steel guitar players versus helicopter pilots

Jim Manley · Post by **Jim Manley** » 9 Feb 2008 9:20 pm

I was at my local music store to buy some strings for my banjo and i was wearing my steel guitar hat and jacket(steel guitar of Canada hat and Billy Cooper jacket)anyways the fella that was working the counter asked me if i could fly a helicopter,of course i cant but asked him why.He told me that to be able to fly a chopper you have to run a joystick and foot pedals at the same time which is true(i have a friend who flies choppers)My idea is to come up with a t-shirt or bumper sticker sticker of a pedal steel player saying something to the effect that i should have learned to fly helicopters instead.I am not a graphic designer or artist but I think this would be a good design.anybody have any ideas?

Gary Shreve · Post by **Gary Shreve** » 9 Feb 2008 9:56 pm

That's funny, Jim. I'm a helicopter pilot, but the steel guitar is intimidating as all get out.

If you invent one of those shirts, I'll order two larges from you should you chose to sell any extras. That sounds like a real hoot.

I can see the resemblance now that you mention it.

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 9 Feb 2008 11:04 pm

A helicopter is less sensitive to being pitchy.

Yaw, yaw, yaw,
pitch and roll, sure,
but not pitchy.

And with a chopper you can get killed,
but play a major clam and the steelplayer
WISHES he had died, when he crashed
and burned on stage!

Jack Dougherty · Post by **Jack Dougherty** » 10 Feb 2008 7:16 am

And don't forget.......just as many moving parts

Mark Edwards · Post by **Mark Edwards** » 10 Feb 2008 7:42 am

But can you get tone out of a Heli....

Gary Shreve · Post by **Gary Shreve** » 10 Feb 2008 7:44 am

I'm a helicopter/airplane mechanic, too...and I definitely didn't want to go there. Might change my mind about owning a steel guitar.

At least there's no "Federal Steel Guitar Administration" to mandate an annual inspection! And, there's no manufacturer's liability insurance in case we "crash" on stage. We'd never be able to afford a steel then!

Mickey Adams · Post by **Mickey Adams** » 10 Feb 2008 8:38 am

<Another Helicopter pilot. Im sure the pedal steel guitar helped with the pedal/cyclic learning curve.

Post by **Joey Ace** » 10 Feb 2008 9:15 am

Black Helicopters fly best.

Just don't turn off the fan when it gets hot.

Greg Simmons · Post by **Greg Simmons** » 10 Feb 2008 9:25 am

Is tone in the cyclic, or the collective?

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 10 Feb 2008 9:30 am

Joey Ace wrote:Black Helicopters fly best.

ROTFLOL...
NOW THAT is a true double entendre...
especially in an election year LOL

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 10 Feb 2008 10:11 am

Some chopper pilot/steel player on here a while back - I forget who - said if you can play "Together Again" you could fly a helicopter.

Jeff Garden · Post by **Jeff Garden** » 10 Feb 2008 10:34 am

Hi to all of my rotary brethren here... there's something to be said about that whole both hands, both feet, both knees thing (I seem to remember holding the cyclic with my knees while checking a map or grabbing a sandwich out of a box lunch). As a retired military helo pilot and 20 years of wrestling the pedal steel, they have a lot in common - both very humbling at times and also very rewarding. In the world of military aviation, helicopters were regarded as the bottom of the barrel - we were the low and slow guys that were always covered in hydraulic fluid, worried about what moving part was going to fly off next on a dark and stormy nite, and got to stand around at the bar watching the fighter pilots get all the girls! No one ever wanted to see us or talk to us unless they needed rescuing! Maybe that's why the steel appealed to me - I'm perfectly happy being the nameless faceless guy playing the supporting role. And to show you I continue to be a glutton for punishment, here it is in print, b0b, yes I also play banjo!
To all of you helicopter pilots on the forum, keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down and fly safe.

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 10 Feb 2008 11:01 am

Yeah, but a helicopter is easier to learn to tune.

Casey Lowmiller · Post by **Casey Lowmiller** » 10 Feb 2008 12:15 pm

I'm just thankful that helicopters aren't made of mica!!! YIKES!!!

Then again, the Sho-Bud rope style inlay would look pretty darn slick on a chopper.

Casey

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 10 Feb 2008 1:42 pm

steel players vs helicopter pilots............i'll put my money on the pilots.!

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 10 Feb 2008 5:10 pm

So is a 1968 Huey tuned ET or JT????

Bill McRoberts · Post by **Bill McRoberts** » 10 Feb 2008 7:07 pm

You can get better "chops" out of a Huey

Bo Legg · Post by **Bo Legg** » 10 Feb 2008 7:40 pm

same goes for me

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 10 Feb 2008 9:14 pm

This is quite a coincidence. Just this past Friday night an audience member came up to me and said "If you can play that thing you'd be good at flying a helicopter". I'd never heard that one before. Of course, he may have been so drunk he thought I was good at playing steel!

Ben Rubright · Post by **Ben Rubright** » 11 Feb 2008 5:11 am

Favorite song of the military helicopter pilot: "Another Bridge to Bomb" and for the guy on the ground waiting to be picked up....it's "A Way to Survive".

ok, ok, ok.......it's stretching way too far.

Dale Gray · Post by **Dale Gray** » 11 Feb 2008 8:22 am

Did you ever try to put a Jet Ranger in a case and stuff it under the bed?

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 11 Feb 2008 9:46 am

I do know a lady who
liked to take Rangers to bed.
And the occasional Sky King too.

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 12 Feb 2008 4:50 pm

You know what they say about helicopters don't you?

They're basically "UNSTABLE".......

As a fixed wing pilot, I'd say that was an accurate statement and that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Jeff Garden · Post by **Jeff Garden** » 12 Feb 2008 4:55 pm

And the only reason helicopters can fly, Ray, is that they're ugly and the earth rejects them

Greg Simmons · Post by **Greg Simmons** » 12 Feb 2008 4:58 pm

...unless they needed rescuing!

http://www.afa.org/magazine/dec2006/1206vega.asp

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steel guitar players versus helicopter pilots

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