Helicopter lands on trailer - GIF

[Nick79]

Impressive flying

[Duke_of_URL]

The hardest thing to do in piloting a helicopter is hover. (I’m not too sure if that guide/tow cable is as much a help, as it is a hazard!) For those wanting to know why trailering a helo would be done like this, it’s due to money. The operational range of a helicopter isn’t very great, and the costs to operate are high as well. Unlike fixed-wing aircraft, which can have “deferred maintenance items,” as the result of built-in redundancies, rotary-wing aircraft have very few primary mechanical flight-control redundancies, which therefore require many time-sensitive maintenance items, including expensive new OEM parts replacements. In other words, it’s cheaper to trailer the bird and drive it where it’s needed, rather than paying pilots to fly it, with several “pit stops,” all while adding to the maintenance "hour-clock."
The great Igor Sikorsky accomplished many great things, but he could never design a helicopter that was inexpensive to own and operate.