[220kmph]

Greetings to all. Finally, a dream comes true for one who is heart and soul into autobomiles. A little about me, I am a helicopter pilot by profession, and IMHO, we should just leave it at that.
My love affair with vehicles began as soon as I could comprehend what was happening around. My first love was a 1969 Lambretta. What I learnt about machines and their maintenance is from my father, who himself was a car freak. Bugatti, Chevrolet, Aston Martin, Stude Baker - initially very exotic sounding foreign words, but oft heard in his conversations with me.
With time, I was exposed to the fast world of Formula One. That’s when I learnt about Ferrari, Mercedes and Honda. A little later came super bikes- my room used to be adorned with posters of Suzuki and BMW mo’bikes. In movies like ‘The Cannonball Run’, I was exposed to street cars( couldn’t find an appropriate term) like the Lambhorgini Countach.
As I became a professional pilot, my love affair with machines continued. I now learnt more about gas turbines, and ended up comparing them with IC engines. Despite advantages of the GT in ‘power-to-weight’ ratio and ‘thrust’, I love the IC engine since it all began from there.
I bought and sold a couple of vehicles – a 1992 Suzuki Samurai (my first new purchase) which I sold in 1999, and a 1998 (third hand) M 800, which I finally sold in 2003. In the interim, I also bought a new 2002 Alto (which is still with me), and down the line, in 2008, an Indigo XL Grand (basically a stretched Indigo with the DICOR diesel engine).
My work has taken me to the weirdest of places, the most memorable of them being a road trip on my Suzuki Samurai to Nathula Pass in Sikkim (with part journey in snow). Enroute in one of my journeys, I met my wife, who thankfully shares a passion for automobiles.
Right now, I am contemplating the XUV 5OO. I want to upgrade to an SUV, and during the course of my online research, I stumbled upon the T-BHP forum. I was amazed by the depth, clarity and the enthusiasm of other blog-members on T-BHP. I am glad now to be on board this magnificent and hope to contribute in my humble way. Looking forward to a great and longlasting relationship.

[Cyborg]

Hello 220kmph - Welcome to T-BHP!

Drive and fly safe

Cheers!

[athanedar]

Welcome aboard !! Your handle is very catchy !!
Why 220 kmph ? Is that the speed with which you have flown your helicopter ?

[honeybee]

Most likely as there are (hopefully) no distractions up there when you are hurtling down the air at that speed.

Welcome aboard, 220kmph, and while you may want to leave your occupation at that one small line, I for one would love to hear about the world of the flying machines. I am not sure there are many pilots on board here and it would be interesting to know of life up in air. But all in good time.

[mayankk]

welcome aboard!!

Originally Posted by 220kmph

Greetings to all. Finally, a dream comes true for one who is heart and soul into autobomiles. A little about me, I am a helicopter pilot by profession, and IMHO, we should just leave it at that.

Sorry, you think????
not happening.
regular ones may be around a bit, but this is the first ive read of a Helicopter pilot here.
youve got to paste your details here, mr. hammond!

[rxpaul]

Hello 220 kmph...welcome on board. So are you in the IAF ? Which copter do you fly ? and finally why only 220kmph ?

[ankurvirmani19]

Welcome aboard 220kmph. Hope to hear a review about XUV500 soon.

[plain.vanilla]

Welcome to tbhp! You may be the only helicopter pilot here. Hope you will be posting your travelogues on tbhp.

[shekhar_gogoi]

Hello 220 kmph. Welcome aboard. We all have read travelogues of petrolheads with their cars hitting the open road and having a thrilling experience. But a chance to read about a chopper pilot and his adventures is not a daily experience. So don't hope of TBHP members letting you be without asking you to share your experience. Please do share them. Would love to hear the.

Cheers

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Hi 220kmph,

welcome aboard.

Please share something about your flying experience, we are eager.
Looking forward to get some gyan about udan khatola.

[puchoo]

welcome to the community - are you still contemplating the XUV 500 or have gone ahead and booked it?

[naveen.raju]

Welcome abroad sir.! Guess we dont have many pilots flying around in tbhp.. Glad to know that you are from Cochin. Would love to meet you next time when you land here .

See you around. Enjoy your stay here. Am sure you will . Meet you soon.

Cheers
Naveen

[Speed.Demon]

Welcome aboard 220kmph!!

Great to see another TBHPian from Kochi, would definitely love to meet you, and do post more details of life up in the air, it will be very interesting for us land dwellers!!

[dhawcash]

Welcome aboard!

Can we have a helicopter's review please???

have always been curious about them choppers! Would love to discuss about those machines with you! i wanna know everything- how u start them , where and how they are serviced, where do the old turbines go after completing their service life , oil change interval, etc etc...not gonna run out of questions any time soon


PS: you are the second guy after Richard hammond in my list of chopper pilots i know(and not necessarily known by them)

[samarth.bhatia]

Welcome to TBHP!

As has been expressed above, it would be good to read some Helicopter tales!
Oh and maybe something more on the Gas Turbine v/s IC engine factors as well!

Wishing you a good time here.
Cheers and drive (& fly) safe.
Sam