![Tour helicopters are common along the scenic but inaccessible Na Pali Coast in Hawaii. [Adobe Stock]](https://www.flyingmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/FLY0925_1.jpeg)
I learned to fly helicopters long ago, in a Bell 47, the little bug-headed two-seater familiar to viewers of M*A*S*H. Once I had the rating I seldom flew them again.
I did visit the nearby Robinson Helicopters factory from time to time, however, and the amiable Frank Robinson would send one of his pilots up with me to scuff some of the thick rust off my skills. On one occasion Robinson himself flew with me in an R22, and I remember his telling me that fixed-wing pilots transitioning into helicopters faced a special hazard because their instinctive reaction in certain circumstances, like suddenly noticing traffic on a collision course, was to pitch down. Pitching down was fine in an airplane but could have disastrous effects in a helicopter.
