Learning to fly a helicopter is a dream for many people. Years of watching pilots fly helicopters on TV and in movies have made it one of the most exciting and sough after hobbies and occupations. For many people, flying a helicopters seems like an unreachable goal due to the cost, time commitment, and other factors.
Flying a helicopter can be an exciting and rewarding hobby if you are interested in learning something that is both challenging and fun. You can also turn your love of helicopters into a career by becoming a professional helicopter pilot or instructor for other soon to be pilots.
In this article we’ll show you the path you can take to learn how to fly a helicopter. Regardless of if your plan are to fly a helicopter for fun or as a career some day, everything you need to know about becoming a helicopter pilot is right here.
Qualifications
The first thing we need to cover are the qualifications to become a helicopter pilot. These are the requirements you need to meet to even be eligible to hold a helicopter certification.
- Age: You must be at least 16 years old to earn your private helicopter pilot certification. (More on the different types of licenses later in this article) If you eventually want to earn your commercial helicopter pilot license, you’ll have to be at least 17 years old for that.
- English Proficiency: In order to earn any helicopter license the FAA requires you to be fluent in English. This includes the ability to read, write, speak, and understand English fluently. This is in place primarily for safety reasons so that everyone can communicate clearly and fly by the same set of rules.
- Medical Exam Certification: In order to be cleared to fly you’ll also need to pass an FAA medical exam. We have an entire guide on this here on our site. You can read it here: FAA Medical Exam Guide
If you meet these requirements, you’re ready for the next step in your journey to become a helicopter pilot.
Types of Licenses & Their Requirements (goals?)
The next thing you need to think about is what your goals are as a helicopter pilot. Do you want to learn to fly as a hobby and something fun and exciting to do on the weekends? Or, are you considering a career as a helicopter pilot?
Let’s take a look at the different types of helicopter pilot licenses along with their requirements and what they allow you to do.
Private Pilot – Helicopter License
This is the first certification or license you’ll earn on your journey to become a helicopter pilot. This will allow you to rent a helicopter and fly for your own enjoyment. It also allows you to fly a helicopter for charitable events and for search and rescue flights as managed by an agency.
This license does NOT allow you to fly with passengers or to charge (make money) as a helicopter pilot.
Here are the requirements for earning your Private Pilot Helicopter License as stated by the FAA.
- 40 hours of total flight time
- 20 hours of flight training with an authorized instructor
- 3 hours of cross country flight training in a helicopter
- 3 hours of night flight training
- One cross country flight of at least 50 nautical miles (at night)
- 10 takeoffs and 10 landings (to a full stop)
- 3 hours of flight training preparing specifically for the practical test
- 10 hours of solo flight time in a helicopter
- 3 hours of cross country flight time (solo)
- One solo cross country flight of at least 75 nautical miles total distance, with landings at at least 3 points, and one segment of the flight being at least 25 nautical miles between take off and landing
- 3 takeoffs and 3 landings to a full stop at an airport with an operating control tower
- Pass written test
- Pass oral test
- Pass practice flight test
As you can see, this isn’t the type of training that you’ll be able to run through in a matter of a few weeks or just take a few weekend classes. It takes time to learn all the necessary skills to fly a helicopter safely.
Important Note: The times listed above are the minimums. For a vast majority of students, you’ll actually end up needed more time than what is listed. Very few students finish training and earn their license after just the minimum instruction. The same goes for the remainder of the helicopter pilot license types listed below.
Commercial Pilot Helicopter License
This is the next type of helicopter pilot license. In addition to allowing you to do everything you could do with the private pilot license, it will also allow you to work and make money as a helicopter pilot. This is the license you’ll want to shoot for if you plan on making a career of your helicopter training.
Here are the requirements to earn your commercial helicopter pilot license:
- Hold a current private pilot license
- Must log at least 150 hours of flight time as a pilot
- Of the above 150 hours – 100 hours must be in a helicopter
- In addition, fulfill all requirements around night flight, pilot in command training, and cross country flight
- Pass a written
- Pass oral test
- Pass practice test flight
As you can see, this is an even much larger commitment than the private helicopter pilot license. The reason for this is that you’ll have to meet very high training and safety standards to fly professionally.
Commercial Flight Instructor Rating
Although this is technically not a license, this is an additional rating onto your commercial helicopter pilot license that allows you to teach others how to fly a helicopter.
Here are the requirements:
- Hold a current commercial helicopter pilot license
- Log at least 15 hours as pilot-in-command in helicopters
- Pass written test
- Pass oral test
- Pass practical flight test
After meeting the above requirements, you’ll be able to make money as a helicopter pilot instructor.
Helicopter Instrument Rating
This next item is also an additional rating that you earn once you have your commercial helicopter pilot license. This allows you to fly in more conditions and in different situations.
The requirements for the helicopter instrument rating are:
- Hold at least a private helicopter pilot license or be in training to earn one
- Log 50 hours of cross country flight as pilot in command (at least 10 in helicopters)
- Log 40 hours of flight by reference to instruments only
- 20 hours of the above time may be logged with the use of a flight simulator
- Pass oral test
- Pass the written test
- Pass practical test flight
Once you’ve earned this rating, you’ll have taken on some of the more difficult flying conditions and be ready for what many consider the be the greatest achievement as a helicopter pilot.
Airline Transport Pilot Helicopter License
This is the cream of the crop. Once you’ve earned this license, you’ll be able to fly passengers (even for pay) as a helicopter pilot. The training and flight hours required are significant as you can imagine since you’ll be responsible for not only yourself but your passengers.
The requirements to earn an airline transport pilot helicopter license are:
- Hold a current commercial helicopter pilot license with instrument rating
- Be at least 23 years old (notice the increase here)
- Log at least 1200 hours of pilot flight time
- Those 1200 hours must include 500 hours of cross-country time, 100 hours of night flying, and 75 hours of instrument time
- Meet additional flight requirements as regulations require
- Pass written test
- Pass oral test
- Pass practical flight test
Getting Started with a Test Flight
All of the information you just read through makes this process sound daunting. In reality, you’ll take it one step and a time. You’ll slowly learn and practice as you prepare for your first license, and then decide if you want to continue on from there.
For many people just earning the private helicopter pilot license is the end goal. This will let you fly helicopters as an enthusiast and have a great time. You can always take on more training down the road if you decide to do so.,
The important thing is that instead of getting overwhelmed, you take that first step.
Costs
As you can imagine (and might have already heard) becoming a helicopter pilot is not cheap. Below is a break down of how much you can expect to spend to learn to fly helicopters.
Keep in mind that the prices listed below are estimates and can differ based on many factors including prices set by individual schools, region you’re in, types of training, and more. This is a good starting point, but I would strongly consider asking more detailed questions when you visit flight schools and take a test flight.
Also, the below price estimate include the cost of ground instruction, testing, aircraft rental, and flight training.
Cost of Private Pilot Helicopter License – $12,000 to $15,000
Cost of Commercial Pilot Helicopter License – $30,000 to $35,000
Cost of Flight Instructor Rating: $10,000 to $15,000
Cost of Instrument Rating: $11,000 to $14,000
Cost of Helicopter Transport License: At this point it would just be a matter of getting all the required flight time. This would cost as much as $500 per hour, but most people would never go about it that way. Instead, most people work as commercial pilots or instructors to get flight time while they are working instead of paying for it.
Consider being a helicopter flight instructor
If you’re still wondering how in the world you’ll pay for all that flight training, here is one option that helps lower the overall cost for a lot of students.
Becoming a flight instructor means that instead of paying for those 1200 hours of flight training to earn your transport license, you can instead teach others and earn money while you gain experience and flight time. That way, you are not only making a little bit of extra money teaching lessons, you’re saving even more by not having to pay out of pocket for hundreds of hours of flight time.
How Long to Earn Your Helicopter Pilot License
The time it takes each student to earn their helicopter license varies depending on may factors. The two largest factors are:
- How much time you have to dedicate to flight training/education
- What level of license you are looking to obtain
If you have other responsibilities in your life (job, family, etc) it can take quite a long time to get some of these licenses. The best advice is to start with the private helicopter pilot license and take your time. Dedicate as much free time to it as you can and learn as much as you can.
You won’t complete any of this overnight, but if you stick with it and practice, you can earn your private pilot license in as little as a few months.
If your goal is to go all the way to the highest rating and become a passenger pilot, keep in mind that most of students in that program are also either flight instructors or commercial helicopter pilots. Those jobs allow you to earn valuable flight time and experience while earning money instead of spending it.
Helicopter Pilot Income
Due to the hard work and dedication it takes to earn a helicopter pilot license, it is a very specialized skill. Because of that, it can be a very financially lucrative field to go in. After all, there are only so many people willing to put in the time and work it takes to accomplish this task and earn their helicopter pilot license.
If you dream of flying helicopters for more than just a hobby and want to have a career as a helicopter pilot, make sure to take a few minutes to read our helicopter salary article. It gives you a much more detailed breakdown of the salary of a helicopter pilot depending on things like experience and line of work.,
FAQ
Is a college degree requires to become a helicopter pilot?
A college degree is not required for any of the helicopter pilot licenses. So, if you plan to fly as a hobby, not having a college degree won’t be an issue. If you plan on flying professionally, things might be different. Although a bachelor’s degree is not required for the license, many employers prefer candidates with at least an associates degree if not a bachelor’s degree.
How much does it cost to rent a helicopter?
If you’re excited to start flying helicopters in your free time as a hobby after earning your private helicopter pilot license, you might be wondering how much it costs to do so. Rates depend greatly on the part of the country/world you’re in and the helicopter you’re renting.
As a general rule, you can expect to pay in the range of $500/hour for a small private helicopter to fly for yourself. Larger aircraft can get significantly more expensive.
Conclusion
Learning to fly a helicopter is a challenging but rewarding adventure to go on. There’s a certain level of satisfaction from an accomplishment like this that you can’t quite get with anything else. It might take a long time and require a lot of hard work, but in the end it will be worth it.
If you’re interested in taking the first step and seeing if learning to fly a helicopter is for you, I would recommend you go ahead and get a discovery flight scheduled. Keep an open mind and enjoy yourself. You might have just found a hobby you’ll be glued to for the rest of your life.
