atom Posted July 4, 2008 Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 So as long as i can remember I have wanted to fly. Always been heli but planes were never out of the picture. I am now 33 and have decided that now would be a good time to crap or get off the pot. I am in the same financial situations as most folks (this is very expensive and I am not very wealthy) but here is the question. Is it better (if the end result is to fly a heli) to just take the heli only classes or for a few bucks more get my fixed wing, cfi and then add on commercial heli and cfi? I know alot of guys would say rotor only but I also want to increase marketability. Would a company look up or down on someone that went fixed then rotor as long as the hours were there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jehh Posted July 4, 2008 Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 It isn't "a few bucks more", it is a lot of money more. You will need from 150 to 200 hours of helicopter time to get a job teaching, regardless of your airplane time. So you might as well just go fly helicopters if that is what you want to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADRidge Posted July 4, 2008 Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 (edited) I dunno, I'd have gotten my fixed wing ratings first. Your PPL and Instrument tickets, at least. In FW, you'll get "actual" instrument time (flying in the soup) whereas I hear it's fairly difficult to get much actual in helicopters for the most part. Plus, it's nice to be dual rated, and I really doubt having additional ratings could hurt your marketability in the future. You will need 200 (-ish) hours of helicopter time to instruct, but I'd still recommend FW first if you can afford it. Edited July 4, 2008 by ADRidge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOATFIXERGUY Posted July 4, 2008 Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 Welcome to the forum! I would say it really depends on your goal. If your goal is pleasure flying with some day of flying R/W commercially, then the fixed wing/rotor way would work. But if your goal is commercial rotor work, get all of your time in the helicopter. Like others have said, you need 200 hours to teach in robbies, or 150 in 300C or Enstrom...minimum. Many schools require more time than that. You can argue that the instrument time for your commercial is cheaper in the fixed wing, but you really need helicopter time. A helicopter employer at the entry level doesn't care if you have a 1,000 hours in airplanes and only 130 in helicopters. To them you only have 130 hours. Good luck with your decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atom Posted July 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 well my goal is commercial rotor flying. I see where the hours come into play. Didnt think about that. Well now its off to find a school..... a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisRamJ Posted July 4, 2008 Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 Stay with helos if you want to make a living as a helicopter pilot. Add the fixed wing at a later date if you want to, or (more likely) have the cash to do it. Without wising to sound like a commercial, if you're looking for a school I'd check out Rotors of the Rockies. I worked there as a CFI in 2006-2007 and loved it. The Colorado Rockies are an amazing place to fly, you're logging high altitude time throughout your training and it's a quality school, not too big and not too small. They also have a 172 so if you work there as a CFI you'll get a special rate on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AV8 Posted July 6, 2008 Report Share Posted July 6, 2008 It isn't "a few bucks more", it is a lot of money more. You will need from 150 to 200 hours of helicopter time to get a job teaching, regardless of your airplane time. So you might as well just go fly helicopters if that is what you want to do. Hey when you 150 - 200 hrs do you mean in that specific aircraft or just total RW time. Reason I ask is because I have Comm/Inst but I am a military pilot and am looking to get my CFI in a Robbie or 300C, do I need 150-200 hrs in a Robbie to teach in it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jehh Posted July 6, 2008 Report Share Posted July 6, 2008 Hey when you 150 - 200 hrs do you mean in that specific aircraft or just total RW time. Reason I ask is because I have Comm/Inst but I am a military pilot and am looking to get my CFI in a Robbie or 300C, do I need 150-200 hrs in a Robbie to teach in it? Per SFAR 73, you need 200 hours helicopter flight time, 50 hours in type to teach in one. For the R-44, you can count 25 hours in the R-22 towards the 50 hours, but not the other way around. The 300 you can teach in with 5 hours PIC, but in truth you'll need more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADRidge Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Per SFAR 73, you need 200 hours helicopter flight time, 50 hours in type to teach in one. For the R-44, you can count 25 hours in the R-22 towards the 50 hours, but not the other way around. The 300 you can teach in with 5 hours PIC, but in truth you'll need more. So for someone who has done all their training thus far in a -22 (~75 hrs), what amount of 300 time would make a CFI stand out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jehh Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 So for someone who has done all their training thus far in a -22 (~75 hrs), what amount of 300 time would make a CFI stand out? 50 to 75 hours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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