Send me an e mail I have a couple of 500's . I will self fly hire and do the training .
Normally have one based around the Thruxton area, however will let you take it away.

Training rate is £ 395 hr wet self fly hire depends upon usage. Before you ask the rate is on a D model.

Speak to you soon

What people think or certain pilots is down to them, that is down to personal opinion and experience of that pilot. Don't get me onto that one, that is a whole new thread!!

I am not saying that Heli Air is any BETTER than any of the other flight schools that you have listed, what I am saying is that in my opinion it has a good learning atmosphere.

Perhaps the reason that they have so many 'unpaid reps' is because that is the reputation that they have built up for themselves and that is what people think of them??

Are you being a bit cynical elpirata ???

HeliEng

UK schools??
 

Any flying school types out there who can help me.

I have aus CPLH & am going to be in UK in february & want to talk to a few schools about conversion to a JAA licence. What I need is the names of some schools who do this conversion and will correspond with me via email before I leave oz. ( I emailed several schools over a month ago & received only one response! Is business that good over there?)

Cheers

hot 'n heavy,
The reason that none of the schools have got back to you may be more to do with them not knowing the answer to your question, rather than not wanting the business. Since JAR-FCL, there is no longer written advice covering most cases, that flying schools can consult to enable them to know what you would need to do. You will probably have to do the digging yourself by talking to the CAA, and give them your particular situation. They have a website <a href="http://www.caa.srg.co.uk" target="_blank">www.caa.srg.co.uk</a> and some pdf files for download, but they never seem to answer the question you have. The closest document I found was at:
<a href="http://www.srg.caa.co.uk/documents/srg_fcl_gid27.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.srg.caa.co.uk/documents/srg_fcl_gid27.pdf</a>

However, all it really says is you need to talk to the CAA. I am sure this does not help much, but it may help to explain. I could suggest one or two contacts in flying schools, but would rather do it via email: Contact me at [email protected] if you want any pointers.

Nil Carborundum

Can anyone recomend a school for ppl(H)?
 

Hi there. I am thinking of adding a PPL(H) to my current PPL(A). Can any one suggest/recommend any schools? I am not fussy about country etc. as long as I can do JAA licence. Feel free to e-mail if you prefer.

Thanks in advance.

Lorne

NLM13

Hields Avaition at Chester (where I learnt) are very good. CFI is Gary Cooper, excellent pilot and instructor. . .Good luck and happy flying

NigD

[ 28 February 2002: Message edited by: Heliport ]</p>

NLM13

Patriot Aviation (formerly Burman Aviation) at Cranfield, ask for Jim.

[ 28 February 2002: Message edited by: Heliport ]</p>

I'd thoroughly recommend Heliflight, based at Wolverhampton and Gloucester.

Can thoroughly recommend Hields Aviation. I trained at Sherburn. Gary Cooper (now at Chester) is a very good instructor. Pat Hand at Sherburn is another.

[ 28 February 2002: Message edited by: Heliport ]</p>

As you are north of the Border, why not support your local shop. I have flown with HJS Helicopters at Peterculter nr Aberdeen. Very professional, and although I did not train there, they do seem to be very well organised.

If you don't mind travelling, try some Australian schools. Look up <a href="http://www.helicoptertrainingschools.com." target="_blank">www.helicoptertrainingschools.com.</a> They look for the best schools around and give their unbiased opinion. The site is run by a professional pilot here in Brisbane.

Just a thought.

Can't really recommend any good ones, but I can warn you off the one I used to get CPL(H) a few years back.....CABAIR in Cranfield! The Helo flying instructor was great but the company sucks!

Go somewhere else is all I could say!

HeliAir at Wellesbourne, run by Mike Smith who is reputed to have the most instructional hours in the UK. He teaches PPL(H) as well as Instructor courses.
HeliAir at Denham is run by Quentin Smith and Glenda Wild (CFI).
I haven't heard anything about their other branches, but Wellesbourne and Denham both have excellent reputations.

Good Luck.

Lorne

The warning notice which appears at the bottom of the page on PPRuNe is there for good and many reasons: Or, in ordinary language - Do NOT assume that all 'recommendations' come from independent satisfied customers trying to help you. ;)

PPRuNe rules are extremely strict about free advertising disguised as helpful contributions and Moderators are told to apply them strictly. I let this one run until it got out of hand. I've now edited some posts to take out telephone numbers - and others to remove blatant advertising by schools/instructors. :rolleyes:

[ 28 February 2002: Message edited by: Heliport ]

Lorne,. .I can say through my own experience that the views given by Roofus and the Flying Lawyer are very acurate and reflect the service I received,having spent a lot of money with the first,but achiving more and spending less at the second.Don't know how you intend to convert block or single but my advice would be draw up a short list and take a trial ride with each,with your avaiation knowledge I'am sure you would be able to select the right one.Hope you enjoy your conversion as much as I enjoyed my training.In fact I like heli's so much I brought my first one this week !!!. .GOOD LUCK & BE SAFE

[ 01 March 2002: Message edited by: LOOSE NUT ]</p>

Loose Nut

Which helicopter have you bought?. .Why not start another thread telling us about it, how you made your choice, the pitfalls to avoid etc

HELIPORT

It's a Gazelle and will start a new thread if anybody is interested.

Go for it!. .Gazelle threads always seem to generate interest.

Jellycopter - I always think a good measure of a flying school is the number of helicopters they have trashed. Maybe FL can enlighten us on the current score at Heliflight, then we can decide for ourselves?

StevieTerrier

Sorry, I don't know Heliflight. Perhaps you meant MultiFlight at Leeds/Bradford? I've heard they are good - Mark Griffiths is an extremely good instructor. He taught me, and moved there when the school where I trained closed down. I don't know if he still instructs, or if they've 'trashed' any helicopters. Not sure that's such a good 'measure' of a school - surely the chances of an incident increase with the number of helicopters/students?

I'm only a PPL giving an opinion for what it's worth. There are others far better qualified than me to advise.

you might look at this another way maybe theres one coming . .or if they have had a accident the odds are they wont have another [my 10 pence worth ]

I've heard both good and bad reports of Heliair. Same for Helicentre, and Hields, and several others. Probably the same for every school in the country, if not the world, if you ask enough people.

So how do you decide? I wish I knew. I've always said I should have done more research before I did both my PPL(A) and PPL(H). But I don't know that it would have helped if I had, probably just made me more confused. <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

Cheers for all the advice/info. Think I'll have to visit a few places to get a feel for what they are like.

I did a half hour trial flight with Gary Ellson of Bournemouth helicopters last year and was impressed, he told me he would have me hovering within that half hour and he did along with several other manoeuvres.

Try East Midlands Helicopters at Costock (3 miles east of EME). Good friendly training school.

Interesting assortment of posts.. .Some genuine recommendations based on personal experience, some not quite the 'independent' recommendations they appear to be.

Heli schools UK
 

I am looking for info on schools in the uk i want to do a JAA heli CPL/ALTP i already have an FAA Comm in info would be appreciated
as to which schools are good/deliver on time etc

The hard part will be the writen exams (figure if your flying in Saudi, you must already have some big numbers in your book). I did a course with Bristol ground school (advertised on this site), and can recommend them without hesitation. Enjoy the home work!:)

helicopter training schools
 

Hi Everyone !!

I'm looking for a training school. Does anyone have any know;ledge of Elstree / Panshanger or cambridge. Has anyone trained with heliair Panshanger ? Any women ever trained there ?

CF:
This is a minefield.
Show me any FTO in the world and I'll find you two people, one who won't hear a word said against it, the other who hates it like poison.
You'll get a subjective judgment from anyone you ask. Flying schools are like shoes. One size doesn't fit all.
In the area you're looking at, there are a number of schools. Why not visit them all? You could have fun doing it. They'll welcome you - it's a bad school that doesn't try to impress a potential customer.
It's worth going further afield, too. I think there are helicopter schools at High Wycombe, White Waltham, Denham, possibly Stapleford. Other posters here could give you a better steer.
Your first impressions count for quite a lot. If the place is clean and friendly, that's good. You're going to have to feel comfortable hanging out there, for quite a long time.
Talk to the staff, talk to the instructors. You'll often get good reports from students, because they have nothing to compare their school with. In my humble opinion, it's better to have some old greybeards around - if all the instructors look like they were recently weaned, that would put me off.
Check out how many helicopters they have, or have access to. Lots of students lose out because if a school only has two machines and one goes tech, you're jiggered.
See how long they've been in business. Bad schools don't last.
I've seen lots of people go into an FTO as if they were joining a family. You're not - you're laying out a lot of money for a professional service. Make it clear you're sizing them up, be cynical and don't accept vague answers.
There are many more good schools than bad.
You've made a brilliant decision already, in deciding to go for it. Good luck with the rest.

Had some experience with Cambridge Helicopters and can certainly recommend them in terms of thoroughness and knowledge of their instructional staff. Plus the benefits of learning at an airfield with full ATC facilities, and flexible controllers used to the bizarre requests often given on training flights... Know they have had some females through on their PPL courses in the past.

Recommend a visit to all the schools you're considering. Try and chat to some of the people learning there at the time as well as the instructors...

I too have experience of Cambridge Helicopters; mainly the experience that I gained my PPL(H) there. There is a definate advantage in having loads of uncontrolled airspace within 2 minutes flying time and the full ATC (and highly flexible) facility certainly makes things easier for the student. It is also helpful having the space of an airport with a fraction of the traffic.
I can't speak highly enough of the instructional staff who on many occasions went out of their way to asisst me during my training there.
Their ab initio training is done on R22 as you might imagine although they also have R44 available and B206. They now handle the training requirements for Aeromega at Stapleford so not much point looking although I am unaware if anyone else trains down there.

CF
Yours is a question which comes up quite regularly on Rotorheads.
As tain't natural says, you get different opinions depending who you ask.
If it's any help to you, the flight school in the areas you mention which consistently gets the most good recommendations is HeliAir at Denham.

Good Luck whichever you choose.

Heliport

Heli Training Schools in Yorkshire?
 

Hi,
I'm considering starting my PPL(H), and I'm looking for a good flying school in Yorkshire. I am considering Helijet Aviation.
Has anyone studied there, heard any reports etc.

Thanks
Scott

heilds at sherburn
mulfiflight at leeds
heliyorks at sandtoft and leeds and humberside
and there are lots of private instructors around
send pm for any other details

steve

edited
sorry there is also helijet at leeds and i have not heard any thing bad about them either

Should we not??:eek:

Soz... but I learned there and I'd be back there in a flash.

I fly at HeliAir now (when I can afford it), I have no doubt they are most capable... but as far as training with them goes I can't comment.

When it comes down to it only CF can decide where seems best for his needs.

What a curious remark Up & Away. :confused:
I didn't train at HeliAir, never instructed there and can't speak from personal knowledge about how good or bad their PPL courses are.
However, because training questions come up frequently on the forum, I make a point of noting which schools or Instructors are most oftem recommended in particular areas.
All part of the Rotorheads service to help aspiring pilots. :)
I would have happily recommended the school where I did my original training but it closed years ago and wasn't in the areas CF specified.

[edit]
Ah! Now I remember. (I'm not as tired this morning as when I posted last night.)
You're the flying instructor who "advised" on a previous thread that Cambridge Helicopters was the "only" place to do an instructors rating. :rolleyes:
Independent recommendations from satisfied customers are permitted on PPRuNe. People plugging themselves or their schools is not, partly because we don't allow free advertising but mainly (in this context) because we don't want people who ask for advice being misled into thinking they are being given independent advice when it's nothing of the sort.

smyers

I don't know any of the instructors so this is no reflection on them but I know the HeliJet company and I wouldn't use them myself except for fuel.

Otherwise, I agree with md 600 driver.


[Edited after exchange of posts with Stevie Terrier]

Hoverman.

Would you like to pop in and have a coffee sometime so that we can discuss old times??

Regards.

Amended after an exchange of posts with Hoverman

You've got some good choices in Yorkshire.

Heilds. Some good reports here a while back

Multiflight. I've heard good reports on and off this forum.

HeliYorks. If that's Jeff Day, I've heard he's a good instructor, very experienced. If not, don't know anything about them.

Heli-Jet Aviation. IF that's the school just off the airport, owned by the car dealer, I've heard reports but won't repeat them here. If it's not the same place/same owner, can't help.

I'm only a PPL in the rotary world but I know from experience your choice of school can make a big difference to the total cost of getting your licence and to the type of pilot you are at the end of the day.
Choose carefully and very cautiously.


Stevie Terrier
Newcomers often ask for advice on the forum. I can understand you must be p*ssed off but isn't it a bit OTT to start threatening lawyers. Aren't people entitled to say 'I know the school and I wouldn't go there myself'. That can't be against the law or slanderous.
Don't we owe it to people like smyers who ask for advice to tell it as we see it? Or should we clam up? Or only say good things?