Costs

[Cole]

In Canada is it cheaper to get your CPL(fixed wing) and then Get your CPL(Rotory) or just go straight for the helicopter?

 

 

Just considdering some options, BTW i dont plan on being a fixed wing pilot commercially just for fun, I am going to hold my ppl(fixedwing) pretty quick (about 1.5 years)

 

Thanks Again, Cole

[Cole]

Nevermind, just looked at it, if I go for my cpl(RW) and pass, then all i have to do is add a few hours to my ppl(fw) and take the goundschool for the CPL(FW) and then take the tests, so no its not cheaper but one will save money on the other

[windslapper]

Hey Cole,

You can do your commercial fw and then do a sixty hour course to add on a cpl(h)

As many have pointed out though, that will get you competing with other low timers already 40 hours behind them. If most companies look at your 100 hour ticket as 'you now have a license to start learning'! You can imagine what they will think of 60.

Also you will not have time to fit in many of the other training opportunities such as barrel slinging, mountain landings and vertical reference. They may be small tastes in the confines of a 100 hour course but nice to do with an instructor the first time instead of someone checking you out for possible employment.

[Cole]

Thanks. I pretty much figured that if there is a slightly extended course to make sure you know as much as you can than how is half of that supposed to teach you anything ?

 

Thanks again, Cole

[RB]

I would go with the fixed wing first ( plus a float rating with some bush time) then the 60 hour conversion. With the fixed wing license you will learn the basics of flying and by the time you are finished you will have about 260 hours TT instead of 100 TT. Like most people say, its being in the right place at the right time. plus having the right attitude and personalitly play the biggest part in getting employment. Good Luck.

[Cole]

you can work it both ways, so, I want to be Mainly A heli guy, and keep FW for fun, so... i think i might get the heli first then upgrade commercial on my fw liscence to get some more total time, I plan on taking a 115 hour course in kelowna, then after a while get my fw into commercial

 

I think I have a plan, Cole

[Cole]

On another note, I just put the downstroke on my Groundschool for my PPL(FW) :up: gonna log some serious hours in the summer :up: if you would like to donate to the "Cole needs his PPL Foundation" Please PM me immediatly

 

 

 

Cole

[RB]

you should compare the cost to get the FW the then the RW conversion. and then the RW with the FW conversion. Im pretty sure you would benifit with the FW first. you will learn the basics of flying, like radio work and naviagation before flying helicopters. Once you start flying heli's you can focus on the fundamental heli skills. like hovering, autos, confined areas and slininging. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

btw. All of the pilots at my company have at least a private fixed wing.

[Cole]

Like I stated i am planning to get my PPL(FW) pretty quick, and im very confident in my radio skills already as a student, also it doesnt take 40hrs to learn radio over more advanced opps, most pilots I have talked to say that it is bettter to have time to practice opperations then radio, so what is the major benifit(s) to training fw first if I am already confident in my radio work?

 

Im not here to start arguments, nor am I trying to but rather learn as much as I can about the benifits, what if I just got my ppl(fw) and learn radio through it? and a little IFR some stuff like that?

 

Gone for the night, Cole

[Ryan]

I've heard from a few heli instructors, including mine, that they can always tell a student who has fixed wing time. They are generally faster at learning the basics of how to fly a helicopter. Five minutes into my 1st training flight my instructor could tell I had fixed wing time. I did my 1st solo at 13 hours while the rest of the class, with no prior flying experience, did it at about 20.

My instructor and I talked about it a few times and he wishes every student could get at least 10 hours FW time before jumping in a helicopter. Not for the radio work or the theory or circuits, but just getting out there and feeling the controls. For the most part a helicopter in flight is controlled pretty much like an airplane. There are a few slight differences, and it's more responsive and has a collective. Hovering of course is a whole other monster.

Same goes for the instrument training in a helicopter...whole other monster. I did a little time with a hood on in a Cessna and it's a cakewalk compared to doing it in a helicopter. The scans are the same, but a helicopter is so unstable that without being able to see outside for visual cues, your flying skills you've only recently learned go down the toilet. You take your eyes off the Turn/Bank indicator for less than a second and you end up in a 30 degree bank. By the time you do your 5 hours in the hood you've improved a lot and can now fly that way, but it's easily the most nerve racking 5 hours of the course.

So if you wanna go for the PPL FW give'er. It will make aspects of your heli training easier. :up: