How hard is a helicopter addon?

aviatorx43

aviatorx43

Well-Known Member
Subjective question I know... But I have been thinking of getting a commercial helo addon for a long time now. I think the regs say min time is 20 dual and 35 solo? I know they say it's harder for an airplane pilot to get helo addon than for a beginner who has never flown before.

Anybody here ever done it? How many hours did it take you?
 
aviatorx43 said:
Subjective question I know... But I have been thinking of getting a commercial helo addon for a long time now. I think the regs say min time is 20 dual and 35 solo? I know they say it's harder for an airplane pilot to get helo addon than for a beginner who has never flown before.

Anybody here ever done it? How many hours did it take you?
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Regarding times, it's highly likely that Part 61 SFAR 73 drives your times as Robinsons are ubiquitous now.
 
That depends on how quickly you can learn to hover. I'll let you in on a little secret. Once you have that down the rest is pretty similar to fixed wing, even the aerodynamics are the same with a different application.

Then yes the issue is the SFAR which requires a certain number of hours for PIC. If you have less than 200 hours in helicopters you need at least 50 in either the R22/44 or 10 hours instruction and specific training. 25 of that in a 22 can be applied to the 50 required for the 44.

There are other training options besides robinsons. There are still a number of Schweitzer and Engstrum training schools but if finding a job is your goal it will be that much more difficult as there are not as many jobs flying those ships outside of the school you train at.
 
I was a fixed wing guy who made the swap to rotor. Wasn't terribly hard, and I think I had about 50hrs when I took my commercial helo checkride. I remeber I never got the private pilot rotor because I could add the comm with just a few more hrs, so why spend the $$$ for a private when I was planning on going through cfi-I anyway. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask.
 
I was also a fixed wing guy who made the switch to helicopters. It is not terribly hard as the knowledge and feel is there, but you will still have a lot to learn in terms of flying the aircraft and learning the emergency procedures. Some things came easy while other things were frustrating because I was still in a fixed wing state of mind.

It is possible to do it in around 50 or so hours if you pick it up quickly. If you are planning to instruct though, you will need 200 hours of helicopter time. I found out the hard way that 98% of schools fly robinsons. So I switched from Enstroms to Robinsons to meet the SFAR requirements.

Overall, it's a very different type of flying. A lot more fun too! But with a fixed wing background it shouldn't be too difficult for you. I would recommend taking an intro if you haven't already to find out if you really like it.
 
Like @CFI A&P said, the cost is usually double what the rental for fixed wing is, not to mention you will never make the money a fixed wing guy will. Pros and cons to each route, but I am now trying to get back into the fw world..
 
CFI A&P said:
The flying isn't the hard part, paying for rotorcraft time is the difficult portion
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I'd wager that an addiction to (insert expensive drug here) is cheaper. Or, just have a friend kick you...hard...where you keep your wallet each time you think about flying a helicopter.
 
deadstick said:
I'd wager that an addiction to (insert expensive drug here) is cheaper. Or, just have a friend kick you...hard...where you keep your wallet each time you think about flying a helicopter.
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Right? If you're not going to make a career of it or have a few million to piss away, you're better off having someone kick you in the nuts every time you want to hover. Or a good cocaine addiction would be WAY cheaper.

If you do have a few million to piss away I am available for training on your schedule :biggrin:
 
The hardest part about being a helicopter pilot is saying, "Sorry miss, I'm already taken."
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