Helicopter Flight School » Professional Pilot Program

This course is targeted toward high school students and young adults looking to make a career out of flying helicopters. It will include 200 flight hours and get the student his/her private pilot license, instrument rating, commercial pilot license, CFI, and CFII. Students will be expected to fly at least 5 days/week and at least 3 hours/day with at least 2 hours of self-study time at home.

Aircraft Owner Private Pilot
This course would focus on taking a more slow approach to getting the student through his/her private pilot check-ride because he/she is not likely to continue training after he/she receives his/her certificate. There will be an extra emphasis on off-airport confined space approaches and takeoffs because the student is likely to be landing in his/her own backyard. In the later stages of training, the student should be exposed to full-down autorotations. This course will be approximately 60 - 80 flight hours.

High Density Altitude Course
This course is targeted towards students who already hold a private pilot certificate. It will consist of a single day of training wherein the student and an instructor fly to WV62 (surface elevation 3,210 MSL) and shoot at least 10 pinnacle landings on a mountain ridge (surface elevation approx. 4,000 MSL). The course will include lunch at WV62. If you are interested in ferrying a helicopter from the Robinson factory, you are required to have logged at least 10 landings at density altitude above 5,000 ft. in make/model to be ferried. This course will complete this requirement. This course will be approximately 8 flight hours.

Advanced Autorotation Course
This course is targeted towards commercial pilots, flight instructors, and aircraft owners. It will include many advanced autorotations not required by the PTS, including (but not limited to) zero airspeed autorotations, out-of-trim autorotations, spiral autorotations, pinnacle autorotations, and full-down autorotations.

R22 Transition Course
This course is targeted towards private and commercial pilots who have done completed any training in Robinson helicopters (military pilots, Schweitzer pilots, Enstrom pilots). It will consist of all of the private or commercial maneuvers in the PTS. At the end of the course, the student will receive an SFAR 73 endorsement to act as PIC in the R22. The course will be approximately 10 flight hours. If the student is a CFI or CFI candidate, he can elect for a 49 flight hour course which will allow him/her to be eligible for the SFAR 73 CFI endorsement. The student will then be referred to a DPE who can give him/her the endorsement.

R44 Transition Course
This course is targeted towards private and commercial pilots who have completed all of their training in the R22. It will consist of all of the private or commercial maneuvers in the PTS. At the end of the course, the student will receive an SFAR 73 endorsement to act as PIC in the R44. The course will be approximately 5 flight hours. If the student is a CFI or CFI candidate, he/she can elect for a 24 flight hour course which will allow him/her to be eligible for the SFAR 73 CFI endorsement. The student will then be referred to a DPE who can give him/her the endorsement.

DC ADIZ Course
Navigating the Washington DC ADIZ can be challenging and if not done properly can cost pilot's their license. Since the establishment of the DC ADIZ in 2003, there have been more than 1,900 violations, resulting in the suspension and revocation of several pilot licenses and resulting in the death of at least two pilots. This course will consist first of a homework assignment of taking the online FAA safety course for the DC ADIZ. The student will then fly with an instructor down to the DC area. The lesson will include a three legged flight. The first flight will involve a landing at College Park Airport (CGS), which is not only in the DC ADIZ, but it is also in the DC Flight Restricted Zone (FRZ). We will eat at the 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant (located on the field at CGS). We will then depart CGS and make a landing at either Montgomery County (GAI) or Tipton (FME). We will fly a traffic pattern at that airport (because remaining in the traffic pattern has a different procedure than inter-airport flights). Finally, we will depart that airport and return to Horsham, PA.