Hovergirl Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 I think there is a certain synergy that one can get with his/her instructor...sometimes its there and sometimes it isnt. Communicate, communicate... quiet instructor + quiet student = important things not being said. (Two talkative people who aren't very good at listening aren't going to do very well either.) Quote
heli.pilot Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 Communicate, communicate... quiet instructor + quiet student = important things not being said. (Two talkative people who aren't very good at listening aren't going to do very well either.) Well said. The instructor has to find a balance between saying enough to fully explain what they are doing (and what they expect from the student), and not saying so much that they confuse and bewilder the student by talking their ears off. The instructor also needs to pick the right moment to say something - it might be right there and then, or it might be better to wait until you're back at the ramp. I had a few times in my early training when I had to tell me instructor to shut-up while I was trying to concentrate on a confined landing or slope landing. Quote
sfdoc Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 OK, I'm a little concerned by the post of 80 hours, and still not at private? My guys are required to notify me if a student is not ready to Solo by 15 hours. Not knowing your whole situation, I would suggest a few things. 1) Talk to the Chief Pilot or Owner about the situation. If you don't like his explanation, switch schools. 2) Becoming a Helicopter Pilot is large fianancial investment and personal committment that should not be taken lightly, so "Kick the Tires" of a few schools. Do multiple demo flights (They all count as time in your logbook) talk to past students, check out the boards here and on PPRUNE, and JH. 3) Talk to to local FAA FSDO and see what the schools and your instructors first time pass rate is and at what hour level were the students. For some of you, you have moved across country or from overseas, so I understand that this might not be easy, but please don't take this lightly. Feel free to contact me direct if you have any other questions. Chrischris@srthelo.com Quote
SquirrelFlight Posted January 13, 2009 Posted January 13, 2009 A little over 100 hours in about 5 months for me. I tend to be a slow learner when it comes to "fine tuning". That is, I pick up coarser skills pretty quick, then take a long time to fine tune them. The first part comes quickly enough that it often fools people teaching me (not just flight instructors, just about anything else I've gone to learn) into not worrying about the other skills so much. I'm a moderately smart guy, which I think tends to exacerbate the problem. I was also working full time during training, so I wasn't able to focus 100% (or anywhere near it) for the majority of my training. Quote
Chopperjess Posted January 13, 2009 Posted January 13, 2009 Nearly 70 hours for me, in a year and a half. Was working full time, going to school (college) part time, and flying whenever I could. I had a BUSY schedule! Quote
Kelly N. Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 Nearly 70 hours for me, in a year and a half. Was working full time, going to school (college) part time, and flying whenever I could. I had a BUSY schedule! Yeah, that was/is my situation too. Three kids, single income family part time college, demanding job and still got to keep my lovely wife happy too (though that's not too difficult ). I got my private and now am starting down the road to my commercial and eventually CFI (still not sure about instrument now or later). It's worth the hassle, stress, money, and time. I love flying helicopters and I can wait as long as it takes until I'm flying for a living rather than working behind a desk. Kelly Quote
heli.pilot Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 I got my private and now am starting down the road to my commercial and eventually CFI (still not sure about instrument now or later). Kelly I'd recommend not waiting to do your instrument. All the hours you spend working on your instrument rating count towards your commercial certificate requirements. My commercial check ride was only about two weeks after my instrument check ride, because once I met the instrument requirements I also met the commercial requirements. Just my .02c Quote
JDHelicopterPilot Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 I agree, it would be a mistake to wait. My .02c also. JD Quote
Kelly N. Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 I agree, it would be a mistake to wait. My .02c also. JD Thanks guys (JD/Heli.Pilot). I do appreciate the advice and it's the direction I'm leaning in. Kelly Quote
Roc87 Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 Somewhere in the mid 90's..... Had 39.7 when my instructors heli was crashed by another student. Didn't train for nearly a year, got back into when the new school opened up, and soon after had a 24 hour xc bringing their 22 back from Oregon. Instructor tells me had I not had the year off and the long (Yeah, 24 hours in 4 days is a VERY LONG xc) XC back from oregon, he thinks 55 hours is what I would have needed. Quote
Fizt4hire Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 Me, 74 hrs. The real question is when did you start to feel like a professional heli pilot? Quote
Roc87 Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 The real question is when did you start to feel like a professional heli pilot? Not sure about feeling like a professional heli pilot, but I now have 163 hours total, 38 simulated instrument and close to 80 pic and can tell you right around 145 hours I could feel the improvements that I was making day to day. Makes me look back and think that while I thought I was decent when I attained the private, I wasn't as good as I thought. Quote
Fizt4hire Posted January 24, 2009 Posted January 24, 2009 Yeah, not really feeling all that professional at 138 hrs. Although it does feel like things are starting to come along. Nothing else to do but keep plugging away at it (whenever this fog decides to lift). Quote
Chewie Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 74 300c hours here, had a setback that caused me to not fly for awhile (thanks to the FAA!) plus the usual maint/wx issues. Quote
FlorIdaho Chris Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 (edited) 35 hours R22 *Already fixed wing ATP w 3500+ hours. Mixed blessing on the prior fixed wing experience... Edited February 21, 2009 by FlorIdaho Chris Quote
HeliHelvig Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 59 hours/R22/3 months That was a little more than a year ago, and now I've been working on my CFI (on and off) since August last year! I don't know why this is taking me so long. It's very frustrating. Quote
Justin DBC Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 About 50 hours R-22. That part 141 crap will set you back a bit! Better training though, I guess. J- Quote
Rick McWilliams Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 56 hours R22 & R44. Add on rating from fixed wing. Flying helicopters has made me hesitate a bit when flying acrobatics. Quote
Basher Posted February 21, 2009 Posted February 21, 2009 2) Becoming a Helicopter Pilot is large fianancial investment and personal committment that should not be taken lightly, so "Kick the Tires" of a few schools. Do multiple demo flights (They all count as time in your logbook) talk to past students, check out the boards here and on PPRUNE, and JH. Feel free to contact me direct if you have any other questions. Chrischris@srthelo.com Seriously? So once I get my student ticket, I can log the time I spend doing demo rides at all the local school, and not be wasting my money? I had heard otherwise, but perhaps I misunderstood. That's sweet! Quote
heli.pilot Posted February 21, 2009 Posted February 21, 2009 Seriously? So once I get my student ticket, I can log the time I spend doing demo rides at all the local school, and not be wasting my money? I had heard otherwise, but perhaps I misunderstood. That's sweet! Absolutely you can! You don't even need your student pilot certificate to be able to log the time, you'll just need that before you can solo. I'm not sure why someone would you tell you that you couldn't log it. Quote
MN Heli Flyer Posted February 22, 2009 Posted February 22, 2009 Seriously? So once I get my student ticket, I can log the time I spend doing demo rides at all the local school, and not be wasting my money? I had heard otherwise, but perhaps I misunderstood. That's sweet! I do not know that you would be able to save much money even if you went to a dozen schools. 1. They will most likely give you a reduced price on a half hour flight. This is to get you hooked on flying with their school. It will cost only a little less money than regular training. 2. The flight can be logged but multiple introductory flights will be doing the same things. This will limit what you are learning. 3. Each time you fly with a different instructor he will need to find out how you fly and what you need to improve. This doesn't take long usually but again a demo flight will be very similar to other schools and they may not give you the controls as much as if you stayed with one instructor. I am sure there are other things I could add but I will leave that up to others if they want to add to it. I would encourage to checkout other schools and find one that you like and by all means if you can get an intro flight at a reduced price take advantage of that too. Maybe I am wrong in assuming you plan to go to alot of schools, do a demo flight, log it, and get your ppl at a reduce rate? I don't honestly think this would be practical. Quote
betr_thn_Icarus Posted February 22, 2009 Posted February 22, 2009 48 hours between 3 R22's, a 269/300c, a 300cbi, and a Bell47. Spread between 3 schools over about 1.5 years with 7 fliht instructors. I don't even want to explain the details.... Check ride was in a Bell 47D1 ... A sweet machine no matter what anyone says! Quote
rotorrodent Posted February 22, 2009 Posted February 22, 2009 How many hours did it take you to get your private pilot helicopter certificate? And what did you train in? For me it was 53.5 hrs.Exclusively in the R 22 39.3 Add on....300C all the way! Includes a demo in an R22. First 6 hours really don't count since I couldn't keep the machine within the county! Maybe I should have logged those first 6 hours as cross country? Rotorrodent Quote
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