Seattle Helicopter Flight Training Instruction at Helicopters Northwest

An introductory helicopter flight training lesson can be a fun way to take an aerial tour of the south Seattle area while at the same time having quite an interactive and educational experience. I previously took a helicopter tour of Seattle as well, which was more extensive and better on the sightseeing. Yet flying around with the controls in your own hands definitely adds a different spin o’ the rotor.

The lessons are actually fairly simple and only 20-30 minutes long before taking off. Given how complicated it is to operate a helicopter, the introduction is aimed toward the very basics and the flight instructor has his hands on a directly connected special cyclic stick. He’s ready to take over at any time.

For the intro lesson, we just concentrated on the cyclic (stick between the legs) and not on the collective (stick that is raised and lowered to the side of the pilot) or the anti-torque pedals. The cyclic enabled me to control the helicopters orientation and elevation as we flew.

We left from Boeing Field in south Seattle and headed south along the I-5 corridor before swinging in an arc east and then heading back on a route parallel but easterly of I-5. This route is apparently a well used route for flight instruction and helps keep overlapping student traffic to a minimum. The instructor pilot took off and landed, while I controlled the helicopter on the main route at about 900 foot elevation.

The most surprising part was how extremely sensitive the cyclic is to inputs. Literally 1/8 inch movements of the cyclic made a difference in the flight path. So I rested my hand on my knee and made very gradual inputs. One time while counteracting against a wind gust I just about turned the helicopter sideways, but the instructor helped avoid that scenario!

Fun stuff that is both educational and a great sightseeing experience.