Rental rates

Flying_Nun

Flying_Nun

Line Up and Wait
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Flying_Nun
Curious about helo training so stopped by the local school. Ouch!

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That's not bad for helicopter training. It's about the double the price of airplanes.
 
Thought of getting the helicopter add on ,just can't justify the cost. That's a lot of AV gas.
 
I've had this stupid idea that at some point I'll own a helicopter and want to learn to fly them. At those rates, I don't think I'd do much helicopter flying past the initial rating unless someone else was footing the bill.

The rates listed here are a little higher than what the local FBO charges, but not by much. I live in the sticks though, which likely is what is keeping the price lower.
 
Keep in mind also that those are "minimums". We all know it could take longer then the amount published.

My PPL took me about 80 hours to complete, mostly due to flight instructor availability and an airplane type change midway (C162->C172). Cost me about 22K with materials to complete.
 
I was just curious. Makes the Cirrus at the same rate seem reasonable when factoring in speed. The chief instructor said typically 40 hrs even for the add on.


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Yep, helicopters are expensive, and worth every dime, they're that much fun. What I don't get is the rate for CFI rental. That seems exhorbitant.
 
I was thinking about using my GI Bill to pay for helicopter training ;)

Tomahawk674 said:
Time for gyrocopter training.
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I've looked into that. They seem kinda hard to come by if you don't have a gyrocopter yourself.
 
From my 15 seconds of googling, looks like you can buy a nice gyrocopter for $25K. I bet that wouldn't cover the rotor assembly on any helicopter out there. You can't hover but I hear you can fly reaaaal slow.
 
Flying_Nun said:
I was just curious. Makes the Cirrus at the same rate seem reasonable when factoring in speed. The chief instructor said typically 40 hrs even for the add on.


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Plus, the Cirrus can also pull off a vertical landing.

Once.
 
Gucci Pilot said:
I've looked into that. They seem kinda hard to come by if you don't have a gyrocopter yourself.
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I've also looked into gyrocopter training. I had very little success finding training available to people without their own gyrocopter.
 
I'll admit I haven't used the Google but is there a POA-esque forum for helo pilots?


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Those prices are high, but I've seen worse.

Helicopter forums:
www.verticalreference.com
www.justhelicopters.com

Many airplane pilots assume they'll get the add-on in the minimums. It's not common. Some of the generic knowledge is the same (weather, airport operations, navigation) and that saves some time, but everything that has to do with flying the aircraft is completely different, and often counter-intuitive for airplane pilots.

The students I've trained who aren't already pilots are typically ready for the checkride at around 45 hours. Despite the lower minimums, the add-on pilots I've trained and watched be trained haven't been ready any sooner.
 
OverTQ said:
Those prices are high, but I've seen worse.

Helicopter forums:
www.verticalreference.com
www.justhelicopters.com

Many airplane pilots assume they'll get the add-on in the minimums. It's not common. Some of the generic knowledge is the same (weather, airport operations, navigation) and that saves some time, but everything that has to do with flying the aircraft is completely different, and often counter-intuitive for airplane pilots.

The students I've trained who aren't already pilots are typically ready for the checkride at around 45 hours. Despite the lower minimums, the add-on pilots I've trained and watched be trained haven't been ready any sooner.
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Thanks for the forum links!

From what I've discerned you sit on the wrong side, use the pedals backwards (at least in hover), and pushing the "stick" forward does not begin a descent.




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Gerhardt said:
Yep, helicopters are expensive, and worth every dime, they're that much fun. What I don't get is the rate for CFI rental. That seems exhorbitant.
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Its so high because it cost them so much to get the rating and its proportional to the aircraft rental rate.
 
Super fun. But ask what their post rating rental limitations are. Can take all the fun and utility out of the rating. Unless you are going to buy your own, now you are back to super fun.
 
The helicopter add-on is the cover charge. No drinks, no lap-dances.
 
Phoenix said:
Super fun. But ask what their post rating rental limitations are. Can take all the fun and utility out of the rating. Unless you are going to buy your own, now you are back to super fun.
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My wife has told me that we'd never own an airplane. Never said anything about a helicopter though.


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One thing that helicopters far beat out airplanes for is the efficiency of training. One hour of training in a helicopter is one REAL hour of training - you are flying it from the instant it lifts off the ground in the parking spot until you touch back down in the parking spot. Not like an airplane, where some time is spent taxiing, run-up, waiting for other traffic so you can take off, then repeat after landing.

In a helicopter, if you have to hold for takeoff for traffic and are hovering, it's work! Hover-taxiing is work!

You can practice 30 landings in an hour and stay within a few hundred feet of where you started.

Plus, the skills you constantly practice while hovering and taxiing are the real skills you need anyway. In an airplane, the taxiing, while important of course, is ultimately just a means to get to the runway. Nobody flies an airplane in order to taxi, the taxiing is incidental to the real operation of the airplane.

I was never as worn out in one hour of airplane training as I was in one hour of helicopter training.

Worn out, yes, but having a great time!
 
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