Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

2 Answers

Where to start?

Asked by: 3670 views
General Aviation, Helicopter

I'm interested in becomin a commercial helicopter pilot. I'm still in high school, but I want to know now so I know what I'm gettin myself into. If you can tell me the steps I need to take,(what I need to do after/durin my last high school years to prepare) and the requirements I have to have to get my license, I'd greatly appreciate it! Thank ya'll.

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

2 Answers



  1. Matthew Waugh on Feb 02, 2012

    You either need a lot of money or a career in the military.
     
    If you go the military path, and qualify, they will teach you how to fly helicopters.
     
    If you go the lot of money path – that’s what you need. Helicopter training is expensive (I was just looking a Web site offering an R44 for dual at $500/hr). The other advice often given to people looking to make a career in aviation is to get a degree. Some say in aviation, some say in something else for those times when aviation work is not available.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Curtis Ide on Feb 06, 2012

    If you are interested in helicopters and you are interested and can qualify for military flying that is the way to go.  Helicopter training is very expensive.  I wouldn’t be suprised if you spend upwards of $100,000 to make it through commercial training in a helicopter – As Matt said some helicopter training is way up there but even an R22 with instructor will run you $300.00/hr and you need 250 hours or more.  Then once you have your license you still will have to pay your dues. 
    Fixed wing (airplanes) are cheaper for training and you can switch to helicopters but it will still cost you about the same or more.   The airplane ratings generally run about $50,000 depending on what you are looking for. 
    I would suggest talking to some university’s that offer flight training.  I am not sure which ones may have helicopter training but some of the big schools are – Embry Riddle, University of North Dakota, Ohio State, and Univerity of Ohio, University of Tenn. (i think, it’s in Nashville area), and many others.  If you aren’t interested in college there are a lot of professional pilot courses in Florida. You may start by looking at Flight Safety’s website. 
    Good luck.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.