good Luck, Ben