Continuation Training
 

What do you trainers recommend to PPL pilots who are hours building and they have around 200 hours? What to do with their flight time?

Do we just fly GFA (General f... about) or are there some exercises that you suggest to develop flying skills? Many of us hope one day to get a CPL, so what can we do to work towards the flying skills aspect of that when we are out there solo?

Is it worth doing a sling load/low flying/mountain course, or are those for the more experienced (say 500 hours) guys?

We want to improve in this profession but sometimes the direction is not clear.

Thanks

Personally, I would try to get time on as many different types as you can. This will help to develop a 'strategy of control' that will stand you in good stead for years to come.
Second thing is to look at some of the exercises that are done in the helicopter competitions- (I organized the first Middle Wallop competition in 1982, and could send you some of the things that were done there- all perfectly safe, but challenging).
If you don't have a fixed wing rating, then I'd also get one of those as a way to broaden horizons, and also get a FW IFR rating (cheaper than helicopters).
That should keep you busy enough!
Shawn Coyle

I find the best way of honing the skills is to fly with someone else (who knows what they are on about!) whenever possible. Most people will not fly as accurately or perform to their best when solo.

At your stage I wouldn't get too involved with the mountains but under-flung toads are good for building on the basics of hover skills and thinking about power restrictions. I enjoyed some competition flying for a while and, as the previous poster says, these exercises also help the basics. Accurate position and time keeping for navigation, ground cushion work and advanced transitions flown as well as you can can't hurt. With the latter keep at the confined area exercises as well. Try to get someone else (an instructor) to give you exercises that can be tried in your local area. If your area is the NW give me a call!!

Good luck

Dai (A2 retired)

Thank you for your replies.

Shawn,
I'd appreciate an idea of some of the competition excercises if you have the time, email or posted here. Nothing flashy, I still need many more hours to hone the basics.

I've done the FW/IR for the last 35 years and so am delighted to be starting real flying. Different types sounds a good direction, as I am Robinson restricted right now- I should get more hairy of chest and try a Bell 47 or similar and learn to use a throttle...

DC
Its true isn't it? -we give ourselves more slack when we fly solo compared to flying with a peer or an instructor, however strong our self discipline. Good advice, and I appreciate your offer in the NW but I fly at 22N114E which is a bit off the M62 corridor.

Anyone got a bit of advice about slope landings that isn't in the standard text book? Its harder than most instructors think it is...:o


.

I'm in a similar position - about the same hours. I did a 8 hours of night training last Oct/Nov and I've done the Instrument course. Both of those sharpened my flying and made me less tense & more accurate. The other thing I do is to fly with an instructor for an hour whenever possible - be put through the mill and challenged. Much better than the annual check.

I am aiming to get JAR CPL - when they can be bothered to have heli-specific ground exams. Which, I understand is not too far away. Could someone post some guidlines here about the current state of play on CPL (H) - the CAA site doesn't help.

Lastly, when the vis is bad and the wind close to limits - go do some airfield hovering with an instructor. Cleanses the senses!

moosp

Slopes are not for landing on - you fly the ac all the time, you just happen to have yourself in a 0mm hover with a strange attitude. Gently does it and start again if not happy. I feel abuse coming on here but what the heck - trim. There, I've said it and it wasn't so bad!

Dai

moosp,

when i first got my PPL, i ws advised by my instructor to practice every exercise in the PPL syllabus until i could do all of them to a good standard, and for the ones where it is not a good idea to do them on your own e.g. Engine off landings, and forced landings etc, to hire an instructor for 1 hour every 10-20 or so.

it worked for me I went from " any old height, any old speed" to professional pilot and high time instructor

re sloping ground, get the upslope skid on the ground stationary in the hover i.e locked and pause for a couple of seconds before you continue, keep flying it all the time, many people get one skid down and then just stop flying it and " dump" the lever

as far as instrument Flying training goes, beware of getting a night rating before your CPL, i think you have to repeat all the IF you did for it when you do your CPL, I dont think you get a credit for any IF you have done before the CPL course, which could have significant costs, as you need 10 hours IF for a night rating these days I believe.

hope this helps

Thank you for your ideas folks. Like Uncle Roger says, ARIAS (Always remembered instructor's advice) stick in the memory better than a dry flying manual and this seems a good forum to share them.

I can recommend to low time pilots the Low Level course that is a CPL add on in Australia. Spending an hour at 50 knots below 10' improves skills and confidence greatly- and is mega fun. The whole course is 5 hours, and saves lives.

building turbine hours in LA (looking for address)
 

hello,

i'm a young pilot from switzerland finishing my cpl(h) down in new zealand. on my way downunder i stop over in Los Angeles for some days and would like to do some pic building hours in a turbine helicopter.

Does anyone have a contact number/address?

there is obiously a guy called "bill" over there, but he's quite booked out.

thankyou very much for any hints

snowy greetings from switzerland/zurich!

stephan

HeliStream are based 30 mins south at John Wayne ( yes I know!!...) international.

They're very professional- I can recommend them. +1 714 662 3163

Long Beach
 

I flew about 55hrs at long beach with Rainbowair and have nothing but good things to say about them. They are based at long beach, and have three R22 Beta's - hard working machines, but well maintained. There are a couple of other operators at Long Beach, US Helicopters being one of them. I have also heard good things about them and my current FBO in the UK uses US Helicopters for the annual LA Heli trip.

Hope this helps
CRAN

www.rainbowair.com

www.ushelicopters.com

Hour Building??
 

Does anyone know of anybody that offers hour bulding programs...i.e reduced rates in a helicopter for a pilot with a licence so they can build hours such as news/radio pilots etc? Thanks for the help.

Chuck Street in Los Angeles.
Chuck is based at Fullerton (near Anaheim). Commander Chuck.
I paid about $100 per hour for JetRanger time, but that was a few years ago.
The rate's probably gone up but he's open to negotation depending upon how many hours you do. I did 5 hours a day for 5 days: 6-9 am and 3-5 pm. You fly all over LA, South to Orange County and North to Malibu.

http://www.commanderchuck.com/HOLLYSM_small.JPG http://www.commanderchuck.com/photog...1/CRBEACH1.JPG http://www.commanderchuck.com/photog...1/DWNTWNS2.JPG

It's mainly straight & level which is of limited value, but Chuck will adapt to what you want to do. We did a few confined area, pinnacle, and roof-top helipad landings each day.

There's another place at Van Nuys. I can't remember the name now but I'm sure someone will post it.

I'm only a PPL and was doing it for fun. I think it's probably of very limited value if you're building hours to be a professional pilot. Lots of cheap hours in your logbook, but are you really building useful experience?

Just had a thought ....... the place for hours building at Van Nuys might be called Group 3 Aviation (or very similar).

Group 3 Aviation's web site.

hour building opportunities
 

thanks guys, will check out these options,

The place in Van Nuys is Heliclass, tel 1 661 253 1437, www.heliclass.com. It's run by a chap called Phillippe Lesourd, and I flew with him for a week in April 2002. He was charging $120/hr; Chuck at the same time was $160/hr. He'll find accommodation for you too, if you want. It's 6-9am and 4-6 pm, Mon-Fri, and mainly straight and level flying, though you can go and do other stuff when there's time. It's good fun, and probably worth doing for a week, though not too much longer.

thanks Whirlybird,
I think I'll go and check it out and do a weeks flying with one of them see how it goes.

I flew with Phillipe in April this year - I agree with all that Whirlybird has said - except that he was charging $130/hr and he's booked up way in advance.

Good fun for a week, but Van Nuys is pretty grim and the Budweiser factory stinks!

Think I would have gone stir crazy if I had spent more than a week there tho..

hour-building in spain - info needed
 

has anyone any experience of this? i am possibly looking to hire a r22 for 4-6 weeks to do about 80 hours

dave