The most fun way to learn, and the most fun trips with a PPL
 

Hi there, first post, so I hope I don't get flamed!
Learning to fly a helicopter is on my 'to do' list, and I think it's about time I got on to it. So I know there are heaps of threads about how to get your licence, but as with most things in life, I'm looking to do it a bit differently.

To get a PPL, can I 'gather' hours from anywhere?
For instance, if I were to travel around Australia, and get some hours all over the country, can I put them all together at the 50 hour mark and do the practical test?

One step further: Can I gather hours from Nz and put them towards an Aussie PPL licence?

Another step: Can I get hours from South Africa, UK, USA and put them towards an Aussie PPL licence?


Once you've got your PPL licence, I really like the idea of combining my love of travel/exploring with helicopter travel. How do I find out where I can land - for instance, if I wanted to travel round the Whitsundays by helicopter and 'island hop' other than having a yacht with it's own helipad on it, how do I know if I can land?

Helipom,

You have asked a lot of questions...but there is really one answer.

The "gathering" of the "50" hours is actually flight training, you can't jump shop and get 2 - 3 hours here and there. You need to find a school you are comfortable with, focus 100%, and do your training there and learn how to fly.

Sure, once you have a licence, you can fly at different places around Aus, providing you can persuade someone to hire you a machine with only 50 hours of flight time (!).

The balance of your questions will be answered along the way by your instructor etc.

Learning to fly is a major task, not something to be taken lightly. Commit to the project, or don't do it at all.

If you commit, you will be a safe pilot and have a lot of fun.

Arrrj

Helipom,

Following on from Arrrj, its a big process that needs genuine commitment but its worth the effort! I can't add much more re: licensing in Oz but what might be of use once you get the chance to build up your hours and get your PPL is 'Helipaddy' (or this google map which looks pretty nifty for a pint) https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/vi...w.k8UQIjg3PlHc

I don't know what their coverage is in Oz because it seems to be a European/North American thing but I have found that they are adding new sites fairly often and seem to be moving into new places around the world - if they don't have anything in Oz they might by the time you reach the point of having your licence? Friends of mine used it in the Bahamas to find places to land so I assume its useful for island hopping, but again I don't know much about flying in Oz.

Best of luck with the training - stay safe

I don't know if the answers have been clear about the "can I gather hours" question, maybe they have, but I just didn't get it that clearly.

If you choose to do as you say, and collect hours from around the globe as you travel, you can put those in your log book, and they will count toward the 50 hours you need in order to become a pilot.

However, think of it like learning something else, maybe driving a car, or how to be a surgeon.
You will take lessons from someone who will give you advice and training, you will spend a couple hours with this person learning how to, let's say keep the ball centred while in a climb. Then you are going to switch instructors and the first thing they will want to do is train you to keep the ball centred while in a climb, but you already know how to do that, so you will spend 15 minutes showing them that you can do that.
The next instructor will require you to demonstrate everything you've learned so far, and the next, etc.
So, by the time you're ready to solo, you will need to show this new instructor that you can do all the required things for solo, which will probably take you 2 or 3 hours to demonstrate.
Then, this instructor will be ready to have you solo, but your 3 hours are up, and you're going to be training on the other side of the world next week. So then you have to convince that instructor that you're ready to solo, which will take 2 or 3 hours, etc.


But let's look at it another way.
Let's say you have an instructor at your home airport, and you see them once a week or once every other week for instruction.
Then, you go for a trip to Tahiti and go down to the airport there and have a flight around the islands there, and the instructor signs your log book and you have an additional 2 or 3 hours.
But those hours, even though they will "count" for the 50 hours, won't really count, because you will not have learned anything more than you've already learned.
Meanwhile, you come back to your home airport and your instructor is impressed because you're practice in Tahiti shows in that you can maintain straight and level better than you could the week before.

In other words, "gathering" hours will mean that it will take longer and cost more to get your license, but when you're done you will have additional experience and have a head start on getting the hours that you will need to be able to hire a helicopter.


edit:
I have re-read this and it doesn't emphasise the most important point.
If you do decide to "gather hours" you should have a "home" airport and instructor, and get "all" your instruction from there.
When you go to other places and want to "gather hours" then go for a "joy ride" or "introductory flight" with another instructor, but get your real instruction "at home"

Just my short comment from the UK,

however you obtain your PPL(H) it needs to be done so you learn through the entire envelope of of ground to sky and back with complete competence , if you dont do it that way.. you WILL become a number on a sheet of deaths caused by accidental impact with mother Earth.

So do it right ..or not at all ...or hire a pilot to take you on your adventures..!

Peter R-B
Lancashire

Thanks all for the insight

I am definitely going to commit - i'm a total geek when it comes to deconstructing manual control tasks, and the learning process fascinates me - so I'm not the type to run before I can walk.
I thought that helicopters might be like some other hobbies I have where you get to a phase where you just need to get hours behind you - where your head knows what you should be doing, but the motor control / brain capacity just hasn't quite caught up to it so it's just a case of practice makes perfect.
That may have been an opportunity to fly in a different location, but it sounds like each lesson is something new, so perhaps it won't work in this scenario.

:ok:

that's just hovering, wait until you get to autos;)

to be fair, what you describe is actually what happens after you've got the certificate and are allowed to fly the craft by yourself