Why is piloting a helicopter considered more challenging, despite not requiring much space to take off and land and being able to stabilize in the air and stand still?
In: Engineering
Flying a plane is a lot closer to driving a car. It’s moving in a mostly straight line, and it’s mostly on you to keep it straight and you should be okay. Of course it’s not nearly that simple… planes need speed to stay in the air and must not drop below a certain speed (which will vary with conditions) or it will simply fall out of the sky… and there’s no “grip” in the air so holding the controls straight really just means the plane will keep whatever attitude it has now rather than straighten itself out. Still, I think a novice could get a general feel for climbing, descending, turning etc with basic instruction from the guy in the next seat.
Flying a helicopter.. you have a lot more overall freedom in all 3 directions, but it’s extremely sensitive to the controls. Holding a helicopter hovering steadily is very tricky, a lot more micro-adjustments to hold them. While you’re flying forward it’s not too hard, but once you want to bring it to a stop and set it down nicely, you may find it becomes a lot more… excitable, and it takes a skilled and practiced hand to keep it from overshooting, start spinning, etc.
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