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I'm now a private helicopter pilot!


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Today I passed my check ride on the first attempt with flying colors! Did perfect autos and 180 autos directly over the center of the pad, and all my maneuvers were well within PTS standards. Did it with a total time of 53.8 hrs! Have alot of extra flight hours left over so I'm doing multiple cross country flights next week to Lake Havasu, Sedona, Payson, Scottsdale, and maybe up towards the Grand Canyon, as PIC! So glad to be done! My flight training as been A1 here at Guidance Aviation and I couldn't be happier with the school, and the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Now onto instrument next semester, in 10 days.

Edited by superstallion6113
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SS6113,

 

CH53E load of "Congrats"!

 

Sincerely, good job.

 

Mike

 

Thanks! That's a lot of congrats!

 

Way to go! A firm step in the right direction. I assume you're going on to instrument? If you do, believe your instructor when he tells you to study your butt off.

 

Yep. Moving on to instrument.

Edited by superstallion6113
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Nice job!

Tho I have to ask; 180 auto? If I remember correctly, it’s not a required maneuver for the Pvt. If the examiner had you do one, that’s a bad on him……..

 

180 autos FAA-S-8081-15A, pg. 1-19

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Nice job!

 

Tho I have to ask; 180 auto? If I remember correctly, it’s not a required maneuver for the Pvt. If the examiner had you do one, that’s a bad on him……..

 

They changed the PTS a few years ago, now a PPL has to do 180s and pinnacle/confined areas. Perhaps that's why many PPLs are taking more hours to get than they used to?

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They changed the PTS a few years ago, now a PPL has to do 180s and pinnacle/confined areas. Perhaps that's why many PPLs are taking more hours to get than they used to?

 

Correct, for my 180 auto he gave me a simulated engine failure on the way back to the airport, and I maneuvered into the wind that was to our tail and, as he asked, recovered just before the flare to my intended landing zone, which he had me call out as soon as I was in a steady glide. After I recovered he said he was glad I maneuvered into the wind, since he said it covered my 180 auto and we didn't have to do one at the airport now. He didn't have me do a pinnacle but we did do a confined.

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Geez I must be getting lucky with some of this stuff. My check ride went like this... First leg of XC, divert to Wells Training area, stopped over yavapai campus in chino valley to do SWP, simulated engine failure with a turn into the wind (180? more like 100...), steep approach to the east pad, hovering auto (while doing the level ground check I was on a slight slope, so that counted), air taxi to the west pad, quick stop, attempt the "no collective" down wind takeoff (he just wanted to see if I could do it), straight in auto to the west pad, feed lot to get ATIS then headed back in. Other EP's were thrown in at various stages of the flight.

 

No pinnacle, no confined.

 

Who was your DPE?

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I think PPL's are taking more hours now than they used to because of people's schedules. The no. 1 reason I don't have students finishing in 50 hours or less is because I won't see them for weeks at a time. They don't have the time or the money. Loans are hard to get and the interest rates are steep. Good paying jobs are harder to come by. People just can't finance it, or they work so hard for their money they don't have time for lessons.

 

Just my two bits.

 

When I got my PPL FW, I was flying maybe once a week. If not less. I was 17 and was working two part times to pay for flight school. It took me nearly 80 hours to get my rating. When I got my helicopter add on I had a sallie mae loan. All the money was there. I flew 3-5 days a week and got my rating at 37.5 hours (some of the fixed wing stuff counts).

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