Helicopters
Send us your questions
- What do you mean by "Fly Neighborly" or "Friendly Flying"?
- How long have helicopters been around?
- How many helicopters are there in my area?
- Why are helicopters unregulated?
- Why do helicopters fly so low?
- Why don't they just fly higher?
- Why can't they just go straight up/down from/to the airport?
- How fast are helicopters?
- When will they be quieter?
- Why is there suddenly more flying near my home?
- Why don't those rich people drive like anyone else?
- Is it fun to fly in a helicopter?
- Is it safe to fly in a helicopter?
- Doesn't the pilot know my windows are rattling?
- Why should I trust these people to fly more neighborly?
- What do you mean by "Fly Neighborly" or "Friendly Flying"?
- •We use the terms interchangeably to indicate a conceptual thought process to be applied by pilots during their planning and flying. Pilots have a large amount of responsibility and trust placed in them to conduct safe flights, which is any pilot's first priority. Before each flight, pilots must familiarize themselves with a lot of information regarding their flights, and update it and their associated decisions throughout the flying day. Friendly flying involves planning and flying, workload permitting, with consideration of the effects of aircraft sound waves at ground level.
- •"Fly Neighborly" is a term that was coined by operators and industry in the early 1980s and has been applied to training programs and operational techniques by all manner of operators around the world. Manufacturers join the effort by conducting research and development of quieter aircraft and sound reduction flight techniques.
- •ERHC was awarded the first ever Fly Neighborly Award in 1982 for its efforts at community-focused solutions to citizen concerns.
- How long have helicopters been around?
- •In model or sketch form, for centuries. The Wright brothers are reported to have been inspired to study aviation because of a helicopter toy given to them by their father, Bishop Milton Wright, in 1878.
- •French bicycle maker Paul Cornu is credited with the first manned, powered helicopter flight on November 13, 1907!
- •Igor Sikorsky is credited with making the helicopter a practical flying machine; he began his US work building airplanes on Long Island, NY before moving his operation to Bridgeport, CT in the 1930s.
- •see also, the Smithsonian's Centennial of Flight pages:
- Introduction to Rotary-Wing Flight
- Helicopter Flight in the Early Twentieth Century
- Rotary Wing History by the American Helicopter Society International
- How many helicopters are there in my area?
- •Statistics exist for registrations, but that is not necessarily the same location as where the machine flies, so it is really hard to specify. Air Track data, quoted in the 2007 Helicopter Association International (HAI) Annual guidebook, shows 13,232 helicopters registered in the entire U.S.
- •The Air Track data shows the most common helicopters are the Bell 206, Robinson R-22, Bell 47/TH-13, Robinson R-44, Schweizer 269, and McDonnel-Douglas HS-369, together accounting for more than half of the total.
- •U.S. helicopter production between 1978 and 2005 has ranged from 258 in 1993 to 1,366 in 1980 and 947 in 2005, according to Aerospace Industries Assn data in the HAI Annual, with the bulk of production going to export.
- Why are helicopters unregulated?
- •This is a common misperception you might see reported in the general media, and is not true. From the time aircraft are conceived, they follow a highly regulated certification and testing process that lasts many years, so that risk is reduced, past lessons learned are applied, and the safest possible aircraft are built.
- •Helicopter flights may be operated under a wide variety of rules, depending on what they are doing at the time, i.e. carrying passengers or positioning or utility work, private flying, etc. Many helicopters are capable of flying by instruments just as airplanes are, and some are as well equipped as business jets.
- •Pilots are regulated in many ways, from medical qualification to certification for various levels of private and commercial flying, visual or instrument flight, etc. Commercial pilots may also be subject to background checks and random drug screening. The highest rating is called the "Airline Transport Pilot". Regular proficiency checks are required, as often as every six months for commercial pilots.
- Why do helicopters fly so low?
- •The helicopter's unique capabilities serve mankind in many ways; some of those missions involve flying close to the ground. Flying rules allow pilots the discretion they need to derive maximum utility from the machine and safely accomplish their mission. Sometimes the weather is not as good as forecast so to be safe and to comply with regulations, pilots maintain distance from clouds. Pilots are rigorously trained in making safe landings from various heights and speeds and in knowing what combinations of speed and altitude are the safest.
- •Human perceptions of the height of moving objects of all kinds is a very complex subject, as are definitions of what "low" means. The main things to know are that helicopters can be safely operated at all heights above ground, and pilots consider many things when selecting an altitude.
- Why don't they just fly higher?
- •Pilots select altitudes for a variety of reasons, including weather conditions and the mission of the flight. It's not unusual for strong winds to exist a few thousand feet up while surface winds are calm. Most of the nation's airspace allows pilots to select the most efficient flight route, facilitating aviation's benefit. Areas near airports with airline flights allow less flexibility in route and altitude. Pilots in metropolitan areas like NYC frequently fly as high as Air Traffic Control will allow. ATC is required to maintain specified physical separation of aircraft. So, quite often helicopters you see are flying as high as they can, but have a job to do and are limited by other factors.
- Why can't they just go straight up/down from/to the airport?
- •Few helicopters have the engine power to safely climb vertically to traffic pattern altitude, and since pilots' first duty is to fly safely, a variety of techniques are used depending on environment, engines, weight of the aircraft, land-back capability, and so on. Sometimes you will see a helicopter stay low to the ground, "in ground effect" until a certain speed, when the pilot climbs the craft; other times a more vertical takeoff technique is used. Pilots use their training and experience to pick the best choice for every takeoff.
- •Landing vertically from pattern altitude is not only hard to judge visually but the aircraft may not have the power to hover so high, and a vertical descent could put the craft in a position from which a safe emergency landing could not be made.
- •In both vertical landing and takeoff, the pilot's visibility is so restricted by the structure of the aircraft and made difficult with odd angles of the head, that the pilot may not see other aircraft or obstacles in their flight path. Safety is first, so pilots make approaches and departures with forward speed and turns.
- How fast are helicopters?
- •There are many categories of speed records, one of the fastest being 249.10 mph in 1986 by Egginton and Clews in the U.K., flying the twin-engine Westland Lynx. The everyday helicopters you see around typically fly as fast as 100 to 175 mph.
- When will they be quieter?
- •Helicopters are a small part of the aerospace industry, but research and development continue into various ways to reduce the overall sound level and it will take decades for this technology to get to the market (see also Future). There are many sources of sounds on helicopters and they vary with flight mode, weight of the aircraft, environmental conditions and more, so it is impossible for a pilot to know what kind of sound the aircraft is making and where the waves travel.
- •Some manufacturers recommend general procedures for pilots to use but even those procedures do not guarantee any specific effect under all conditions.
- •"Fly Neighborly" has been in the aviation lexicon for decades, and pilots, especially those who've flown in other countries and in metropolitan areas, are used to flying with consideration of those on the ground.
- •Although there are many types of sound level measurements and the science of sound is developing, and there are complications of human perceptions of sounds based on environmental baselines, etc, some charts show that subways, hair dryers, power mowers, leaf blowers and so on are either more intense or due to their length may have more impact than a passing helicopter. Smaller helicopters have different sound qualities but generally produce less intense sound than heavier/larger craft.
- Why is there suddenly more flying near my home?
- •Quite a lot of factors may be at work in this instance. There may be a local event taking place, you might live along the most direct route from a popular origin to a popular destination, traffic patterns at a local airfield may have changed, winds may have changed, a lot of scenarios are possible. If you are concerned, look online or in the phone book and contact your local airfields, ask your neighbors, your local government, etc. It is incumbent upon homebuyers to be aware of the surroundings of the home they are buying that may concern them or affect costs or the desired quality of life-whether it's in a flood plain, earthquake area, toxic waste area, next to a school, firehouse, or even and airfield or heliport. As metropolitan regions grow, it is ever more important for all people to understand and co-exist with other safe and legal activities that occur in their surroundings.
- Why don't those rich people drive like anyone else?
- •This paraphrase of an oft-quoted complaint illustrates how safe and legal business activity can get wrapped up in societal frustration. The helicopter business understands the frustration of those who have enjoyed a rural style of living that is changing under economic growth. All people must work together to find harmony and acceptance of safe and legal activities across the board. People who can afford the life-enhancing convenience of air travel are allowed to do so in our society. Those who operate air transportation businesses that safely and legally serve these customers are providing a valuable product to the economy. The Fly Neighborly initiatives of HAI and ERHC are examples of how the industry is going out of its way to respect citizens by encouraging voluntary buffers of courtesy.
- Is it fun to fly in a helicopter?
- •To fly a helicopter is a pure sense of magic. It's a unique aerial vehicle. Many pilots are asked by new acquaintances: "so, it must be exciting to fly a helicopter?", to which the professional pilot typically replies "actually, my job is to make sure it's not exciting!". The professional pilot gets an unstated compliment when the passengers are unaware they have arrived at destination.
- •Another way to see it is that very few people become helicopter pilots, and then stop. Many pilots who fly for a living retire from one flying job and go on to another; many, who are in good health, keep flying past the encouraged retirement age of their company because they enjoy the job so much. New pilots benefit from their knowledge, poise, and experience.
- Is it safe to fly in a helicopter?
- •Yes.
- •Some people have a mistaken notion from somewhere that if a helicopter's engine quits, the rotors will stop turning. Modern helicopters use a device akin to an automobile clutch, between the engine's drive and the main rotor's transmission input, which works automatically, mechanically, to disengage the drive from the rotor when the engine slows rapidly, as in a failure. They go by a variety of names, but it allows the aerodynamic feature called autorotation, in which, simply stated, the air flow past the main rotor allows it to keep spinning so the pilot can make a safe and controlled landing. Many helicopters these days have two engines and under many conditions can just keep flying if one fails and no longer drives the rotor.
- •Safety statistics are problematic to analyze, since detailed flight hour recordkeeping is not required in many cases nor systematically tracked. We can quantify incidents that occur involving injuries, fatalities, or damages. NTSB data as reported in the 2007 HAI Annual shows a drop of 6% in all civil helicopter incidents 2002-05, when 193 were recorded across the U.S. 2006 recorded 26 fatal accidents incurring 44 fatalities. An ERHC analysis of NTSB's helicopter incident database shows there have been 0 fatal incidents involving professionally flown helicopters in NYC or on Long Island in over 10 years. Zero. Every other mode of transportation in the area, including walking, has experienced fatalities, so by this measure, helicopters are the safest mode of travel.
- Doesn't the pilot know my windows are rattling?
- •Any pilot's primary responsibility is to conduct a safe flight. Helicopter pilots are aware that their machines produce a wide variety of basically uncontrollable sounds affected by a wide assortment of factors, and apply manufacturer recommendations (not always provided) and industry best practices for neighborly, considerate flying whenever possible. Alas, there is no way a pilot can know what affect their flying is having on any given person on the ground. Pilots demonstrate consideration for others when using fly neighborly techniques, and do this as often as possible, consistent with their mission. Persons on the ground should understand this and recognize that safe and legal use of the national airspace is something they can peacefully co-exist with.
- Why should I trust these people to fly more neighborly?
- •Neighborly Flying has been a concept for so long in the helicopter business that it's second nature and part of the normal flight planning process. ERHC's members especially, in the NYC region, fly along paths that have been developed over decades by working with communities, over six versions of a regional chart, and along the many individual airports' procedures. This is some of the busiest and most complex airspace in the nation. Pilots show exceptional abilities under these conditions to conduct flights with an exemplary level of safety and consideration.
- •Across the Land, political and business leaders as well trust helicopter pilots and their machines to move them around every day all over the nation. Many helicopter pilots are altruists, drawn to the ability of the machine to serve others, from emergency medevac to homeland security to bringing joy through air tours or even simple life enhancement by allowing a person more time with family and less time going to work. It takes a lot of effort, time, and discipline to become a helicopter pilot, so this process alone demonstrates that pilots are likely to have the personal qualities needed to be trusted to give neighborly flying the priority it deserves when conducting their duties.