Helicopter Instructor Training

The Flight Instructor Licence FI(R)(H)

There is a shortage of Flight Instructors currently, so many commercial pilots train to be a flight instructor and get their first job teaching people to fly. The satisfaction of seeing a student’s enthusiasm as they learn to fly, coupled with knowing you are being paid to fly, is immense.

Becoming a Flight Instructor is a challenge. The course begins with a pre-entry test to ascertain your flying abilities: after all, if you’re going to teach you need to have mastered the art of flying a helicopter. There are 125 hours of ground school and 35 hours of flight training. All of it is based around teaching a student to fly helicopters to gain their PPL(H). Good instructors understand how to make learning to fly safe and fun, bringing the classroom to the student, often 2500 feet in the air.

The course is usually intense and held in small groups of 3 or 4. You will learn about the psychology of presenting information and how people learn. You will be taught how to measure how well a student is doing and what advice you can offer to help them achieve their dream of becoming a helicopter pilot. Throughout the course your instructor will be not only your teacher but a student to practice on, simulating a student pilot’s ability. You’ll be able to recognise common mistakes a student pilot makes, so you can correct them and teach them what works better.

Giving lectures, briefing students and then taking them flying will become second nature as you learn to fly the helicopter and teach from the co-pilot's seat.

Your final flight test will also be challenging as you brief your examiner and then teach the briefed exercise in the air. This will be followed by a number of further short impromptu lessons in the air, including an autorotational landing at the airfield. In the afternoon you’ll be asked to teach a range of subjects for four hours from the PPL syllabus, perhaps explaining cold fronts, how an altimeter works, rules of the air..........

If you would like further information about the FI (H) course and the other training available from Heliflight or, for our current price give our office a call and we will be happy to help.