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    Flying Popular Helicopters
    Flying Popular Helicopters
    Flying Popular Helicopters
    Ebook91 pages1 hour

    Flying Popular Helicopters

    By Helen Krasner

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    About this ebook

    This is the second collection of former flying instructor Helen Krasner's flight test articles, which were originally published in 'Today's Pilot' in the UK, and in some other aviation magazines. This book looks at seven helicopters which are popular with private owners, organisations such as the police and emergency medical services, and for passenger transport. They include the Eurocopter EC120, 135, and 130, the Agusta A109, and the Enstrom 480.

    Each helicopter is described in detail, with an account of Helen's personal experiences of what it is like to fly it for the first time. It is thus much more than a theoretical textbook account. There is also a section on the history of most of the types, and detailed specifications.

    This book is aimed at anyone interested in helicopter flying, whether they already fly helicopters for fun or a career, hope to in the future, fly models, or simply find rotary aircraft fascinating. It would also make an excellent gift for any rotary enthusiast. It contains a great deal of detail, and is around 23,000 words in length.

    The first book in this series, 'Flying Small Helicopters', is already published, and future books will cover flying 'Historic Helicopters' and 'More Unusual Helicopters'.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHelen Krasner
    Release dateJul 30, 2013
    ISBN9781301103973
    Flying Popular Helicopters
    Author

    Helen Krasner

    Helen Krasner worked as a helicopter instructor for several years, instructing for various flying schools on Robinson R22s and R44s. She has also flown a large number of other helicopter types, held a private pilot's licence for aeroplanes, and has had a go at flying microlights, gliders, and balloons. Helen has been writing professionally for many years and contributes regularly to a number of aviation publications. She was nominated for an Aerospace Journalist of the Year award in 2004, for an article about flying helicopters in Russia. She has also had several books published, both print and ebooks, mainly – though not exclusively – on aviation related topics. She is also a former Newsletter Editor for the BWPA (British Women Pilots' Association). You can find out more about Helen, including details of all of her books, on her website, helenkrasner.com.com.

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      Book preview

      Flying Popular Helicopters - Helen Krasner

      Flying Popular Helicopters

      (Collected Rotary Flight Test Articles, 2004 – 2011, Vol II)

      By Helen Krasner

      Published by Helen Krasner at Smashwords

      Copyright Helen Krasner 2012

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

      Preface

      In 2004, Helen Krasner was invited by the Editor of the magazine Today’s Pilot to fly some different helicopter types and write flight test articles about them for regular publication. The first was on the Schweizer 300CBi, and is included in the previous book in this series, Flying Small Helicopters. It was well received, and this was the beginning of a series of features on different helicopters over the next few years. Each described a different helicopter in some detail and explained what it was like to fly it, with a short section on the history of the helicopter and other relevant details. The articles continued until 2011, when the magazine was incorporated into Pilot magazine. Helen carried on writing for them, and still does so occasionally.

      This means that she has now flown and written about around 30 different types of helicopter, from small training machines to large corporate aircraft, from old civilian machines to modern military helicopters. This gives her an almost unique overview of the different types of rotary machine. She has now decided to publish these articles in book form, as a series of four.

      The first book looked at eight of the smaller helicopters, generally those on which most people learn to fly or which they might buy as a first helicopter after completing the PPL(H) course. Each type was described in detail (around 3,000 words); then Helen explained what it feels like to fly it for the first time. Finally there was a short history of most of the types, and detailed specifications. A photo of each helicopter was included wherever possible.

      This second book looks at some of the more popular and well known helicopters, such as those commonly used for passenger flights, by private owners, and by the police and other organizations. The format is the same as in the first book, so that by the time the reader has been through the relevant section, he or she will know a great deal about the particular helicopter. Again, a short history and photos are generally included. There are seven helicopters in all – a total of around 23,000 words.

      The last two books will cover ‘historic helicopters’, and ‘more unusual helicopters’. However, it should be noted that all these divisions are quite loose, even arbitrary, since some helicopters could fit easily into two or more categories. But there had to be some way to split them up, and this seemed to be the best.

      Helen has been flying for many years, and holds a Commercial Helicopter Pilot's Licence and Instructor's Rating.  She also has a Private Pilot’s Licence for Aeroplanes, and well over 1000 hours flying time in total.  Until recently she worked as a freelance helicopter instructor, flying mainly R22s and R44s.

      Helen writes about helicopters and other aviation-related subjects for a number of publications and websites, and she is also a former Newsletter Editor for the BWPA (British Women Pilots’ Association). She was nominated for one of the Aerospace Journalist of the Year Awards in 2004, for an article about Flying Helicopters in Russia. She has published two print books about helicopter flying – The Helicopter Pilot’s Companion (Crowood Press 2008), and Flying Helicopters: A Companion to the PPL(H) (Crowood Press 2011). In addition she has compiled four books for the Kindle, comprised of her regular articles which have been published monthly since 2006 in Flight Training News. Finally, Helen has also written and published a book about a five thousand mile walk around Britain which she undertook some years ago (Midges, Maps, and Muesli). All of these books, both print and digital, are widely available. Signed copies of the print books are sometimes available from Helen; email her for information

      If you enjoy this book, take a look at Helen’s other books, look out for the others in this series, and feel free to contact Helen at helenkrasner2@gmail.com.

      Table Of Contents

      Chapter One: Eurocopter EC120 Colibri

      Chapter Two: Agusta A109A

      Chapter Three: Bell B206L1 LongRanger II

      Chapter Four: Eurocopter EC135

      Chapter Five: Enstrom 480

      Chapter Six: Eurocopter AS355F1 Twin Squirrel

      Chapter Seven: Eurocopter EC130 B4

      Chapter One: Eurocopter EC120 Colibri

      Return to Table of Contents

      So you’re a helicopter pilot. You have a PPL(H) and you’ve been flying for quite a while. Having probably learned initially on an R22, or maybe one of the Schweizer 300 series, you then converted on to the R44 so that you had more space for friends and family, and perhaps you’ve done a bit of helicopter touring. Now you’re moving on again, considering a turbine conversion, and looking to buy your own helicopter. So what should you buy?

      Until fairly recently there wasn’t much of a contest. Bell’s JetRanger fitted the bill well, and had been doing so for many years. But JetRangers are maybe a little staid and ponderous to fly, and are they perhaps just beginning to look a little old-fashioned? You might consider an MD500, or perhaps a Gazelle. Certainly both are fast and great fun to fly, and considered by many as the sports cars of the skies. But like sports cars, passenger comfort and luggage space just weren’t considered a priority in their design. Surely, surely, someone has designed something for the helicopter pilot who wants a machine that’s fast enough to tour in, with plenty of luggage space and comfort for passengers, yet still great fun to fly. Enter…the EC120.

      Eurocopter were in an ideal position to produce the type of helicopter required, since they had basically been doing it for years. But they had generally concentrated on medium to large machines, mainly for utility purposes. But in 1992 the company initiated a market study of the requirements for a smaller machine. What they reckoned was needed was a lightweight five-seat helicopter that was cost effective to build and run, but offered the reliability expected from a modern helicopter. These requirements dictated the basic design of the EC120 Colibri, and the prototype flew in April 1995.

      Two things stand out when you initially approach the EC120. The first is that it very definitely looks like a close cousin to the Gazelle. While Eurocopter emphasise that the EC120 is a new design, and who am I to doubt them, its ancestry appears to be fairly obvious. But this is no bad thing. The Gazelle was an excellent helicopter for its time, and is also extremely good-looking. And the

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