7

Mar

Are choppers a bad idea for non commercial owners?

Posted by admin  Published in Choppers

In light of the Colin McCrae disaster and other such calamities such as wot happened to Mike Smith when his chopper fell to the ground, do you think it’s a good idea for individuals to operate choppers. Do you think they may be less inclined to service it regularly than a commercial organisation? According to witnesses McCare’s chopper was making a much rougher sound than it usually does.

I know that I will get thumbs down for this but my answer is:-
If as in so many cases they are just status symbols of the wealthy yes and I would include light aircraft as well. There have been too many fatal accidents recently by these so called expert amateur flyers.

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11 users responded in this post

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leeincognito said in March 7th, 2010 at 10:17 am

Helicopters are notoriously unstable, I wouldn’t touch one. Having said that, if you have the money to learn to fly one, and to buy one and fuel and maintain it, and know how to avoid populated areas if it gets into difficulties, why not?
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michael w said in March 7th, 2010 at 11:06 am

Anyone should be able to fly a helicopter providing they have passed all the necessary tests and the aircraft has been passed ok by the civil aviation.All these things should come to light at the inquest.
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Sarah G said in March 7th, 2010 at 11:40 am

My boyfriend has a large chopper.
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ukultrarunner said in March 7th, 2010 at 12:07 pm

I would have thought they would have at least as good an incentive to have it serviced as a commercial owner.

In any event, its not something you need to worry about. If somebody wants to own and travel by helicopter, thats their decision and they need to worry about the implications and consequences.
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Paul C said in March 7th, 2010 at 12:44 pm

If you have a plane and the engines fail you can glide down to the ground, a helicopter is so different, if the engines fail it will just drop to the ground.

It is up to the people that use them to take that risk, but we seem to be losing a few famous people, so how many non famous people are we losing??
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Steve said in March 7th, 2010 at 1:18 pm

Private operators of aircraft are required to maintain and service aircraft to a certain set of standards.

All pilots know the risks involved with flying, no pilot whether private or commercial would ever put his life or any other life in danger by flouting the rules, the very few that do are usually killed or injured very quickly.

As with all technology things can and do go wrong, aircraft of all types are only unsafe in the eyes of those who don’t know what they are talking about.

"a helicopter is so different, if the engines fail it will just drop to the ground"
That is incorrect, you can disconnect the main rotors from the engine and the helicopter goes into auto rotation, (like a sycamore seed) the pilot can then use this to land the aircraft, albeit a bumpy landing.

At a risk of getting a thumbs down just to come back at a few other posters.

"He retired in 2006 and could afford a helicopter." Colin McRae was a World Champion racing driver and a Multi Millionaire

"There have been too many fatal accidents recently by these so called expert amateur flyers"
Well ask yourself this one, should they ban all people from using their cars on the roads just because they are ‘so called expert amature drivers’ as they dont have professional racing licences. Just because someone has a private pilots licence does not mean they are amature, I know private pilots with over 15,000 hours of air time, don’t knock what you don’t fully understand.
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I’m a pilot

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itsasecret said in March 7th, 2010 at 1:34 pm

As long as you have it serviced regularly and fly it yourself regularly so you get a good feel of the aircraft then it shouldn’t really be a problem. That’s like saying only raleigh drivers like Colin should be allowed to drive powerful cars, but everyday we hear of accidents involving young drivers careering into trees and the like, killing inncoent people.
Sometimes sh*t happens no matter how careful we are. I just hope they’re all being looked after up there like they deserve to be.
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My name's MUD said in March 7th, 2010 at 2:02 pm

I wouldn’t have liked to have payed his bills, what sort of income did he have? He retired in 2006 and could afford a helicopter. This was a normal part of his life and he most likely knew the risks as he must have known the risks of motor racing too.
I’m sure he was a confident, competent flyer, AND even IF this machine was just carefully serviced last month, something can still go wrong! Who knows what happened, every transport mode carries a risk, sounds like it was a mechanical failure though.

We can’t surely start saying no to speedboats, no to jet-skis, no to small aircraft, no to cars above 150 BHP, no to skate boards, no to using pelican crossings etc………
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grodno said in March 7th, 2010 at 2:15 pm

Not a lot of chance of a safe landing if things go wrong. even a third of the passengers escaped from the plane in Phuket, I would not be too comfortable in a helicopter.
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micavalierinnit said in March 7th, 2010 at 2:39 pm

squirrel isn’t the name i would have chosen for the chopper!
No disrepect meant, squirrel’s live in tree’s, see my point?
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podge said in March 7th, 2010 at 3:13 pm

I know that I will get thumbs down for this but my answer is:-
If as in so many cases they are just status symbols of the wealthy yes and I would include light aircraft as well. There have been too many fatal accidents recently by these so called expert amateur flyers.
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