Thinking of doing CPL?
Hi all,
I put a post up on Saturday, thanking a number of people for getting me from 0 hours to CPL in just under 12 months, a few people have PM'd me to ask more details costs, advice etc.
I thought it might be helpful if I put up an e-mail I sent out in reply to relay my experience of getting through the last 12 months.
I hope it helps, some of it overlaps with stuff in FAQ's, but hey, something in there might help.
Good Luck, see below, oh and thanks for the congrats to those who sent them through
Adam
Firstly Class 1 medical, before you spend a penny, without this you are going
nowhere, bout £500.
Not sure of your financial position, I was reasonably comfortable, but had the fixed outgoings which go with a well paid job, I budgeted very carefully, went to see an excellent accountant. Don't kid yourself on the budget, there will always be things you don't factor, add at least 10%. Also factor in any loss of income, I stopped working entirely on 31st July 2004 so I could devote 100% of my time to it. Accountant got me Vat registered and sorted out National Insurance that type of thing.
Back of a fag packet
PPL £14k, less vat if you get registered, includes a bit for the 7 exams and test itself, I did it in 46.2 hours including the test and 6 weeks, don't believe this stuff about 60 hours to get through, it's not necessary if you are doing it intensively. If you do a couple of hours a month then yes it's likely to be 60+ hours. My instructor was £215 per hour plus vat.
I contacted Bristol Ground School the same day I passed, but in fact you could start earlier you just have to demonstrate you have completed the exams before doing the CPL Skills test. Their distance learning course is excellent, I didn’t go for a classroom course as the pace is too slow,
I did the lot start to finish in 6 half months, but I worked hard, could have easily taken a month or even two off that if I had really worked, but couldn’t have done as much hour building. I did 9-5 every weekday. £1900 for this plus 4 weeks accommodation at £30 per night in Cheddar,
13 exams total, I got through them all first time, none of it is rocket science, but there is a lot, USE THE ONLINE QUESTION BANK before hand, I had three weeks solid on this alone for the first lot of exams.
CAA exam fees about £60 each, 13 exams. Plus a few days accommodation at exam centres and food say £500.
Hour building at the same time, I flew all through the winter and so was happy to fly less than sunny condition, but watch for deteriorating weather and always have options, wind is a big issue at low hours, well all hours for that matter, have landed in a field rather than press on a couple of times, never even think of going anywhere near IMC. I hooked up with a more experienced mate who was also hourbuilding about 50 hours ahead and we could split workload, especially useful when in sh*te weather. Difficult balance here, but you do need to push yourself a bit, otherwise you will shy away from anything but benign conditions, but do be exceptionally careful and take advice from more experienced pilots.
Going to states is a waste of time, by the time you have factored in VAT rebate it's not cheaper and people will look on you better if all your flying is in the theatre you operate in. Unless you want a holiday or to work out there.
Hourbuilding Use this time wisely, visit lots of flightschools in the heli, go abroad a couple of times, I flew to the Pyrenees and took some mountain flying instruction, get comfortable with helilanes, get to know as many people as possible. So from PPL pass you need to get to 155 hours to start course, so for me an additional 110 hours at £150 plus vat self fly rate. Quite a lot of hotels and stuff to factor in in the hourbuilding say £3k on top. And have a purpose for every single flight, if it is to meet someone, find out
they are there and fly in, do not waste this time.
Commercial course 30 hours at £215 plus vat again, relatively straightforward and really improves your flying, also you need to factor in an additional five hours night flying, which cost me in total £1800 inc vat. Look at document 3H on the CAA website for a description of what's in the test, put it in the search and it'll come up. Exam fee is £600, plus about 2 hours heli hire.
So I reckon about £50k plus loss of income, the ground school is not too difficult if you are motivated. YOU WILL NOT GET A JOB AT 200 HOURS CPL, best bet is get to 250 and do instructors rating, I gather the course is challenging and another 30 hours plus exam fee and there do seem to be people looking for instructors if you have the right attitude.
Get a very experienced instructor you get on well with and who has guaranteed access to aircraft, this can be difficult if they don't have their own Heli, mine did, actually he had access to two on his own, watch this as I have spoken to people who have
had numerous lessons cancelled because aircraft have gone out on charter at short notice. Pay nothing up front, or just a bit, I would lodge a couple of grand, use it up, sometimes in a couple of days then he would ask for some more, sometimes I owed him a little sometimes he owed me, but never let the balance
get too high either way.
Oh and I also did a 44 conversion which was excellent as I have managed to get about 15 well cost shared hours from that as noone will pay to go up in a 22 on their own, but 3 mates together at £100 each for an hour is affordable and fun for them.
So now I am an unemployed heli pilot, I have a few really good irons in the fire, but we'll see, great year, oh and I have started a gardening business in the last 3 months which is doing quite nicely and allows me to be flexible.
When you look at your finances cut out all unnecessary expenditure, I even canned the SKY Sports subscription.
First flight was a year ago yesterday, I had never flown anything before and no aviation background at all, but am very motivated.
This is a bit rambling, happy to help, com back to me with any clarification.
My views entirely, and treat the damn things with a huge amount of respect,they'll have you in two seconds flat, I used to race in the British Superbikes and nothing was ever as scary as one or two moments I have had in a R22, read Fatal traps for helicopter pilots and scare yourself by reading lots of AAIB accident reports, if you still want to do it JUST GO FOR IT!
Adam