• deranger@sh.itjust.works
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    5 months ago

    To be fair the other recent one was a helicopter, which are death machines constantly at odds with gravity. I think the zeppelin is the only other worse mode of air transport. Much respect to rotary pilots, but you won’t catch me riding in a helicopter.

      • deranger@sh.itjust.works
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        5 months ago

        I did helicopter accident investigation while in the Army. Got to ride a very cool research Blackhawk, one of the first UH-60Ms, and play with a huge full motion simulator. I’ll pass on the future helicopter rides, I got my fill while in the service. Autorotation is nifty, but I’ll take the much simpler gliding of fixed wing if I want to get high in the future. I don’t want my pilot trying to remember how best to autorotate the helicopter in current conditions, while also trying to figure out what’s happening, all with relatively low altitude to get it sorted in.

        If anything I’ve learned you don’t want to stack the odds against you when it comes to aviation safety. Preferring fixed wing over rotary is part of my safety considerations.