Commercial Helicopter Pilot Training

Commercial Pilots Licence (H)

For many people becoming a Commercial Helicopter Pilot is a dream, an itch that just won't go away.  It’s not an easy route to take, its expensive and time consuming and will take a tremendous amount of willpower and dedication to achieve this goal but the rewards of the job are indescribable and well worth the effort.  Below is the basic course and requirements.

The JAR Commercial Pilots Licence is the professional pilots licence that enables you to earn money from your helicopter flying.  There are two forms of licence, CPL (Commercial Pilots Licence) and ATPL (Airline Transport Pilots Licence).

As far as the flying goes it makes no difference to your course length but there are four extra exams to do for the ATPL.  Once you have completed the CPL flying course and exams you have a full CPL with a frozen ATPL.  You must then, within 5 years, gain an instrument rating.  You would only really be interested in ATPL if your long term plans were North Sea operations or a multi-crew environment.  For most single pilot helicopter activities a CPL is fine.

At Phoenix we offer the modular flight training course.  This means we offer the PPL (H) as one course of 45 hours training then structured self fly hire followed by a CPL (H) flying course, a course of 30 to 35 hours depending on whether you have a night rating.

The pre entry requirements for taking a CPL course are:

• Hold a Class 1 Medical Certificate

• Be the holder of a PPL(H) or ICAO CPL(H) issued in accordance with ICAO Annex 1

• Have completed 155 hours flight time as pilot in helicopters, including 50 hours as PIC of which 10 hours must be cross-country

• Have undertaken the theoretical ground school and achieved a pass in all 9 exams, 13 for ATPL

This seems very daunting and a long way off, but there are many ways to build hours - self fly hire, repositioning flights; maybe even do some flying abroad to expand your horizons.  You can also use this time to do some type ratings if finances allow.

During this time you will be studying for your CPL (H) ground exams.  There are 9 altogether for CPL and 13 for ATPL.  This is normally done as distance learning.  You send off to your learning provider for the text books, normally there is an internet correspondence learning between yourselves and before you sit the exams there is a brush up course of about two weeks to make sure you are ready for the exams.  The work itself is not that difficult but there is a large volume to get through.  This is estimated to be about 500 hours of reading depending on your ability.  We’ll cover the exams and ground work in more detail in a different section.  Once you have completed all the exams and have accumulated your 155 hours you can then do the CPL flying course.

The CPL (H) Flying Course

The aim of any CPL (H) Modular Course should be to provide the flight instruction necessary to train experienced PPL (H) or ICAO CPL (H) holders to the levels of proficiency necessary to pass the Skill Test for the issue of a JAR CPL (H).  If you looked at the two flight exams next to each other, PPL and CPL, you would not notice too much difference but there is a big difference.  For a PPL holder the examiner is looking mainly at safety.  For a CPL he is looking at professionalism because once he/she issues you with the licence they are accepting that you are capable of taking other people’s lives in your hands - a big responsibility!

The flying course itself is divided into three main parts with roughly ten hours on navigation, ten on skills and ten on instruments followed by five hours night flying if you don’t already have that as a qualification.  We highly recommend you to do the CPL course as intensively as possible, full time.  This should take between 2 weeks and a maximum of 6 months dependent upon the student and their obligations.

As part of your training you will be expected to show motivation and initiative.  There is not much in the way of theory but a good understanding of aviation and commercial operations will be encouraged and taught, particularly on your flight planning.  Much of what we will teach you is airmanship and decision making.

Ground Training

The ground exams have to be done prior to the CPL flying; there are a few distance learning providers but we recommend Caledonian Advanced Pilot Training.www.captonline.com.  We have built up a relationship with them and find from feedback that the course is highly recommended.  Unlike some providers it is entirely helicopter based and not a fixed wing course with a few helicopter bits added.  Distance learning means from home in your own time.  You are sent the learning material with internet questions and answer sessions.  The subjects are generally covered four at a time. The subjects covered are :

For CPL

• Aviation Law

• Aircraft General Knowledge

• Operational Procedures

• Human Performance and Limitations

• Navigation

• Meteorology

• Aircraft (General and Type)

• Aircraft flight planning and Performance

• VFR Radio Communication

Additionally for ATPL their subject matter is slightly more intense with the additional subjects of IFR Communications, and Mass and Balance.  You need to consult the latest Lasors for the full information.  If you are going for the instrument rating you may as well do the ATPL as this limits the exams for instrument because you have completed two of them.

Once you have completed your ground studies there are no extra exams to do on your CPL flying course but as a part of the course we will teach you to put all the elements you have learnt into practical use in a commercial helicopter environment.  These will include aircraft mechanics, in-depth flight planning, helicopter commercial operation and procedure.  We won’t just teach you to pass your skills test but will enhance everything you have learned so far.

Medical Certificate

You must have a medical certificate class 1 current before you undertake the course.  If you are just starting out we highly recommend that you do this before any flying.  A PPL only needs a Class 2.  It would be too much if you found after outlaying money on flying that you were colour blind in a particular spectrum.  Really they are only looking for things that would completely incapacitate you like diabetes or epilepsy.  Although the initial medical can only be done at Gatwick with the CAA, renewals can be done at a chosen CAA approved doctor.  In our links section you should be able to find a list.

Converting From Non JAR

In order to convert to a JAR CPL you must still fulfil all the requirements of a JAR CPL - basically you must have an ICAO CPL with 155 hours of flight time, pass all the relevant CPL or ATPL exams and hold a class 1 medical.  From there it differs slightly as there are no set hours to complete the course.  You will be required to have a flight with our CFI who will assess your level and set out a training plan with you.  You will have to do the hours required to pass a 170A (a dummy test with an examiner or senior instructor) and then your CPL skills test.  If you are converting from a CPL A, ATPL A there are some concessions for the ground exams.  This information can be found in LASORs or if you email us we will try to find the answers for you.  Converting from the military is also an option but again its best we look at your application on an individual basis as many cases vary but if you are converting from military please contact us before you leave as once you go out of currency it becomes much more difficult.

About Us

Phoenix Helicopter Academy is a specialist helicopter training school with a fast growing reputation for excellence.  We pride yourself on the individual attention we give to each student to meet their needs.  The company is owned and run by instructors who between us have been in the industry for a long time and have taken the best of our experiences to approach training in a new way.  Our instructors are very experienced and dedicated to instructing.  We are also all experienced commercial pilots and students get the opportunity to work very close to an commercial environment so unlike many schools that simply instruct you to pass a test Phoenix gives you a real head start in the industry.

We don’t allow new instructors to instruct on the commercial courses even under supervision.  We try to instil a very personal service where our students are not treated as a number but on a more personal basis.

Once you have completed the course we then carry on to help you in finding a job from interview techniques to using our facilities free of charge for C.V posting or anything else you require.  We also employ low hour pilots through our AOC as much of our work is easy.  This is not a guarantee as it is simply supply and demand.

Funding and Prices

Unfortunately gone are the days where scholarships and grants are available to those wishing a career as a helicopter pilot.  Nowadays the only option is self funding.  The total cost from zero to hero will be around £50,000 to £55,000. This seems very daunting but does not have to be paid in full in advance but can be paid over the full period of training.  After all a student these days will leave university with a debt of around £40,000.  Finance is always a very individual thing and every case is individual.  At our seminars we go into budgeting, finance and VAT in much greater detail.

The price for the CPL course is either based on an hourly rate or a pay in advance rate.  The price we show is all-inclusive of flying hours excluding VAT .  There are no additional costs for ground courses. The only additional costs are landing fees and VAT.  We do pay our CPL instructors more as we do not restrict them on lesson time as the CPL is more intensive than PPL.

Standard CPL hourly £265.00 plus VAT

CPL course in advance £9000.00 plus VAT

The above price is for thirty hours training.  The 170A fee, CAA exam fee and exam flight time are charged separately.  Funding for your course may be available as it’s a professional course and we will be happy to tell you your options.  An additional five hours may be necessary if you don’t have a night qualification.  Because this is a professional qualification CDL are available for the course.

Hopefully this has answered all of your questions regarding the course and requirements but feel free to attend one of our free seminars where we cover additional topics like funding, VAT, opportunities and routes to take.  More detailed information is available below in our EBook and if you have any further question please don’t hesitate to contact us.

CPL Training Document

Click the icon below to open up our CPL Training Document

Free Pilots Seminar

If you're interested in becoming a Commercial Pilot then this is your best first step. Completely free seminar with like-minded people where we simply give you the facts in helping you make up your mind.

The seminar is normally a half day event with a PowerPoint presentation and hopefully we will be able to answer all of your questions.

Please register your interest as there are limited places available. The Next Seminar will be on Sunday 4th March at 2-0-clock.  Click here to contact us and register for a seminar.