As I travel to various parts of the country to provide initial
and advanced flight training in Rotorway, Hughes, and Schweizer
helicopters I have noticed a consistent problem with the Rotorway
students’ endorsements. If you are receiving your flight training
in a Schweizer 300CB your flight instructor will endorse your
student pilot certificate and your pilot log book stating that
you are safe to solo that particular make and model of helicopter,
a Schweizer 300CB. As a student pilot that endorsement allows
you to fly only that specific make and model of helicopter. If
you decide now to hop into a Robinson R22 Beta you are not legal
to do so as a student pilot until you have an authorized flight
instructor, who provides you with the needed training, endorse
your student pilot certificate and log book for that specific
make and model of helicopter.
Where things get a bit confusing for the student pilot is when
they have built and registered their own helicopter such as a
Rotorway, Ultrasport, or Safari. I have noticed that most of the
Rotorway students that I give phase II or advanced flight training
to have improper endorsements in their log books and on their
student pilot certificates. If you are a student pilot you may
want to check to see that your flight instructor has endorsed
you to fly your particular individual helicopter to make things
LEGAL with the FARs and to insure that your INSURANCE actually
covers you.
According to FAR 61.87(I) "Limitations on student pilots
operating an aircraft in solo flight. A student pilot may not
operate an aircraft in solo flight unless that student pilot has
received:
(1) An endorsement from an authorized instructor on his or her
student pilot certificate for the specific make and model aircraft
to be flown; and
(2) An endorsement in the students logbook for the specific make
and model aircraft to be flown by an authorized instructor who
gave the training within the 90 days preceding the date of the
flight."
The SPECIFIC MAKE AND MODEL can be found on your airworthiness
certificate and your aircraft registration certificate. You are
the manufacturer and as such you decide on the specific Make and
Model designations that you will assign to your helicopter. My
own Rotorway Exec 90 is registered as Manufacturer(Make): Neisingh
and Model: 001. It is no longer a Rotorway Exec 90 as far as the
FAA is concerned because Rotorway is not the manufacturer, I am
the manufacturer and I registered it with a specific make and
model of my own designation.
If you have registered your Rotorway helicopter as a SAM SMITH
EXEC 162F, your student pilot certificate and log book endorsements
must be for that specific make and model of aircraft. From what
I have seen in student log books the Rotorway Factory flight training
school has only been endorsing their students to fly a "Rotorway
EXEC 90/162F" or something similar to that. Be sure that
you have them endorse your paperwork for your own particular MAKE
and MODEL of helicopter, in most cases it is not a Rotorway 162F
once it is registered.
When I give a student initial flight training or any other phase
of training I always endorse their student pilot certificate and
log book with their own specific aircraft Make and Model listed.
Once the endorsements are correct and the proper training has
been received, the student pilot can be confident that they are
in full compliance with the FAR’s. There is a clause on most aircraft
insurance policies that demands that you only fly when you are
properly endorsed, have met the currency requirements, that you
were endorsed within the preceding 90 days, and that you are in
compliance with the FARs. Don't let an incident or ramp check
find that you are in non-compliance with the FARs or your insurance
policy requirements.
Come on, lets go Flying!!!!!!!!!
The big day is here, you have just finished building your beautiful
helicopter, it is registered with your own choice of “N” number,
you have received your airworthiness certificate and your operating
limitations and are you ever ready to see how this baby flies.
It is now time to either enroll in the factory training program,
enroll in a flight training school using certified helicopters,
or arrange to have a flight instructor with Rotorway experience
come to your location for initial or transition training. Should
you opt to go the route of training in a certified helicopter
and earn your private certificate; before flying your helicopter
you still need to receive some transition training. The Rotorway
is not a Robinson or a Schweizer and it is very easy to get yourself
into trouble if you are not familiar with your helicopter’s flight
characteristics before you take it flying. The factory offers
transition training as do a number of CFI’s with Rotorway experience.
Get the training and protect your investment.
If your flight instructor has a fair amount of Rotorway experience
he/she should devote a fair amount of time helping you develop
a complete and personalized preflight check list for your particular
helicopter in conjunction to the guidelines provided by Rotorway.
Unless I know the owner of a particular home built helicopter
extremely well, I will not fly in one unless I accompany that
owner as they perform their preflight check to insure that the
helicopter meets my own criteria for safety.
Never be in a rush to go flying in your helicopter. A newly manufactured
helicopter requires many adjustments and checks to ensure that
it remains airworthy. It is your responsibility as the manufacturer
and holder of the repairman’s certificate for that helicopter
to insure that these checks are done to verify that the helicopter
is airworthy prior to each flight. Make sure that you do a thorough
preflight each time you go flying. You can never be too careful
in insuring that your helicopter is good to go. If something doesn’t
appear to be 100%, fix it. Once you are airborne it is comforting
to know that your helicopter has been meticulously maintained,
thoroughly inspected, and that you have certified it to be 100%
airworthy.
If you hire an instructor to train you in your own helicopter
he/she should review the helicopter’s operating limitations with
you in detail to ensure that you understand them and are able
to comply with them. Check out your instructor and make sure that
they have a comfortable amount of Rotorway flight time and that
their credentials are in order. The fact that an individual has
thousands of hours in turbine helicopters is no guarantee that
they can properly handle your helicopter. My last student had
hired a flight instructor that had thousands of hours in helicopters
but little or no Rotorway time. On the third flight with the student
the instructor lost control of the helicopter and flew it into
a line of trees destroying the helicopter and a life-long dream.
My student then rebuilt the helicopter with a professional’s
help and asked me to help him with his initial training in it.
To make him even more nervous, while he was at the re builder’s
a fellow was hovering his own Rotorway when a gust of wind caught
his tail. He may not have been taught as to the dangers of hovering
down wind and he experienced a dynamic rollover right there. Needless
to say, my student was very apprehensive about flight training
after what he had experienced and then later witnessed.
With the hours that I have flow in the various Rotorway models
I am convinced of the following. If the maintenance is impeccably
performed, all upgrade recommendations are complied with, and
every flight is preceded by a thorough preflight inspection, you
will have a helicopter that will experience reliability approaching
that of the certified helicopters.
The price that we pay for owning our own kit-built helicopter
is in the maintenance and inspections. Don’t ever assume that
the helicopter is airworthy until you check it to prove to yourself
that it is airworthy. Safety first is the rule to follow. Remember
that your safety and the safety of your passenger is fully your
responsibility as the manufacturer and authorized repairman for
your helicopter.
Orv Neisingh
R/H CFI