Customer Reviews

Learning to Fly Helicopters

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a student pilot in Switzerland. This book gave me a lot of information on helicopter flying. More than that, it thought me what is essential to know and to remember when flying. If you look for a very technical book, you will be certainly disappointed because the autor does not want to overload the subject with graphs and calculations. But the book is breathtaking for any reader interested in helicopters... (sorry for my english...)

I read this book before I started my helicopter training just about two years ago. Since then, I have bought and read just about every book about rotary-wing aircraft that I can get my hands on. This book is fundamental in nature, but fairly complete none the less and an absolute joy to read. I recently read it again and loved it more than when I first picked it up. Of all the helicopter books I have read this one is still by far my favorite.

This book really builds your confidence in learning about Helicopters and answers any concerns you have about flying them. I am truly impressed with this book and would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who is thinking about flying. I have not flown yet, but will in the future. This book eased my mind and makes me feel confident in being able to learn someday for real. Thank you for this great book. Order from Amazon and you should get it right away, I did! Brad Shifflett

This book immediately draws you in and teaches you the basics. The first few chapters are really easy to read and understand. It does get harder at the end but by then you're hooked. I read this one before moving on the FAA manual. If I had started with the FAA manual I would have been completely lost.

Learning to fly helicopters is an undertaking unlike no other. It is more of a calling, actually. And a huge commitment of time, money, and energy. Mr. Padfield understands this. He knows what it feels like to learn, get scared, become frustrated, and he helps the reader through it all with warm humor and inspiration. The text is clear and readable with many helpful illustrations. This is a great book to read as you study, to refer to as a beginning pilot, or to refresh your memory with. This book is unlike the majority of instructional volumes which are very dry and where the authors either talk down to the reader or lapse into technical jargon. Learning to fly helicopters is fun to read and very helpful
It also has lots of cool pictures.

If you're like me, and I know I am, you haven't attended any flight training yet. If this is correct, you are the target audience for this book. It is well-written, in a conversational style that makes all the theory of the early chapters and the emergency procedures of the later chapters understandable on a first reading. I had just applied for the Army's Aviation Warrant Officer program when I ordered this book. I had slogged halfway through the Army's Fundamentals of Flight field manual when this arrived from Amazon. The theory matched point for point, which shouldn't be surprising since Mr. Padfield writes that he learned rotary aviation from the Army when he was an Air Force pilot.

The two major differences that make spending money on this book preferable to reading the free Army manual are: 1. the manual was apparently written for those who have already learned how to fly for the Army, and includes so many acronyms and abbreviations a complete beginner must constantly stop reading to look up the meanings; and 2. Mr. Padfield includes tips and tricks and helpful hints gained from many years and 9000+ hours of flying helicopters, all effortlessly included in the text giving the impression that he is sitting in the cockpit next to you helping you out.

The book includes many illustrations, photos and diagrams to assist the reader in better visualizing the ideas brought forth in the text. Also, as the text verbally illustrates the concepts, the repetitive nature of some of the motions helps the reader retain the knowledge (i.e., pulling up the collective and twisting the throttle combine to adjust power... since those motions are necessary for most operations, any time he mentions another operation, he verbally illustrates by mentioning how to adjust each control).

The only reason I couldn't rate the book 5 stars was the photography. The photos are all black and white, and by today's printing standards they are low quality. Since most of the pictures are mainly for general interest (i.e., various full-body shots of helicopters common in the 90s when the book was written), that's not normally an issue. The problem for me came when he was describing the controls and showing a low-quality, too-small grayscale photo that's not very clear. Also, it's been long enough since the book came out (at least a decade); some of the new gizmos he mentions would be available or common soon should have been implemented by now and even newer ideas brought out. An additional chapter updating these thoughts would be nice.

In general though, the theory is the same, making the book stand up well over the years. Of course, if you're already a pilot, I suspect you won't pick up much if anything from this book, aside from an appreciation for Mr. Padfield's writing style. Although some of the tips, particularly ones having to do with emergency procedures, may help some.

It's an excellent book (other than the photos), and I highly recommend it to the novice.

Perfect for the beginner. Lets you know in plain English what flying is all about and what you have to know to do it. Goes beyound laws and theory and explains why things work instead of makeing you memorize. I only gave it 4 stars because it needs to be updated from the 80's.

I found this book to be very easy to read and to understand. The step by step logic also coincides with the steps of my instructor so that made it easier to follow. The book helped me to get my confidence and to realise that I was not as useless as I thought just simply learning. It also saved me asking those questions that you feel are stupid ones but you still need an answer! I found it helped me to anticipate my next lesson which made the lesson itself easier because I already had a good understanding.

Probably the best and most reccomendable book i have ever read for people starting their rotary training answering every question up to at least ppl

I've been a licensed private pilot for over 35 years and while not holding a rotary certificate, I've flown my share of helicopters under the auspices of certified owners and instructors. Given that, the book's title is painfully misleading. You could read this book many times over and not come close to learning how to fly anything, let alone a complex and non-intuitive machine such as the modern helicopter. What you would be exposed to is an elementary overview of rotary craft systems, various helicopter models currently in use, and some basics about aerodynamics; all topics the lay person is not well versed in.

The book is however, a pretty good primer of general knowledge anticipatory of your intro flight school ride. Helicopter command, like all flight training, is applied aerodynamics, regulatory knowledge, radio/instrumentation systems, weather forecasting and mastery of aircraft controls in all conditions you are likely to encounter. You get this via flight instruction, many hours in a suitable flight simulator, and mastery of flight standards and practices as proscribed by the FAA (or other regulatory agency). My major gripe is the Product Description as follows: "An introduction to helicopter flying techniques, many of which are difficult to master, as well as a discussion of emergency procedure, human factors, advanced operations and even a section on careers." This description vastly overstates the book's utility and might unwittingly lead an individual to believe he/she was capable of taking over in an emergency situation. There are books designed as syllabus for flight instruction and each flight school has their own recommended texts, but this is not one of them.

If you already hold a single engine VFR or glider rating this book would be of little value. If you're in rotary flight school it would offer no value whatsoever. However, I could recommend this as an introductory book if you're considering taking flight lessons or if you're just interested in an overview of how rotary craft operate and how they differ from conventional fixed wing flight systems. The book is well written, factually correct (as far as I could tell), reasonably up to date, and well illustrated. Had the publisher been a little more forth coming about it's limitations I would have given it 4 stars.