new to everything helicopters and aviation

[73dodge]

hello every one. i am new to aviation and helicopters. i am looking into getting my private pilot license and maybe go commerical. i was looking into civic helicopters in carlsbad ca. (i found them on this site) anyone out there that got there license there or working on? also what would be the very first steps in getting my license?should i sign up at a school or do it hourly?

 

 

 

ps: i am looking in to this industrie because i build race cars and pit support for baja and i got a ride in a jet ranger for about 8 hours (we refueled 4 times) and i thought it was the coolest thing to racing trophy trucks and class 1 cars and would be cool to learn to fly. i have done quite a bit of research so i am aware of the cost and time. just looking for some info on what i should look out for.

 

 

thanks alot vertical reference members

[Tara]

hello every one. i am new to aviation and helicopters. i am looking into getting my private pilot license and maybe go commerical. i was looking into civic helicopters in carlsbad ca. (i found them on this site) anyone out there that got there license there or working on? also what would be the very first steps in getting my license?should i sign up at a school or do it hourly?

ps: i am looking in to this industrie because i build race cars and pit support for baja and i got a ride in a jet ranger for about 8 hours (we refueled 4 times) and i thought it was the coolest thing to racing trophy trucks and class 1 cars and would be cool to learn to fly. i have done quite a bit of research so i am aware of the cost and time. just looking for some info on what i should look out for.

thanks alot vertical reference members

 

Hey buddy,

 

I saw you had no posts on your topic and thought I'd say hi. I did the same thing about a year ago.... I got a lot of feedback, both positive and negative - mostly positive. I don't really know what to tell you because I am new to this too and have gotten from posting a little over a year ago, to visiting school, to getting my medical and now I've gotta figure out how the heck I'm going to pay for it! Anyway, my best advice is to read all of the forums on this site, there is a lot of great info to be found and you can usually jump in on a topic and have interactive discussions. Good luck to you!!

 

Tara

[Autorotator]

Hi, 73Dodge and welcome to verticalreference.

 

It's always great to see another helicopter enthusiast!

 

Now take a step back and think what you want to do with this. Do you want to get a private license and buy a helicopter to fly for fun? That takes a lot of money, even if you just want to rent them occasionally. Or do you want to make a career change by investing in yourself to do what a lot of us have a passion for? Also a very expensive choice.

 

In my opinion it is a waste of money to get you private license unless you can afford to own your own helicopter.

 

My suggestion would be to take an intro flight with a nearby school to see if this is something you really want to do. You will have the controls the very first flight.

 

Just think, if you decide to make it a career, you will get to fly everyday, and get paid for it! Win/Win

 

Good luck 73'

 

--CM

[fly2001]

I took an intro flight with civic, and was impressed with the whole operation. Seemed like good people and and very professional. I believe "dynamicallyunstable" is an instructor there or used to be, maybe try and talk to him. Good luck.

[betr_thn_Icarus]

I went on an intro flight and never looked back. I always thought I wanted to do it and the intro flight where I got to manipulate the controls made me realize how much. I became committed to it. After a few lessons I learned how little I was manipulating the controls on those first flights and how much of a skill it really was. I now have my private license and the school I finished at (Gunner Aviation in CA., Sean CFII) really honed me up for the checkride. I had some really bad experiences with a previous school. I learned a hard lesson that if you are going to start try to go to a school with at least one more option in the area. If something happens to your only option it really can suck. I was driving 2 hours each way to to my first school, when they went under. I had to drive 3 hours each way to finish up my PPL. I'm now moving to Florida where there are tons of schools and places to work when I am done. I used to pay block payments and when the aircraft went down I would keep paying then catch up with flying when it was up again. One time the school never got going again and I wished I hadn't have kept paying. It also made me leery of block payments even though they offer some discount. Be wary of a school that approaches you for a large sum of money during your training offering a discount out of the blue. They are probably seriously hurting for $$. Well this has been a lot of random thinking, Hopefully it helps somehow.

[73dodge]

thanks for the great info everyone. i am going to go to 2 differnt schools here in san diego this week to look to see if its for me or not . if any one else has info please let me know.i am going to civc helicopters in carslbad and corprate helicopters in san diego.