I suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder (self diagnosed) and my helicopter flying is no different. I own a Computer Forensics business, CY4OR, in the UK and I use my machine predominantly for business to commute between my offices, visit clients etc.
I’m twice married , now to Andi, and have two beautiful boys from my first marriage , Arron (12) and Benji (15) who live abroad with their mum in Israel. I visit them every month and speak/webcam every day. We’re very close.
I also have three step children Anthony, David and Aimee (all grown up) and our pride and joy dog, Teddy, a Yorkshire Terrier with more beans than Heinz!
Teddy
I’ve always been fascinated by helicopters. I just loved their versatility and their unique ability to land and take off anywhere. Everyone looks at helicopters; they’re surrounded by mystique, they’re inherently cool and everyone just loves them.
All heli owners hear
“You must be rich, you have a helicopter”
to which I always reply
“err no, I’m actually broke – because I own a helicopter”
I learned to fly a long time ago. A long, long time ago in 1986. I started with a fixed wing license and learned with Ravenair from Manchester International Airport (EGCC) when they still had General Aviation on the south side.
But I always wanted to fly choppers and a few years later moved on to the enstrom F28 under the superb guidance of Bill Bailey from Manchester Helicopter Centre who are based at Barton (EGCB). It was tough going, I was 21 and, initially, found it quite hard to master . But I persevered and passed. Since then, my flying went in fits and starts in both disciplines with plenty of gaps along the way.
A few years back from now, I decided that I should either fly or give up permanently. I rarely quit anything, so I took the plunge and bought a 20% share in an Enstrom 480 turbine – G-LADZ (more on that later) and flew the pants off it with some of the other owners who became good mates.
From there I moved onto my own machine G-EWAW and I’ll tell the tale through this blog.
I am a PPL (A) and PPL (H), I live in Manchester, England and fly from City Airport Manchester (Barton) – EGCB
Hi, would be interesting to have a counter so we can see what ammount
of traffic your site is attracting?
Hi Joel,
Blog is great i have been keeping an eye on it!
I have checked with Adam House the FAA examiner here in the UK and he confirms that under the FAA rules i need to complete ‘training as required on type’ to operate the 206. JJ can do the training and certify my logbook when he is happy training is up to scratch. We also need to check with the insurers that it covers ‘Any licensed pilot’ which is usually the case with most policies i have seen.
I am around farm most of next week if you are passing for coffee.
My website is above should you want to take the missus to Florida ..
Cheers
Lee
Hi Lee, O.K. I’ll be in touch shortly.
Joel
Great blog Joel!
Are you going to share the news on the Night rating? :O)
I now have something decent to read whilst I eat a sandwich at lunch!
All the best
John (HEBE)
Fantastic blog Joel! It’s been great to read about your Helo adventures….
After finding your blog by chance, I also noticed that you ran a Computer Forensics company. I am currently an IT Consultant with IBM and also a Heli enthusiast – 42hrs towards PPL(H). My dream is to become a commercial pilot, but as I’m working full-time I predict it will be a few years. In the meantime, I have actually been looking at working in different areas iof the IT industry, and the forensics side has intrested me. I would really appreciate it if you could find time to have a quick chat with me so I could gain a better understanding of the computer forensic industry (and also to talk about Helicopters
Thanks,
Paul
Hi I was pleased to see your link to the AAIB however, the correct address is http://www.aaib.gov.uk not http://www.aaib.org whicj is an interesting alternative!!
Oops, I’ll change it immediately.