Helicopter Training

I was given a 30 min helicopter lesson as a birthday gift while I was on vacation in Barbados. I fell in love with flying immediately. I was so excited about my flight that I decided I was going to change careers and become a Commercial helicopter pilot. Looking back, I sometimes wonder whether the large amounts of wine I consumed on my vacation might have had something to do with my impulsive decision. :-)

I looked around at helicopter flight schools in my area when I returned and noticed that the pricing was very similar for all of them. There were differences in the flight schools that weren't clear to me, but I didn't know enough about helicopter training then to ask the right questions. I ended up choosing the flight school that was closest to where I lived.

I visited the helicopter flight school in my area and asked some generic questions. They took me up for a helicopter lesson in their training helicopter (also known as an intro or discovery flight) and I signed up as soon as we got down. I had very good credit and the economy was in an upswing, so I had few issues financing my helicopter training to the tune of almost $60,000. Pretty naive on my part I know, but I was just so excited about flying that I all I wanted to do was begin my helicopter training.

$6000 later and I still couldn't hover. The flight school I had signed up with had me flying two different helicopters (R22 and Schweizers) at the time. I was confused and disheartened as flying these birds was very different and I thought I was too stupid to learn to fly a helicopter.

Luckily for me, my room mate's brother was an airplane Commercial pilot. He introduced me to one of his contacts in the helicopter industry, where I learned a lot of truths that could have saved me $6000.

The Commercial helicopter explained that new student pilots should always fly the same aircraft during their initial helicopter training and suggested that the helicopter flight school was conveniently scheduling me to use their aircraft for their own benefit, not mine. He also went into details about the number of flight hours required to be a Commercial helicopter pilot and what it would take to get there. I digested this information and thought about my future career very carefully for the next week. I finally decided that I loved flying helicopters so much that I wanted to continue on - this time with a plan.

My new helicopter friend introduced me to an experienced flight instructor at a different flight school. Needless to say, I switched flight schools, which was the best decision I ever made regarding my helicopter training.

I highly recommend All American Helicopters, which is the flight school I went to as I received really great training from them in exceptionally well maintained aircraft. I am writing a series of articles to help new pilots understand what they need to be aware of before signing on the dotted line and possibly losing money like I did. I hope these tips will help people across the country save money by choosing the right helicopter flight school to do their training.

Flying is one of my passions and I want to be part of helping aviators get the most out of their helicopter training as it is the foundation they are laying for their future.