Strana 20
ENSTROM
can fly it. So I am very glad that I was able to
become this familiar with the Enstrom, the joy
of our paths intersecting was certainly greater
than that of the Mi-2, and so I just hope that it
will last in the CLV for a long time.
Another observation from fellow pilot Martin
Janďourek: ‘From the outside, the helicopter
looks small, but from the inside, you feel like
you're flying in something significantly bigger.
Everything is simple and clear. With the Garmin
1000, all the information is in one place, which
spoils students during IFR (instrument flight)
training because it doesn't force them to scan
the instruments. The Mi-17, which I flew before,
allows you to fly ‘forcefully’ with excess power,
and people who get used to it stop flying by
their ass and are then surprised when the
power is not enough for them. The Enstrom
subconsciously forces you to fly the ‘path of
least resistance’, that is, with feeling and with
a small excess of power, even though you don't
actually have to fly that way. And then you'll
be pleasantly surprised that it sometimes lets
you load it too. It beautifully demonstrates
all the helicopter theory in practice during
emergencies. It's playful on the ground and
the impression from a height of 50 feet is that
you are very high (compared to, for example,
a Mi-17). When flying along a route, there is
little difference between travel speed and
maximum speed, so if you get behind, you will
never catch up. So from the beginning you force
students to pay attention to calculating flight
time. In the rain, you can't see much from it
and you also pray that the water doesn't trigger
the chip signaling in the final reducer. In other
words - it's a great helicopter for training and
I'm glad we met! And finally an evaluation of
pilot Tomas Brustik, who has flown airplanes
his whole life – from the L-29, through the L-39,
the L-159 to the L-410, and even single-engine
piston toys, even trying his hand at the Čmelák
and today he puts on displays with the likes
of the legendary C-11: ‘From the perspective
of a pilot who has flown airplanes his whole
life, a helicopter was a challenge. With the
Mi-2, I learned for the first time in my life
what it is to fly a naturally unstable machine.
But it still had two engines. But I understood
that there is no room for letting go of the
controls and that flying an airplane is actually
a ‘toy’. And then came the En-480. It was
a great change. Suddenly I found order in the
cockpit, the checklist had logic and meaning,
it was not an on-board chaos like with the
Mi-2... But most importantly, I understood that
‘in it’ you are completely alone and with only
one engine. With minimal time to react in case
of an emergency, with sensitive controls and
zero rescue equipment. That's what guys with
excess power and a parachute up their asses
are talking about! But a helicopter - that's
something completely different! Either you
grow up with it, or you'll always play second
fiddle. Crop dusting was and is very hard work,
flying a helicopter is closely connected to
it. When you realize that you're actually just
taming an unbalanced entity, you sometimes
have to admit that it's hard work too, because
you can't switch off in a helicopter even
for a second. And so, after years of flying,
I came to the sad realization that fighters are
not TOP, maybe that's how quickly they can
independently assess circumstances. After
all, they still have the bang seat under them,
enough power, usually great altitude and a lot
of time to solve difficult moments. And what
did Enstrom give me? it gave me back my numb
humility and brought me the realization of
what a joy it is to learn something again.
If I summarize all of the above and add
a little something, the Enstrom is significantly
easier to maintain than the Mi-2. Although
the technicians are not entirely thrilled with
the fact that the entire cyclic control unit
is actually located in the fuselage and is
therefore significantly more difficult to access
than in other helicopters. Yes, that is why the
Enstrom has no rods to the rotor head, because
all three lead inside the hollow shaft. This
design is significantly more resistant in the
event of a collision with birds or power lines.
The periods between regular maintenance
are also longer. The Rolls-Royce 250-C20W
engine with an output of 313 kW is among the
most reliable engines in the world and allows
the replacement of individual modules directly
at the CLV. Here it is possible to repair some
units yourself (as opposed to the Mi-2 or
Mi-17 helicopters), such as the cyclic control
unit, the balancing rotor or the freewheel
clutch. For the kind of helicopters that
beginners receive during their training, they
are really reliable, and it is no problem to
fly them for around 400 hours a year. Due
to its small size, the helicopter is very easy
to handle; in the event of a forced landing in
terrain outside the airport, the helicopter can
be easily loaded up on a flatbed or something
and brought back to base.
After every 100 hours of work (and more),
a flight is performed, which also includes
a vibration measurement. The parameters are
evaluated directly by technicians on board
the helicopter. With the introduction of the
Enstroms, the technicians had to become
familiar with a new measuring technique that
INFO Eduard20
March 2026