Originally Posted by
That lights normal!
In the “old days”, pre internet, it was easier for the flying schools to tell you “all the Vietnam era pilots are retiring”.
Now, any prospective student can paint a pretty bleak picture of a prospective rotary wing flying career with 5min and Safari.
I live between two airports (Australia) that both had several helicopter schools (one where I first soloed, one where I worked as an instructor). Now there is one school total.
The cost is high, but it always has been. It would be interesting to compare the hourly rate from 1990 to now in relation to general cost of living. I’d say relative to houses, the license is likely no more expensive.
Good question for AI which found an article from 1997, earliest it could find, the operating cost of an R22 back then was $51/hour.
It also used this forum to give information on hourly PPL training costs on the R22 in the year 2000, £215/hour. I believe the going rate is around £420-£430/hour in the UK at present