Thinking Of Becoming A Heli Pilot...i Have Some Questions

[Jordan]

Thanks for the info guys. Another thing, the written test. You have more then 1 chance to pass? What is the passing mark? I'm not planning on failing it, but i would hate to spend all this money and not get my license becasue i can't pass the test. Also, is there an oral examination? I like that you can do your flight test over if you have to, but how long is the flight test, because the cost of the heli to do the test is not included in the course and i just want to find out how many hours i will have to rent a heli to take the test. Thanks guys.

 

Jordan

[Cole]

I hear just over 2. But you should really focus on passing the test rather then what you would do if you failed it.

 

As for the written, its 3.5 hours 100 questions and the pass mark is 60% overall with a minimum of 60% for each of the sections which include MET NAV AIRLAW and GEN

 

"Applicants who obtain 60% or more on the main examination (PPHEL or CPHEL), but who fail one or more mandatory subject areas will be assessed a partial pass. During one sitting they will be required to write supplementary examinations for each subject area failed." and i believe a full fail results in another exam.

 

This being said, yet again no instructor will reccomend a student who is not clearly ready to pass it.

 

As for the cost, the test isnt necessarily done after all 100 hours are complete so if cost is a large issue im sure you could cut the 2 hours off of your total course with little or no consequence. What is unclear to me is that these 2 hours do not fit the category of dual nor solo and therefor might actually have to be excluded from the license.

 

Interesting question. Hope this helps and ill dig a little deeper as to the hours on the exam.

 

Cheers and good luck to you,

Cole

[Jordan]

Thanks for the info Cole, sounds like you know the stuff. Just a question about the written test. My buddy is a commercial fixed-wing pilot, his test was multiple choice and the passing park was 70% he said, this would be over 10 years ago. Is the test still multiple choice, or is it all essay questions? Doing all the homework i can on this. Thanks man

 

Jordan

[Cole]

Every questions final answer is multiple choice, how you arrive at that answer is up to you. You are given 2 peices of paper, your own ruler, E6B flight calculator (slide ruler), pencil, pen, calculator and thats about it.

 

Im willing to bet the questions are the same as they were then haha. In fact the person at the desk probably hasnt changed either.

[Phil Croucher]

Jordan - the questions are very straightforward, unlike JAA where they try and trick you.

 

Once in the exam room, use the scrap paper to write down formulae you actually remember. Go through the questions once, and answer those you absolutely and positively know the answer to. Do the others later, because it's entirely possible to get the answer to one question in the text of another, or even some nearly identical, and you will pick them up in the overview. There's plenty of time, certainly enough to read each question twice, which sometimes you have to do because the wording is often strange. For example, correct numbers may be given in the multiple choices, but with the wrong units. So - read the questions carefully!

 

With a question you are not sure of, cover the answers with some scrap paper, read the question (carefully!) and answer it to the best of your ability. Then uncover the answers and see which one fits the best. If there's more than one, go for the most correct. Where no answers are correct, isolate the least wrong one. If you don’t know the answer at all, you are not penalized for a wrong answer so you might as well take your best guess (I usually pick the answer with the most words!)

 

Although there's a time limit, it's actually quite generous, and nobody cares how quickly you pass, just as long as you do, so don't rush, either.

 

As Cole says, concentrate on passing rather than what you would do if you fail, otherwise you are setting yourself up for failure!

 

Your subconscious doesn't distinguish between fears and wishes, so be FOR passing rather than AGAINST failure.

 

Otherwise, good luck!

 

Phil

[twinstar_ca]

good advice, phil and cole... :up:

[Cole]

Dont be concerned about the time, theres plenty... I was allotted 3 hours for my ppl and had all the questions once over and answered in just over 1 (70 minutes) and took another 40 to go over it again.

 

The format of the exam allows you to bookmark qestions so what i did was bookmarked the hard questions on the first run through then ran through them all again, then the bookmarked ones. Worked for me.

 

Seems to me in every question the most legal dialect filled answer was the correct one (jargin if you will). Also it seems that the test is actually on your knowledge of the english language, one or two questions in the airlaw section had me trying to guess what a word meant.

 

Cheers,

Cole

[412driver]

I hear just over 2. NOT TRUE, SHOULD NOT TAKE MORE THAN 1.5-1.7

 

As for the written, its 3.5 hours 100 questions and the pass mark is 60% overall with a minimum of 60% for each of the sections which include MET NAV AIRLAW and GEN

 

TRUE (a good school will prepare you. my students always score in the 90's)

 

 

no instructor will recommend a student who is not clearly ready to pass it.

 

VERY TRUE

 

As for the cost, the test isnt necessarily done after all 100 hours are complete so if cost is a large issue im sure you could cut the 2 hours off of your total course with little or no consequence. What is unclear to me is that these 2 hours do not fit the category of dual nor solo and therefor might actually have to be excluded from the license.

 

You can flight test as early as 75 hours if written complete and your instructor recommends you for flight test. I have heard of this but never seen this done. I have recommended at 88 hours with the student able to do some 206 time to the end of their course. The flight test is written down as solo as the candidate is PIC for the flight. When it comes to flight test you will be ready flying wise. I always tell my students, keep mentally focused. The flight test is 10% flying and 90% mental ability. In other words: keep your S#&T TOGETHER!

[Cole]

Thinks for the update on the flight test 412, and the extra info (good to know im not giving out false info haha)

 

Ive heard of a reccomend at 82 but there was 7 more hours befor the examiner came available.

 

Personally Jordan youll have to remember that for many reasons the mark you recieve refltects on your school and your course and the reccomending instructor... If transport sees a whole bunch of fails in a row from one school #### hits the fan so to speak. For that matter if the school fails one student its quite a major black mark on their part.

 

Also bear in mind that if an instructor (at a reputable school... GSH falls under this categoery if thats where you end up) feels youre not going to be able to fly the helicopter at all (small percentage of people that just dont get the feel of it i guess) they will either send you for a ride with the cfi or notify you of any problems you have. They are obligated to do this, an american company was sued for this very reason, they allowed a student to keep training after not being able to attain a consistant flight after 60 or 70 hours and just kept letting him fly under the assumption that it would just click some day. He succesfully sued the school as an instructor testified to knowing very early on that he was not going to get it.

 

-Vertical referance forum

[volition]

Got recommended at 80.....had to wait around for the transport guy, so did the flight test at 85, first one on the west coast to do the new 4 point system in my school!