aussiecop

I agree on the boatpix for low budget training. How do they train you while your flying boat photo missions. The $230 rate is ballpark for most operators in that area though. So from a canadian spandpoint, if you do your training in the US, it's not tax deductible? Even if you are spending your hard earned Canadian dollars?

Hi all, I have a buddy (and this isn't one of those "I have this friend" when it's me asking, I am not a CFI lol) who is exploring the options for assisting pilots from other countries get their FAA ratings in the pacific northwest and also working with a flight school in Canada to do the CAA transition on returning. The school has been in operation for over 20 years and does do the occasional international student, but they have not looked into doing it on a larger basis yet. They have housing available on a first come first serve basis and their rates are $230 an hour wet, with instructor in an R22. Is that something that would offer Canadian students a significant cost saving to do either one rating or PPLH through CFI or Commercial? I don't have any idea of how much a 22 plus instructor costs up there in the north, but I said I would put it out there for him to see if there was enough interest for him to pursue the legwork on what is required for visa's/conversions etc so that he can give a full picture to anyone interested on estimated costs. This is not a Bristow type operation where they want all the money up front, this is pay by the hour or by whatever block the student wants to pay for. That way there is no issue if the student doesn't want to continue and they are not out any money. Thoughts and input would be appreciated.

Not yet, my company made the last EC135 and its only partially functional as it was made in 2006 before many advancements were made. The ones closest to fully replicated would be the AS350/355. There are some severe limitations to helicopter modelling in FSX unfortunately that prevent certain things being able to be replicated properly, specifically auto's and VRS etc.

Great input Swamp, thanks for adding to the discussion

I like to refer to myself as the coolest nerd I know because I fly helicopters lol

Do you have the dodosim Bell 206? from www.dodosim.com it's the most realistic helicopter on the market for MSFS, I have been able to simulate IFR no problem with it and as long as you have your realism sliders maxed and put the internal realism up to level 5 on the helicopter and have a dual controller such as the saitek X52 that has a seperate collective and cyclic control coupled with a set of pedals its almost as good as using a 20K sim for realism. There are hundreds of programs that work for moving maps with approach plates airport diagrams etc such as the electronic flight bag (I can't remember the manufacturer but a google search should get it) and the free program called Plan G. If you need more detailed info on anything shoot me an email at ryan@nemethdesigns.com

I meant to include Heather's FTD in my original post Elan, but the work computer was not playing ball. I think on a financial level for individual pilots, your right, $400 an hour vs. $40-50 total no brainer. I think helicopter companies are also coming to the same conclusion on both a financial and business sense.

@MMike, I believe as part of the new forums, if you go into your personal options you can select how many posts you see per page

In the helicopter industry we as pilots have mixed feelings about simulators, but like it or not the FAA seems to think they are worth it as to more and more companies and training organizations. If you know of a training organization that has a great simulator, feel free to post pics of their setup and links to their websites here as a central place for pilots or trainees to find what they are looking for. Here is a link to our friends at Colorado Heli Ops Colorado Heli Ops Website Who have 2 Frasca True flight H models available for use. Dennis, Bentley and the team at Heli Ops know the value of FTD's and ensure that all students have time in their simulators.

Comments and discussion on this topic is welcomed

Welcome All, I suggested this forum to Elan and she has been gracious enough to put it up, this forum will hopefully become your place to come for everything simulation based, from desktop simulation to multimillion dollar commercial simulation products. I have been involved in the simulation area of helicopters for the last 10 years from desktop simulation to full blown commercial operations. I am a software developer for an addon helicopter maker for the Microsoft Flight Simulator X (FSX) product line as well as a scenery developer for the FSX leader in scenery development as well as a novice component developer for commercial simulator products. My vision for the simulation side of the helicopter industry is to see everyone flying in a simulator that can not only simulate the feel of the helicopter, but simulate all emergency procedures and give you the "real" feeling of being in the helicopter, to the point where you exit the simulator experience sweating from the forced auto that you just performed. Here are some pictures of what I see the graphical side of simulation being in some simulators and the products that are available to turn it into a realistic simulation experience. Frasca Commercial simulators graphics FSX Orbx addon scenery for a home computer I look forward to other users input