Flight Instructor Helicopter
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 122
Likes: 0
From: floating around
Flight Instructor Helicopter
Just wondering if any body here that is an FI(H) and what general pay and conditions are.
Have been tol 18 Pounds per hour, (approx 25 Euro) which is pretty crappy considering that you are unlikely to get as many hours as a fixed wing Instructor, and the bar to get the Flight Instructor rating for Helicopters is higher (at least 300 rotary hours, just to start the FI course) and the cost of getting the CPL licence in the first place is significantly higher
Any one any views, or have been misinformed?
Have been tol 18 Pounds per hour, (approx 25 Euro) which is pretty crappy considering that you are unlikely to get as many hours as a fixed wing Instructor, and the bar to get the Flight Instructor rating for Helicopters is higher (at least 300 rotary hours, just to start the FI course) and the cost of getting the CPL licence in the first place is significantly higher
Any one any views, or have been misinformed?
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 3,130
Likes: 17
From: U.K.
Misinformed definately. £30-60 per hr is more the norm. Have a look at the difference the company is charging between self fly hire and training rates, that should allow you to see what there is in the pot for an FI.
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,092
Likes: 10
From: uk
why do helicopter instructors get paid so much?
I can see i've always been in the wrong profession..fixed wing flying instruction.
p***** me off being grounded earning nothing watching a helicopter student /instructor practising hovering !
I can see i've always been in the wrong profession..fixed wing flying instruction.
p***** me off being grounded earning nothing watching a helicopter student /instructor practising hovering !
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 122
Likes: 0
From: floating around
From what I see, the way quite a few schools operate is fairly underhand, they charge for a flight instructor then take a massive cut of it for themselves, sometimes nearly 40 - 50 %
I suppose Heli instructors deserve a little better pay, after all,
to jump through all the hoops costs a massive amount more then fixed wing pilots, to even start the Fi course requires more hours also genrally fixed wing pilots will get more hours in flying cross country etc.
People don't like to hover in a field to long and gift vouchers will only ever really be half an hour in a helicopter as opposed to at least an hour in fixed wing.
On top of that, you guys can move on to relatively secure well paid jobs in the airlines with Unions etc,
We just get shafted from one job to the next,
(But it is more fun, and that is what employers take advantage of, knowing you love to fly, they think they can get away by paying you crap wages unfortunately a lot of them do.)
I suppose Heli instructors deserve a little better pay, after all,
to jump through all the hoops costs a massive amount more then fixed wing pilots, to even start the Fi course requires more hours also genrally fixed wing pilots will get more hours in flying cross country etc.
People don't like to hover in a field to long and gift vouchers will only ever really be half an hour in a helicopter as opposed to at least an hour in fixed wing.
On top of that, you guys can move on to relatively secure well paid jobs in the airlines with Unions etc,
We just get shafted from one job to the next,
(But it is more fun, and that is what employers take advantage of, knowing you love to fly, they think they can get away by paying you crap wages unfortunately a lot of them do.)
The Original Whirly
Joined: Feb 1999
Aviation Qualifications: CPL
Posts: 4,327
Likes: 2
From: Belper, Derbyshire, UK
In my extremely limited experience...
North UK - £30-£40/hr
South UK - a bit more, though I haven't heard of anyone getting £60/hr.
So better paid than f/w, but...
A lot less work around; just not that many schools.
Usually half hour trial lessons, as someone said.
Usually longer briefings - not sure if that's a difference in the schools, or just that there's more you need to know to fly a more complicated machine.
Pretty knackering due to being more dangerous, if teaching hovering you need 110% concentration and the fastest reactions in the world.
Maybe a bit like teaching landings, but with no circuits in between. After all, no-one has ever collided with the sky.
But I do think f/w instructors should be paid more too, actually.
North UK - £30-£40/hr
South UK - a bit more, though I haven't heard of anyone getting £60/hr.
So better paid than f/w, but...
A lot less work around; just not that many schools.
Usually half hour trial lessons, as someone said.
Usually longer briefings - not sure if that's a difference in the schools, or just that there's more you need to know to fly a more complicated machine.
Pretty knackering due to being more dangerous, if teaching hovering you need 110% concentration and the fastest reactions in the world.
Maybe a bit like teaching landings, but with no circuits in between. After all, no-one has ever collided with the sky.But I do think f/w instructors should be paid more too, actually.
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 122
Likes: 0
From: floating around
I do agree, fixed wing Instructors are massively underpaid for what they do, as are Rotory wing, all things considered.
Whirlybird, do you know if there is genrally much of a difference in pay between normal flight Instructors and FI(R)'s
They both do the exact same job, can't see why there sould be a difference.
Whirlybird, do you know if there is genrally much of a difference in pay between normal flight Instructors and FI(R)'s
They both do the exact same job, can't see why there sould be a difference.
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 118
Likes: 0
From: England/Arizona
Have to say I have not yet heard of £60 per hour by anyone I know. £45 - 50 an hour for a full FI and normally £10 an hour less for a new FI(R) or AFI as they were.
Most clubs will tell you this is because they need to have a full FI to cover you sat around the field while you train. True but also a way to make an extra tenner an hour for the company.
Yes fixed wing instructor will get more flying in and it does cost us more to get going in the first place but I have to agree with whirlybird, FI(A)s should get a bit more than some of them I know are being paid.
Most clubs will tell you this is because they need to have a full FI to cover you sat around the field while you train. True but also a way to make an extra tenner an hour for the company.
Yes fixed wing instructor will get more flying in and it does cost us more to get going in the first place but I have to agree with whirlybird, FI(A)s should get a bit more than some of them I know are being paid.
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 157
Likes: 0
From: Australia
For comparison, here in Oz, (although I cannot speak for all helicopter flying schools), most employ their instructors on fixed salaries.
I take it from the tone of above posts that in the Uk instructors are paid by the hour. Fixed wing instructors here, I think, are also paid by the hour.
I take it from the tone of above posts that in the Uk instructors are paid by the hour. Fixed wing instructors here, I think, are also paid by the hour.
