Helicopter Flight Training

This is an article I wrote some time ago to aid students in their decision making process. Select the relative button to jump to a particular position.

Who Can Be A Pilot?

Anyone who is 16 years old or older (some restrictions apply), who can read, speak, write, and understand the English language, and pass the appropriate medical exam, can with the proper training obtain his or her pilots certificate. To old? Not unless you can't pass the medical. There are many active commercial pilots well over 60.

Do you have to take airplane flight training before you can take helicopter flight training?

No, in fact if you want to fly helicopters, then that is what you should do. There is certainly nothing wrong with flying both, and there is a definite advantage to being dual rated. There is however, an advantage to flying helicopters first if you desire to be dual rated, but it is not required. The only advantage is that it is easier to unlearn helicopter habits while learning to fly airplanes than it is to unlearn airplane habits while learning to fly helicopters. Anyone who has one rating can easily add another category to it.

What does Pilot Training Cost?

All the money you have, and all you will ever make. Just kidding! Obtaining a pilot certificate is considerably cheaper than most people realize. A private airplane rating will cost $7,000 or more, and a private helicopter rating will cost $15,000 or more. Those prices are assuming an initial rating, and are variable subject to the particular school and student.

Nearly all flight schools today who are worthy of your flight training dollars offer some sort of career/professional program. Now understand that I am not necessarily advocating that you buy into such a program although they are often a wise solution, you must also beware of the potential loss of your money SEE THIS LINK. The information below on saving costs is intended for those who really need to be dollar conscious. If you have the money and resources, by all means, go for the big program. There is another issue with the big program that could greatly affect you, and that is the duration SEE THIS LINK. If training is going to take more than 60 days per rating, you need to ask why. There is no justification for a rating for any serious student who studies hard to take longer than that. In fact, 60 days is a stretch; a serious student at a school that is not overbooked should be able to complete most ratings in 5 weeks (35 days). I said 60 days to ensure that the school has adequate time for unusual maintenance, and that is reasonable.

It is cheaper by regulation to add a category rating to an existing certificate because of reduced hour requirements, but very few if any can actually accomplish the add-on rating within those reduced hours. However, the realities of it are that if you already hold a private rating in one category, say airplane single engine land, you can add a commercial helicopter rating for about the same cost as an initial helicopter rating ($15,000.00 give or take), and if you hold a private helicopter rating, you might add a commercial airplane rating for about $7,000.

It is important to note that you CAN add-on a commercial rating in another category even if you only hold a private pilot certificate in your current category. Many instructors, examiners, and now and then an FAA inspector who doesn't know his own job will incorrectly advise others on this matter, but they are wrong.

A commercial airplane rating (with no prior experience) will cost $30,000, while a commercial helicopter rating (with no prior experience) will cost $40,000. There are ways to minimize those costs, or should I say there are ways to maximize the rating/cost ratio for those pilots wishing to obtain dual, commercial status.

Piloting is my dream, what does it take to get paid to fly?

Obviously it is not possible to get paid to be a private pilot, and as a matter of fact it is strictly against the law to accept money for flying at the private level (with certain very specific exceptions). Also, no company is going to hire a commercial pilot with flight experience short of about 1200 hours regardless of category.

There is however, a way for you to receive compensation for flying as a commercial pilot with relatively low hours, and that is for you to become a flight instructor (see outline below). There is a high demand for pilots, and therefore many instructors are constantly moving on to commercial jobs, which creates many CFI jobs in turn. The easiest place to get a CFI job is at the school where you took your training.

Most flight instructors are building time for a commercial job, and there simply is no better way to do it. Aviation is one place where you absolutely must pay your dues; there is no short cut. Don’t get me wrong, you will occasionally find the low-life pilot who tried to beat the system, and penciled in a few hours, but sooner or later they will get caught up in their own lies as usual. If you get caught forging anything in aviation, you will pay very dearly. The FAA can take all of your certificates in one single setting, for one dishonest mistake, and they will. They live for it, trust me. If you get caught forging something you can forget about a professional career as a CFI, or a commercial pilot (part 135, 121, etc.); that a mistake that will haunt you forever.

Pilots are expected to be of strong character, and must exhibit extraordinary ethical behavior, especially a CFI. So in short, if you want to get paid to be a pilot, fork over the cash, get your ratings, pay your dues (become a CFI), and enjoy a long career of piloting. Believe me, it is great!!

The most economical way to accumulate ratings on the road to a career

(Assuming a dual rating is desired)

The most cost effective way to commercial aviation in helicopters is to first obtain your private airplane certificate, and follow that rating with your instrument airplane rating. This will result in $15,000 spent and two ratings accomplished. Don't waste time on your instrument certificate with an inexperienced CFII, and don't waste time with a safety pilot; rather fly the entire required 48 hours with a well qualified instructor and get some value out of your training. Acquiring these two ratings will result in excess of 100 hours total time accumulated. Of that time about 20–30 hours will have been dual before you received your initial rating, and the balance of approximately 70 hours or more, will have been solo/PIC, same/same. Understand that solo flight time even though you don't yet hold a rating for that aircraft/category is still PIC time. If it were not, who then, was the PIC? Save money, follow these procedures before taking helicopter flight training.

Now understand this: I said the most (financially) economical way to get your ratings. You see, I am speaking for those financially strapped individuals who really want something, and are not dripping money. If a person is not ready and willing to change their daily habits of existence, and live and breath aviation while drinking water and eating crackers, then you might as well pay the $65,000 and stop crying about the cost. If you are not willing to make great personal sacrifice, and if you have great credit and a way to pay, visit Sallie Mae, and then talk to the big flight schools eager to dip deep into your pockets and who don't care how much of your time you waste partying because you are going to have plenty of time to waste while waiting in line to fly anyway.

A commercial helicopter rating requires 150 total flight hours, while a commercial airplane rating requires 250 total flight hours (this makes no sense to me, as helicopter is harder to fly). There are specific hour requirements as stated in the FAR, but those are the basics. The flight time of each category counts toward the other with certain restrictions and/or requirements. It is imperative that a pilot maintains currency in all of the aircraft in which they are rated or else, get current with a qualified instructor before attempting flight after a stale period.

After you have obtained the airplane ratings as stated above, it is time to move into helicopters for a while. Seek out the school of your choice, and try to chose one who offers CFI training and Check rides using their aircraft. If a school does not offer CFI completion, then I strongly encourage you to seek out another school. You will likely get the best treatment at smaller Part 61 operators than at a large Part 141 school, but that choice is yours.

Prepayment and Block Time purchases: You definitely need to plan Block Time purchases in the amount of $5-10,000 if you can afford it, it makes flight school scheduling a lot easier, and you will get a break on the aircraft rates. Another point of importance here is the fact that if you pull a no-show even once, you are worth neither the time of the school nor the instructor. A no-show could and should be charged a penalty, because no-shows are very costly to the flight school. Show up plenty in advance so that you can have the pre-flight completed by the time slot scheduled.

It is time to obtain your commercial helicopter category add-on to your airplane private pilot certificate. You DO NOT have to add-on the private first; anyone telling you otherwise is lying, or just plain uneducated and wrong; you need to go somewhere else because they are about to cost you significant money. Obtaining your helicopter commercial will cost you about $17,000. That is a reasonable figure, and you should ensure, yourself, that all requirements are met; you do this by reading and knowing the pertinent and relative FAR's. At the completion of this add-on, you should have in the neighborhood of 155 total flight hours or more, with about 105 or more PIC hours.

Here is where the savings really begin to mount... It is now time to complete your helicopter instrument add-on to your pre-existing airplane instrument rating. Now keep in mind that an instrument rating from scratch (no prior instrument rating), requires not less than 48 (including un-hooded time) hours total flight time; however, an add-on only requires an additional 18 (including un-hooded time) hours. That alone is a saving of not less than $8,250 which makes more than half of the previous airplane training absolutely FREE! You have also saved the difference in the cost of the airplane private, and what the helicopter private would have cost which amounts to another $7,500 making both of your airplane ratings 100 % FREE! On top of all that, you now have four aircraft ratings in two categories one of which is commercial. You have spent roughly $15,000 for your two airplane ratings, $17,000 for your helicopter commercial, and $5,000 for your helicopter instrument, totaling about $37,000. Had you done helicopter only, you would have spent not less than $47,000 and you still couldn't fly an airplane at all.

The smart thing to do from this point is to continue with your helicopter training, there is no time like the present, and you shouldn't waste a minute of it. You have a total of about 175 hours Total Time (TT), and of that at least 123 is PIC. Your helicopter TT is now not less than 75 hours with about 55 hours PIC.

Logging PIC and SIC time: All solo time is also PIC time, and as such should be counted and included in all rating applications. All time after obtaining the initial rating in a given category is also PIC time even if that time is dual (with a CFI(I)) while training for another advanced rating. Logging SIC time in the training environment is illegal! SIC time can only be logged in an aircraft which requires two pilots by type certificate and requires the appropriate ratings.

Move right on to your helicopter CFI, and CFII do both together, and take the Check rides as close together as possible; it will save you considerable money. The amount of money that you spend on these ratings will be entirely up to you, and the school you are working with. In all fairness, it should take less than 30 hours to accomplish both ratings since the only difference in these and previous check rides is the seat from which you take them. The greatest challenge of all is knowledge, and if you haven't been seriously studying every spare moment from the get go, you will probably fail and you don't deserve the ratings anyway. Follow these procedures and continue saving money on your helicopter flight training.

At the completion of your helicopter CFI rating, your flight school may well employ you immediately especially if you have obtained all ratings with them, and you should seek this out. One of the stories that you are likely to hear is that they can not insure you as a flight instructor unless you have logged at least 200 hours PIC, this may vary from 200-300 depending on the flight school. They use this argument to justify selling you their Career Pilot Packages. This is only partially correct, and any school can help you if they desire.

There is a way to build those hours, and if you want to know that, well that is one secret I will not reveal on this free web site. Why? Because I have devoted countless hours and money in an attempt to help students avoid being robbed at the hands of crooked flight schools which is my greatest aversion. I get very little for my efforts, donations are few and far between. If I reveal my best method, well there goes everything. If you really want to know that, then you will have to talk to me. You might even have to train with me, who knows.

While you are earning money as a helicopter CFI, you should continue your next 20 hours of training in preparation for your commercial airplane check-ride. This will cost you $2,500 or more. Obviously, now you have sufficient flight time to obtain your Airplane CFI, and it would be a wise investment to do so. You can see that there are endless ratings and opportunities when it comes to aviation, and you should continue to accumulate every rating that you have an opportunity to get when the time is right.

More on instrument training: It is required that a pilot receive 15 hours of training in actual instrument conditions, or simulated instrument conditions, and that this pilot then log another 25 hours of simulated instrument time with a qualified safety pilot on board the aircraft. There is significant difference between simulated instrument conditions and actual instrument conditions, therefore it is of my opinion that the student should request of the instructor, that they actually fly in some actual instrument conditions whenever possible. There is no doubt that the instrument rating is one of the hardest to obtain, but also one of the most rewarding ratings. For that reason, I recommend that the student fly the entire 48 hours required with an instructor so that he or she can obtain the most knowledge (I did it, and I am thankful that I did). The cost difference is only about $1,000 for a top-notch instructor, and it is very well worth it. Top

But I only want to fly airplanes!

There is nothing wrong with that, it will cost you $38,000 to accumulate up to and including your CFI rating for airplanes, and then you can begin your career of instructing, and build your time and ratings and achieve what ever level of flying that you desire. Follow these procedures and you can save thousands on your helicopter flight training.

But I only want to fly helicopters!

Well that is ok; get your rating, but don’t sell yourself short, if you can fly a helicopter, you can fly anything! But what it comes down to is what you want to do. You can start your career with an investment of $65,000.00 accumulating all ratings up to and including your CFII helicopter rating, and you can begin your career.

But I only want to fly privately!

There is nothing wrong with that, and it will be most enjoyable, and the approximated costs are listed above. Fly with a good safety margin, and maintain a high level of currency. A private only rating in helicopters can be obtained for about $15,000.

The facts on the final costs: Oh my God! I didn’t know it was going to be that much!

I tried in the above statement to present an accurate cost estimate. The fact remains that the individual student will determine the ultimate, and final cost. The costs stated above are the average cost, and I recommend that no student push himself or herself for an early solo or rating, and they should not let a school or instructor push them either.

Be very cautious of a school or instructor that promises you a rating for a low and set cost. It is absolutely impossible for anyone to know the final cost to you; all anyone can do when it comes to flight training is present you with an average or estimated cost.

Many schools advertise a rating for a package price, and sometimes they try very hard to get you through in that time. No school is going to let you fly their aircraft for free, so what that means is that either you will be pushed through before you are ready, or you will be paying extra.

There is no feather for a student who solos early, and furthermore, an early solo is absolutely no indication of which student will make the better pilot. There are 200-hour pilots who fly like they have 2000 hours, and there are 2000-hour pilots who fly like they have 200. Top

It probably takes to long, if only I’d thought about it when I was younger!

A serious pilot who spends every spare moment at the airport every single day can accomplish each and every rating within 5 weeks or less. You are not to old to become a pilot unless you simply cannot ever pass the necessary medical exam, and they are not that hard to pass. You can learn to be a private pilot with good concentration, in about 6 months, flying 2 times per week. You can become a commercial pilot in less than 2 years flying the same schedule. You can earn your CFI certificate about 60 days later. Don’t get me wrong, it takes a lot of studying, and hard work, but with the right motivation, you can do it. It is certainly possible, flying everyday, to earn your certificates in considerably less time.

How often do I need to fly to make the best progress?

Obviously a student who flies everyday is going to make the rating faster than a person who flies only 2 hours per week. Ideally in the early stages, a student should fly not more than 3 (helicopter) 5 (airplane) hours per day, and not less than 2 hours per week.

During flight training, you should fly at least 1 hour, at least 2 times per week (2 hours per week). If you can fly only 1 hour per week, that is fine, but the training will take longer, in hours that is. The reason being that if it is to long between flights, some of what is learned is lost, and you have to spend some of each flight refreshing what you had learned the last time.

It is not usually beneficial to fly more than 3-5 hours per day because you will become worn out and congested with information. Some schools insist that their students fly more hours per day, but I personally don’t think that is good for the student.

Each time a student flies, there is a period of time after the lesson when that student continues to learn significantly. During this time, the student is digesting the information that he or she took in during the flight.

The length of the lesson can also be variable. For example, a student may have a tense day, and perhaps the lesson should end before an hour. On the other hand, the student may be having a very good day, and the learning may be just beginning to peak in an hour, and it may be beneficial to continue for another 15 to 30 minutes.

I just don’t have the cash!

Many schools offer a pay as you go program; you don’t have to pay everything up front. Not everyone can afford to buy the whole lesson program in one lump. It is better if you can because you will get your rating faster, but hey, it is what it is. You can always purchase block times, and that may reduce the cost somewhat. Block times are when you pay for 5 or 10 hours at one time, and fly them as you go. Also, you can check out financing options available at pilotfinance.com.

Keep in mind that you must purchase certain training materials, and these things will include: study books, a headset, a flight computer, charts, a plotter, etc. You will spend about $200 on supplies for your first rating, and about $100 per rating after that. Also, keep in mind that you will never have to many books to study. The more you read, the better you will do in your flying and your tests.

You are who can become a pilot!

Pilot and Medical Certificates Defined

There are four levels of pilot certificates (excluding CFI), Recreational, Private, Commercial, and ATP. Pilot certificates never expire; they are validated by medical certificates, which do expire. You must have both certificates in your possession every time you fly, and you must also have a photo identification.

The recreational certificate requires less training hours by regulation, but in reality, it takes the same number of hours to master the aircraft as it would if you wanted a private pilot certificate. The recreational rating is also considerably more restrictive.

The private pilot certificate allows you complete freedom in aviation with compliance of course to the FARs. With this certificate, you may carry passengers, but not for hire. You absolutely may not be paid for any services with the exception of equally shared expenses. This is the first step in the sequence of certificates in the climb to becoming a professional pilot, and this certificate requires a third class medical certificate.

The commercial pilot certificate requires a second class medical certificate if you will be exercising the privileges of the commercial level, but you need only a third class medical if you not be flying commercially. With the combination of these two certificates, you may now be permitted to fly for hire. There are still restrictions, but they are not restrictions by the certificate. Simply put these restrictions are that (when being compensated for the flight) you may not land at a different point than that which you departed from, and you may not fly more than 25 statute miles from your original departure point unless you are flying under a part 135 (air carrier) certificate.

The ATP pilot certificate requires a first class medical to exercise the privileges at the ATP level, but you need only a second class medical to fly commercially, or third class medical if you not be flying commercially. With this certificate, you are qualified to fly for part 121 air carriers, and any other employer who requires this level of certificate provided that you have the required number of hours (by regulation or employer).

There are three levels of medical certificates; First class, which is required to exercise the privileges of the ATP pilot certificate; second class which is required to exercise the privileges of the commercial pilot certificate; and third class which is required to exercise the privileges of the private pilot certificate.

If you hold a first class medical, and an ATP pilot certificate, you can exercise the privileges of the ATP certificate for six months, and then you must renew the medical to continue ATP privileges. If you choose not to renew after six months, you may continue to exercise the privileges at the commercial level for another six months. After those six months, you can renew or you may continue to exercise the privileges at the private level for another year if you are 40 or older, or another four years if you are under 40.

If you hold a second class medical, and a commercial pilot certificate, you can exercise the privileges of the commercial certificate for one year, and then you must renew the medical to continue at the commercial level. If you choose not to renew, you can exercise the privileges of the private pilot certificate for another year if you are 40 or older, or another four years if you are under 40.

If you hold a private pilot certificate, and a third class medical, you can exercise the privileges of the private pilot certificate as the 40 over and under rule applies (five or two years).

The CFI certificate is only valid when it is accompanied by a commercial or ATP pilot certificate, and does not require a specific medical unless the instructor will be teaching a student who does not hold a rating in the aircraft being flown. This means that a helicopter instructor can instruct a private pilot for the commercial helicopter rating without his or her own valid medical certificate, however this same instructor would need to hold at least a third class medical to instruct a private pilot, or a pilot who is not rated in the aircraft being flown. Note that only a third class medical is necessary when acting as a CFI. Top

**The check-ride fees of about $500 per rating have not been added in to the above cost estimates.

Direct questions to info@helicopterflight.net

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