Get Free-ArticlesA Myriad of Articles

5 Key Steps Towards Your Commercial Helicopter Pilot’s Licence
By Neil Tufano

For most people who learn to fly helicopters, getting their private licence will be sufficient challenge. For someone with the commitment to go beyond this stage and make a career with helicopters, commercial helicopter training will be the next stage; here are five key steps towards making your dream of holding a commercial pilot licence for a helicopter come true:

Have you got what it takes for commercial helicopter pilot training?
Skill and aptitude are essential. Flying is only part of the job and you must remember the importance of ground work, ongoing training, safety, maintenance and customer service too. The nature of the industry means that, as a commercial helicopter pilot, you must be able to relocate to where the work is, work irregular shift patterns and always give priority to safety.

Build a rewarding career with your commercial helicopter licence
Getting your commercial helicopter license opens the door to a potentially rewarding career. Initially, you’ll find yourself working hard to get hours and experience. With the right attitudes, experience (and a bit of luck) you could eventually find a challenging commercial position in the UK or abroad:

- Flying visitors to sporting events
- Inspecting electricity power lines
- Supporting oil and mineral exploration
- Heli-ski and heli-hiking operations
- Heli-logging
- Executive transfer
- Ferrying workers to oil rigs

Commercial helicopter training is hard work
Now you’ve got a taste for this exciting career, you need to focus on training.

1. First, you’ll need to hold a private helicopter licence.
2. Next, you’ll need to build 155 hours’ flight time.
3. Then comes commercial training. In the UK, this typically involves the CPL(H) modular course and passing ground exams.

You’ll then need to find a job. It isn’t easy; after helicopter training in the UK, pilots forever find themselves caught between ‘needing experience to get a job and needing a job to get experience’. The answer lies in your ability, persistence, sales skills, and willingness to do whatever it takes to build flying hours.

Accumulating hours for your CPL(H)
The 155 hours’ flight time needed for a CPL(H) can include the hours involved in getting a private licence; the remainder are normally gained by hiring helicopters. During this time, you may also be able to take additional helicopter courses to improve your skills.

The benefits of becoming a helicopter flight instructor?
Having achieved a commercial licence, you could also obtain your Flight Instructor’s rating. Getting this qualification will give you access to the helicopter training market; it’s also a great way to build valuable flight time and improve your own skills. To train as an instructor you’ll need the following:

- To have passed the Helicopter Commercial or ATPL(H) ground exams.
- 250 hours flight time, with 100 hours as pilot-in-command (PIC) if you hold CPL(H) or ATPL(H)
- 200 hours as PIC if you hold a helicopter PPL

Still interested in a helicopter course and a career as a paid pilot possibly running your own helicopter charter service? If you have the determination to succeed in your commercial helicopter training, you could take the first steps with Helicopter Flight Training from Rise Helicopters, a helicopter flight school.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Neil_Tufano
http://EzineArticles.com/?5-Key-Steps-Towards-Your-Commercial-Helicopter-Pilots-Licence&id=2674394

Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Facebook MySpace Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post