Brantly vs Robinson / R44 Experience

[RDRickster]

Nice post, Don... thanks for the update.

[donlew]

R44 Experience

Well I just got back from Vegas and I was fortunate enough to fly with a dear friend of mine who went through training with me and is now teaching at Silver State Helicopters in Vegas.

We flew out of North Las Vegas airport “KVGT”. I have flown here before. About three times. Always in an R-22. I haven’t been at the controls of a Robinson Helicopter since I purchased my B2B about three years ago. I always knew that my Brantly felt smoother but was amazed at the difference between the R-44 we flew and the B2B.

We flew out to North of Jean Nevada to a dry lakebed and landed where this group “Tripoli Las Vegas” was shooting off amateur built rockets to about 15,000 feet. The R-44 was a choppy ride at best. The ship was relatively new also. Although cruise is about 110 knots we couldn’t talk without a bounce in our voices. This amazed me. I have always thought that the Robinson was a smooth ride. But of course I never had flown anything but the R-22 before I bought my B2B.

Also the R-44 has hydraulics for tail rotor pedals and the cyclic. Along with the tall mast this made hovering a little touchy at first. It was much different than hovering my ship. It took more concentration at first. To me it just didn’t seem as stable to handle as the Brantly.

If anyone were looking into buying a light helicopter I would certainly recommend the Brantly. I had always wondered if I made the right choice by buying the B2B and now I know I did.

I have done some extensive work to my ship but I believe I would have just as much or more in a Robinson. For a pre owned ship the cost is a lot more and most likely would have less component times left than a Brantly.

I haven’t had any experience in a Swietzer yet but my friend and I plan on this next trip in late January.

I would like to have some other Brantly pilot’s comparative opinions with other light helicopters. i.e. Rotorway, Swietzer, Enstrom etc.

I welcome any inquiries you may have. I will check my post from time to time. I am anxious to share the experience with other pilots.

Well, I will sign off for now. Good and safe flying everyone! Don’t let your ships gather any cobwebs waiting for spring. Get out there and fly on those nice days when you can.

Sincerely,

Don L.[/quote]

[Steve Chenoweth]

Great post Don. I wish more people would get the word about Brantlys. I for one, am looking to forward to flying in some cooler, lower density altitude weather.

[Ron Spiker]

Good post Don.

I had a RotorWay 162F for 3 years before getting the Brantly last year. I put 110 hours on the RW. The Brantly certainly has more power than the RW. There were many times in the RW that I'd run out of power and I've had enough with the Brantly in those same circumstances. I've only run out of power with the Brantly once, this past summer, where I had to touch the skids down several times while hover taxiing to get the rotor RPM back up.

I did always like the handling with the RW though. Even now, with 75 or so hours on the Brantly, there are different areas where I think the RW handled somewhat better.

My RW was pretty smooth, since I paid particular attention to the tracking and balancing, but I am very pleased with the Brantly in this area. I've had many people tell me how surprised they are at how smooth it is. One guy even told me it was smoother than his airplane. I have a small vibration now that I'm working on, but it's pretty good.

Safety was another big factor in my decision. Most of my RW flying was local, and doing lots of ground work. I never considered (well, dreamt maybe!) about taking the RW on very long cross-country flights. But this year I flew my Brantly on cross-countries here in Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri.

I only have a few hours in the Enstrom, and most of my R22 and Bell 47 time was many years ago. I haven't had the chance yet to be in the R44. Looks like I have a chance to do a nice XC in an R22 soon though with RD. That's another post after that occurs.

Finally, I, too, am very pleased with my decision to get the Brantly. I'm looking forward to years and many hours of flying in it.

[donlew]

My friend that instructs for Silver State Helicopters. Just flew an R-22 that Silver State bought from NE Florida to Las Vegas.

I would have loved to make the trip with him but timing just didn't work out.

We met up at his house in Vegas on Wednesday the 26th. Day before Thanksgiving. He had just gotten in from his last leg Phoenix to LV.

Man we talked for hours about his long X-C. He flew for 5 days by himself on the way back. He said weather was a problem. He had to make a lot of diversions to avoid it.

By the way if anybody was watching and or getting AOPA TFR updates you know that George Bush was in Vegas that day and leaving for Phoenix that afternoon.

Remember I mentioned my friends last leg. It was Wednesdayabout mid day. My friend tells me he is about 3 mi. outside of Phoenix airspace and dicides to make a call to enter. This guy has been gone all week and hasn't been around much news. ATC anounces that his request to enter will be granted they just need his discreet skwak code. Well he doesn't have one and if he doesn't want to play dodge the jet with some F-16's he should turn around and head back the way he came.

After some more radio contact with ATC they decide to have him file a flight plan with FSS so he can transition through. He's flying be himself and has enough to do to fly the helicopter, trying to navigate away from the TFR, without having to include flight plan filing in the mix.

He finds a place in the desert to land and sets down. Shuts down the helicopter and uses his cell phone to file a plan. He get's the code "discreet" and spools back up to continue.

He has to climb to 7,000 ft to tansition through. After he gets through, he comes on in to Vegas for a well deserved rest and a talk with me.

I wanted to share this story with you all just to show how easy it is to put your pilots license in jeopardy.

This is an automatic 90 day suspension, if not longer.

Please check notams before any flight. It doesn't take long to do it.

Safe Flying Everyone.

Don L.