My Flight Training in Florida.

By Rotorway Owner Martin Bunn.

In 1999 I took delivery of my Rotorway Exec 90 and building began. Many hours were spent in my garage and my helicopter began to take shape and as the build was progressing it was time to think about learning to fly, I had a trial lesson a few years earlier at fenland but the school had closed so my search began. I was quite fortunate with work as I could get long periods off. And after extensive research Helicopter Adventures (HAI) in Florida USA was chosen.

The reasons for this were at that time they had nearly 20 Schweizer 300 cb helicopters so aircraft availability would not be a problem and the weather should be better than the UK and this will allow maximum flight time each day, and at $165 an hour it was a lot cheaper. Helicopter adventures offer FAA and JAA training from private through to commercial Licences. So in January 2001 I started my training for the JAA Licence.

The flight school was very busy but very well organised as they helped with everything from documentation to accommodation. The weather was great and there was no problem with aircraft availability, instruction was superb and after 16hrs of instruction I few my 1st solo circuit .I gained my PPLH after 55hrs and had a great time, the instructors were very friendly and more than helpful, the only thing about learning in the US is the radio procedure as air space was less controlled and after a couple of calls and you were clear of the air field that was it until your return and I soon found out when back in the UK flying through controlled air space can be quite intensive and as a new pilot with white knuckles from gripping the controls so tight and your work load is high but as your experience grows and you become more relaxed you can devote a bit more brain capacity to your radio.

9 months later I did the 5hr type rating on the Rotorway with instructor and test pilot Iain King, I did this in one day and found it very tiring but with excellent instruction by Iain I passed my flight check and a month later I picked up my Rotorway from Southern Helicopters.

My next challenge is to gain my commercial helicopter licence and instructor rating, the Rotorway is a great helicopter that is very economical to run and I have used it for my hour building. I work as a paramedic on the Air Ambulance and have found this a great way of learning by watching the pilots and asking lots of questions and they are only too happy to answer and advise me. I would like to take this opportunity to thank David and Jonathan Bull for all their help and support they gave to me during the build.

Martin Bunn.

Learning to Fly in America.

By Rotorway owner John Tickner.

So, you’ve got the bug and want to be a helicopter pilot.  How, where, how much, how long, already it’s becoming a problem until suddenly, when all these discussions are almost made, someone mentions America. As a fixed wing student I’d arrive early at the airfield, then, high wind, rain or fog would sometimes clear in an hour or three, sometimes not at all. Not once but often this would happen so the idea of every day being warm, dry, clear and flyable seemed attractive. 

The more research I did the more attractive the idea. America, weather good, English speaking, FAA or JAA PPL(H), maps in English, teaching in English, lots of schools, some with a couple of elderly R22’s- very cheap, others bigger and more expensive but more reliable. I ended up choosing a big well known school in Florida with a fleet of 22 CBi Schweitzer’s all less than 18 months old plus 5 R22’s for the specialist courses of full instrument, sling operations, mountain flying and so on. The school boasted 28 instructors, teaching side by side the American FAA or European JAR licence. 

8 am each morning you’d be allocated an aircraft, do your own pre-flight, have a 10 to 20 minute pre-flight briefing with your own instructor then it was off on a long hover taxi to that departure point on the airfield for your particular task or exercise. Be it Southern,  Eastern or Western training areas, vast areas where safety segregation exists, high, medium or low altitude exercises took place at the same time, with, it seemed to me, each area chosen in relation to an element of danger, maybe to keep you alert!  

You are for example doing your very first ‘settling with power’ in that area but you can see and hear (everyone is on a common frequency) your pal Fred into his first 360 degree auto while trying to spot and miss the turkey sized birds that fly up at 2000 feet. A different area, trying to keep level within say 200 feet at a constant speed within about 20 knots on a steady course plus / minus 20 degrees but aware that the local microlite manufacturers also use that area for their test site and the fisheries and wildlife helicopters are there doing their work. On yet another site its approach and departure exercises, hover practice, low level and throttle chopping into soft marshy ground that looks like solid grass until you land. All the good flat grass land is full of cattle, fenced in to protect them from the Alligators. I thought alligators were supposed to lie half submerged waiting for that Australian Dundee character but no, they sunbathe! It certainly concentrates the mind whilst doing 360 degree spot turns. That area was my worst, doing hover practise about 20 yards from a river when up from the river suddenly swoops one of these air boats to confront my Schweitzer 2 feet off the ground.

 Having completed whatever that mornings task was its try to remember where the airfield was, carry out all the radio necessary to return inbound to base which is after all a fully operational Provincial Airfield with piston and jet commercial traffic and a barely understandable Texan ATC officer. After the debrief a chance to revise for the next flight, ground school or ever a test. Then if you are ready for it, the next flight.  This is monitored not only by yourself but also the instructors deciding when they think you’ve had enough and that a further flight of instruction may not be fully effective.

 On the subject of instructors, they are all rather special because it turns out they are the ‘best’.  They are the best because they have been chosen from ex-students and the company clearly can pick the best. Periodically they themselves are reviewed by their superiors and their superiors take a turn at instructing. This way teaching methods, schedules, progress and effectiveness of pupil/instructor mix are all monitored.

With around 50 students of all nationalities at any one time the easy going yet flexible and good humoured atmosphere really gets the whole set up working as a very efficient and very helpful team. The helpful and humorous theme is encouraged by light hearted micky-taking of those incidents we all wish we hadn’t done and awards and posted notices for ‘first solo’ and such like along with parties and organised trips around the area.  This of course means residential.  Residential covers a variety of possibilities from local ‘digs’, shared flats or on  airfield company accommodation. All this and hire cars, rentals and bus service can and generally is arranged by the company, everything in fact except your time away from work.

The word flexible was used regarding this company and its proved here in that clearly they prefer to run set starting times for a group of students but if you are able to adapt by joining a group that has already started, start before a new group or even do two or three weeks then return later to complete, its all possible although in this case you will do something in the order of 60 hours.  

So with all of these costs adding up is it worth it ?  Well for starters don’t even imagine that the American PPL(H) is easier, quite the opposite. From the foregoing you can see its well proven, well established with  more use of active commercial airfields, wider use of radio but all at lower cost particularly with the Dollar at its present state.  Food, accommodation and extendable return flights are all low cost and with high standards of instruction you will end up with training as good as anywhere in the world. So you see it’s well worth it. I opted to take the American FAA licence as its readily usable worldwide, does not require ECG’s for the medical, does not require 5 hours type approval for other helicopters and the medical itself costs only $35. 

There are some ways to reduce the time and cost.  Before you go to the States it’s possible and a good idea to study and take the radio exams and all the ground school exams and thereby get a pretty good theoretical knowledge of how to fly a helicopter, its not the same as actually trying to fly but you will be well on the way.  You could even save some flying time by spending some time on a simulator, it wouldn’t make you good enough to fly but could save you a few hours.  Five hours spent on Southern Helicopters simulator and you could be hovering in two !