Helos vibrate more. The old Vietnam era Army NG Hueys felt like it was falling in between the roation of the blades.It was very cool to fly in one piloted by a veteran pilot though. The twin engine Air Force version was a little better unless you were sitting right in front of the transmission housing. The Blackhawk is a nice ride, the vibration isn't as bad. Never been on a 'hook other than to look around.

I thought it was a broken something when I first saw that pic!

I rode in a lot of helicopters in the service. High speed NOE at night with NVGs is thrilling. Then doing an exit into a river adds to the excitement. Landings in a Chinook in the snow in Alaska in January was an experience. The rotor wash creates a blizzard. As you pile, out that blizzard blows snow into every little crease and opening in your clothes. Same with dust in the desert; it is just blown into everything. Your whole body gets dusted.

Helicopters are great and can do some obviously unique things that fixed wings can't. However, I prefer fixed wing.

I have never been in a military helicopter but spent some time in civilian ones in Labrador years ago. I always found them to be noisy and shaky and generally nerve racking beasts. But thier major redeeming feature was to be able to land pretty much aywhere there is an open spot a bit larger than the machine and to be able to fly at a snail's pace up valleys. OG is right about landing in the winter. It's like bad blizzard coming from all directions at once

I've been in a few helos, the worst was an old Sikorsky S-55. I mean it was LOUD. Vibrations were like sitting inside your phone when it rings...non-stop. With headsets on with mics I could barely hear other people talking.

Best was a new Eurocopter EC something I flew on a tour of the Grand Canyon. I don't know which model it was, other than it had the shrouded tail and seating for 5 passengers (2 in front next to pilot), with the controls all shoved on the left side. The 2 passenger seats were staggered backwards a few inches, too.
I don't know if that layout was standard or designed specifically for tourism, but I've been unable to find out which model I was in. Anyway, the sound difference was staggering. Vibrations were low, about on par with driving your car over that metal grating they use on bridges that makes that hum when you go over it. With the headsets OFF it was easier to hear than the S-55 with them on by about a factor of 3. With them on it was almost silent.




The Jedi Master

Jedi, was it one of these, EC-135?


I had a friend in charge of the FBO here locally and I worked close. They needed weight for a test run on one of these so I drove over. Took it down the runway with me in the right seat so I could get shots. Then headed out towards the ocean. It's the Cadillac of helos

If it's the Cadillac then this is at least a Mercedes.



Sikorsky S-76 D

Civilian Blackhawk ain't no slouch either. Wiki

That's why I get into Chinooks with a Parachute. I can get out fast.....

Yes, Pinon Canyon has dust everywhere and we were loading and unloading for 3 days straight with little sleep. We finally got back from the field to shower and the dirt was everywhere and below our shirts there was a ring of dust that was just foul and it was all dust from rotor wash.

Wait until you do some helocasting.



This must be early in the training. At the unit it will not be a slow moving hover that low. Add 10 MPH and 10 feet, full equipment and in the dark. Yeah - that's the ticket.

It had 3 seats in the front, with the controls only on the left, and the center and right seats were staggered aft a few few inches and there was almost nothing in front of me in the front center. It did look a lot like that, but I saw a couple of other variants that look a lot like the EC-135. It held 6 people, 3+3, no room for more, although I could see they could have a dual-control cockpit and make it 2+3.

I'd have to dig out my old DVD my wife made from my video camera and see if I can get it on YT to show you.



The Jedi Master

Huey's (and their relatves) had two wide rotor blades, which is why they vibrated so badly and were so noisy. Designers have learned that more and narrower blades reduces both so four or more is now pretty much the standard. The little angle on the tips of the blades also reduces the noise...not sure if it helps with the vibrations. I know I've seen five and six blades and I believe I've seen more, though how many I'm not sure. There must be a point of diminishing returns with it though.

The tail rotors also contribute to the noise. Enclosing them reduces this somewhat, as well as makes them more efficient. But the real 'wave of he future' was supposed to be NOTAR (or No Tail Rotor), which diverted some of the jet engine's exhaust down the rear boom to an adjustable outlet to counteract spin. But it's been a couple of decades since this was introduced and I must admit I haven't seen a lot of them. Any helo afficianados out there have an update?

The Phoenix Police used to use a NOTAR Helo, but they don't now. I don't know why the change.

Having flown both fixed-wing (30 hours or so), and Rotary (20 hours), I can honestly say I enjoyed flying Helicopters more. Not sure why. Just more fun to me (I'm a perpetual student-pilot )

HELICOPTER PILOTS ARE DIFFERENT

The thing is, helicopters are different from planes. An airplane by it's 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 general, airplane pilots are open, clear eyed, buoyant extroverts, and helicopter pilots are brooders, introspective anticipators of trouble. They know that if something bad has not happened, it is about to.

Harry Reasoner, February 16, 1971
ABC Evening News during the Viet Nam War