hr building

[welshguy121]

hello all just completed my r44 ppl and i am looking to hr build perhaps in africa can anyone advise me the best place please
regards
welshguy

[TJF97]

Welshguy,
I can only comment on good old America, and in particular Florida. Done some hour building in West Palm Beach, R44 Astro = $400 p/h and R44 Clipper II = $425 p/h.

I did find a place in Ocala, Florida on the intrenet the other day that is doing hour building for $299 p/h in a R44 Raven II, but I've never been there so I couldn't tell you what they are like. I've got there website if you'd like details?

Personally I want to do the rest of my hour building (30 hours) in the UK, I'm going to be my CPL here so I may as well get some experience of airspace and RT etc etc.

Does anyone know where I can SFH a R22 for about £160 p/h wet if I block purchase the hours? I have found some where but its 180 miles away, so would involve staying over the night and making a couple of days of it, to make it worth while.

[krypton_john]

That's interesting. I was under the impression that the UK was a *lot* more expensive to train than NZ. However that £160+VAT equates to around NZ$518. I just looked at North Shore Helicopters and their training rate is now up to $495 - not much difference.

Add to that the fact that incomes are still higher in the UK and I wonder about the economics of heading this way for training?

[Whirlygig]

£160 + VAT = £188 - there would most likely be a landing fee on top of that but even so, I would still reckon that is very cheap and really the going rate but a discounted rate.

Cheers

Whirls

[welshguy121]

thanks guys
i am going to do some hr building here at staverton with heliflight but i also want to travel a bit and complete more hrs in blocks of perhaps 20 at a time africa fasinates me although i will complete my commercial up in staverton

[Whirlygig]

There's lots to choose from in South Africa. For each one, I'd recommend you speak with them about your requirements. From my understanding (have a search on pprune under the username Pandalet - she's Seff Effrikan), converting a JAA PPL to South African is relatively pain-free.

I did some hour building with NAC in Durban - can recommend them!

Cheers

Whirls

[welshguy121]

ok will look it up thanks

[gulliBell]

Can I just ask, what is hr building and why do you need to do it? Is it part of getting a CPL?

[Whirlygig]

It's the flying you do between PPL and CPL. If you get a JAA PPL in minimum time of 45 hours and a CPL flying course cannot be commenced until you have 155 hours total, you have to build up your hours, preferably by getting good and relevant flying experience.

One would also need to do the same between completion of CPL and starting an FI(H) course for which one needs 250 hours.

Cheers

Whirls

[welshguy121]

gullibell
it s a lot of money for absolutely no financial reward but invaluable expierience

[ToTall]

welshguy121 have you looked in to doing it in South Africa?

I did my PPL down there and it was really fun and good bunch to do it with.
Contact Jannie at heli.co.za and he will help you future. He is also an DPE for the CAA and a swell guy and Cape Town is an fun and nice place to spend some time in. Summer is on the way down there.

Let me know how it goes.

TT

[welshguy121]

thanks totall will take a look

[welshguy121]

ok perhaps i m not being explanitory enough
my hr building needs to be done on a r44 not a 22 i am VAT registered but i don t want to complete all my hrs here as it seem to never get done because of one thing or another weather etc etc so my thinking is if i go away for 2 3 weeks at a time and concentrate on completing hrs i ll have more chance of doing it when away africa is certainly one part of the world where i have no doubt there s a lot to see and conbining it with a bit of diving and white water raffting it would make a great holiday as well completing what is my passion for the rotor wing
so i guess what i m looking for is the best place to build hrs safely as well as learning the ways and at a sensible cost

[welshguy121]

the trouble for myself with florida is i realy don t like the place been there a few times and haven t realy got a lot to say about it

[Whirlybird]

Welshguy,

You could try Rotor Aviation at Long Beach in California. They more or less specialise in hour building Brits...or they did a few years ago I was there back in 2002, and they only had one R44, but things could well have changed by now. Unless it's changed the office number is 001 562 595 6867. Loads to see - Los Angeles, mountains, coast, Catalina Island, etc etc. And they'll arrange accommodation and car hire and everything for you if you want them to.

[Pandalet]

Welshguy,

I can indeed point you to some places in South Africa who will organise hour building for you. I'm a bit rushed at the moment, but if you want to drop me a PM, I'll happily help out where I can. I can also explain the UK->SA license conversion process, provide you with the right names in the SA CAA to talk to, and point out where the UK CAA will try to screw up the process.

Flying in SA is great, can't recommend it enough. Lovely scenary, friendly people, and great restaurants to land at for lunch (cheap, too).

[welshguy121]

thanks guye that realy is tremendously helpfull
thankyou

[TJF97]

Hooloovoo,
£160+vat, is a good price for SFH of a R22, in my experience down here in the "Sarf" its about £20- £25 dearer or more!

TJF97

[Heli-Ice]

Found this, thought some of you might be interested:

Forum (http://www.nordicpilots.com/index.php?option=com_jfusion&Itemid=109)