FYI old aircraft

Can you recommend a light helicopter that could be used for transporting two people over about 1.5 miles of open water safely in most seasonal conditions, for a reasonable cost? That would be its only job.

Asking for a friend.

An autogyro might work too. Ok an autogyro, say.

How about the Ehang 184?

But more seriously, wouldn't a boat be more practical?

Boats that fly? Ridiculous, the aerodynamics are all wrong.

Boats will fly, provided the engine is big enough.

If you will accept a halfway house, there are hydrofoils...

Ground-effect vehicle?

Steve, welcome to the club.

I owned a PA28RT201T, vintage 1982 for over a quarter century.

I learned how to fly in an Aeronca taildragger back in the 50's. Fun plane.

In the 80's I bought a Piper Malibu and a little Cessna 150. The Cessna was for any of my employees who wanted to learn how to fly. One day the manager of my CAD department came back after lunch absolutely drenched in sweat. Her feet were not touching the ground.

I said, "You soloed today."

She said, "Yes."

I said, "Better than sex, isn't it?"

She said, "YES!"

Everyone should learn how to fly.

The Malibu was a fantastic airplane. 6-place, twin turbos, retractible, pressurized, 25,000 ft service ceiling, 210 knots with deice boots, certified for flight into known icing, 16 gph at 50 degrees lean of peak. I flew all over the US in that plane. I forget the range but I could go from San Jose to Boca Raton, Florida in 9 hrs. Refueled in Lubbock, Texas, then flew over the Gulf of Mexico through a military corridor. Amazing plane.

Almost came to grief over the Sierras at midnight one night. The engine quit. Fuel pump shaft siezed. Landed in Reno. I sold the plane soon after.

No more single engine pistons for me. Turbines or jets.

Hmmm. Going solo should be a non-event.

I know of one person that would never be sent solo because, although she was reasonably competent, she was too nervous.

Just before soloing in a glider I had three test flights: - cable break (i.e. an engine failure) - three spins and recoveries, first starting at 1500ft, last at 1000ft - a normal flight

During my solo I had to signal the winchie that I was slightly overspeed by waggling the tail. Afterwards he apologised; I simply said that if I couldn't cope with that then I shouldn't be going solo.

Not far off :) Everyone should have a go at controlling an aircraft, and then make the decision.

Gliding is probably fun.

Piloting is a bit different. Flight planning, taking off without going into the weeds, tower communications around busy airports, avoiding midairs, navigating to your destination, getting lost, dealing with weather, finding the airport, following the traffic pattern, landing on a little tiny strip of runway that is different from your home base, dealing with ground control, refueling, going back home, etc.

Not to denigrate gliding, but getting off the ground and landing back on it safely is a slightly different proposition.

Everyone should learn how to fly. In a plane.

Not really; you have many misconceptions :)

Do that in gliders. First example to hand:

Add flying at altitudes up to and higher than commercial airliners :)

Gliders have to do that, and "engine failures" are not uncommon - better known as cable breaks.

Who needs that? I've stood on runways doing 150 movements/hour, without ground control. During competitions you need to use 5 tugs to get 50 gliders up within an hour. Each glider launched requires 3 movements: 2 takeoffs and 1 landing.

Elementary pre-solo training includes close flying with other aircraft. If you see a glider circling, you go and "play" with them :)

Thus 43 gliders:

I've been in a >10kt up "thermal" pulling 3G in a 70degree bank turn with a glider on the opposite side. To keep an eye on separation, I looked upwards at the top of his hat :)

Glider pilots are acutely aware of all of those!

Cutting it fine:

They are trained what to do when there isn't an airport, only a farmer's field. "First, choose your field..."

Fancy doing this?

Traffic pattern? What's that?

I've watched 3 gliders land abreast of each other, with my daughter in one. There was room for two more :)

It isn't uncommon for one pilot to say to another "Oi! You nicked my piece of grass" - with a smile.

Runway? Luxury :)

Fuel? That's the sun - and it fails all the time. Deal with it.

It is indeed. Powered flying is boring and predictable!

Gliders go higher and faster than things like Cessnas!

Every day? On demand? Why?

You glide. I'll fly. Here's my plane landing:

How many people can you put in your glider?

What's your best time from San Jose to Boca?

What if you want to fly from San Jose down to San Diego for a hamburger?

Can't do these things without a propeller!

I have done both of it. You have it completely reversed.

Flying with a motor is like riding a tractor. It is boring, crossing off way points every 10 minutes. Just think for a moment where the word AUTOPILOT comes from. It is not a thing one WANTS to do, day for day. Taking off without going into the weeds really should not be a challenge, nor should be refueling. Avoiding midairs is mostly doing what the controller says and keeping the assigned height.

Yes, flying a 500 Km triangle without engine or riding a wave at 10000 m height in the French alps with a glider is a slightly different proposition than trucking.

With a glider, each landing must be perfect on the first try. There is no go around. And one learns to do it on a field of grass or wheat. No reason to switch to panic mode and sell the plane after the first engine problem.

Ok. it speeds up learning for beginners.

Gerhard

(the 2nd engine brings you only faster to your crash site.)

Slower. You can't fly as fast on one engine.

Twin engines have killed a lot of people because they don't know how to fly on one engine. But they have saved a lot more by getting them to an airport safely. An engine out is a non-event, or should be.

How often do you get to 10km? I can get to 25,000 ft any time I want.

You glide for entertainment. I fly to go places.

Yes, there is. I often flew over the Gulf of Mexico without a life jacket. There is a stretch between Minnesota and Idaho where is no place to land for hundreds of miles. You cannot land in the Sierras at midnight.

An engine out would have been fatal. I was lucky one time. Pushing your luck in a plane is a bad idea.

Flying is totally different than gliding. You glide in good weather. You fly when you have to go someplace. If the weather is too bad, you land.

Having gotten to 'test' fly both airplanes and gliders.* I liked both but gliders were better for their quiet, no engine noise. more perfect flying,

George H.

That's the sound you don't want to hear when you are flying.

The silence when the engine quits.

It gets your attention:)

Steve Wilson wrote

Hamburgers that expensive in San Jose?

After well over a decade of instructing, I feel that there are potential students that are not able to handle it.

It helps to have a spare engine on the other wing, like my current thing DA42NG.