brachyrhynchos: You still have a license. Last time I checked there’s no expiry date! 
Of course, you’ll need a medical and a biennial…
I can’t speak for Ravendriver, but AFAIK Rotorway is an Arizona-based homebuilt helicopter kit manufacturer.
The helicopter is more fun, hands down. I haven’t flown fixed-wing since I started flying helis. But fixed-wing aircraft do have advantages: They’re faster, carry more, have longer range, and are less expensive. In short, fixed-wings are more practical. But for fun, I’ll go with rotary-wings. I know what you mean, flyboy88, that the heli “didn’t really compare” to fixed; but from my seat (which would be on the right in a heli!) you’ve got it backwards.
My first lesson was at a dam near El Monte, so it took some time to fly out from Van Nuys; and we still had to get back to VNY after the lesson, so there wasn’t a whole lot of time to practice (already having my SEL ticket, the straight-and-level to-and-from and the radio was no prolem). Anyway, with the limited time at the dam, it took me until the end of the lesson to hover. By the start of the second lesson I was practicing hovering turns. (Ravendriver: A friend who used to fly UH-60 Blackhawks was shocked when I told her I was hovering in my second lesson. She thought it should take longer. Could you tell me as a CFI(H) how long it usually takes for a student to hover without the assistance of the instructor? FWIW, my logbook says 2.5 hours.)
The one part of training that I got stuck on was the landing flare. You know the drill: Power off, over the numbers at 60, flare-flare-flare, stall warning on, wings stop flying as the wheels touch the runway, flaps up, light brakes, first turnoff. Works pretty well in an airplane. So I’m in the helicopter and the pattern is good. The approach is good. The flare is good. But the instructor doesn’t know why I don’t level out. Subconsciously, I’m still flying an airplane. He keeps “shouting” at me to level out. After several lessons the penny dropped and the gumball came rolling out the chute: If you keep flaring a helicopter, it will go backwards. Fly it like a helicopter and not like an airplane. I stopped trying to flare until it stopped, my landings suddenly worked like they were supposed to, the instructor signed me off, and I soloed.
If you consciously try to move the cyclic (you’re making constant, minute inputs) you will never be in synch with the machine. Let your body fly instead of your mind. Of course, you direct the helicopter, take it off, land it, etc.; but the tiny control inputs that keep these inherently unstable machines (remember your basic aerodynamics about aircraft “positive”, “neutral” and “negative” stability) are made on a subconscious level. Flying a helicopter is very “Zen”. You fly it by not flying it.
