Training

Most of my instruction is conducted from Peterborough Conington. My students and I find Conington to be a very friendly club, with great facitilies and a very good relationship between the fixed wing and rotary contingents. In fact, Tony Churchill, one of the directors of Aerolease, the company which operates the airfield, owns and flies a helicopter. In addition the surrounding countryside and airspace is very open and unintimidating for the beginning pilot. While there are a variety of relatively straightforward destinations for cross-country flying within easy reach, when you have gained confidence the heli-lanes across London or a flight up into the Peak District make for a more challenging experience.

My rates are competitive, but I am not really interested in undercutting other bids. I prefer to trade on quality rather than price. There are no hidden costs in my courses; all ground tuition is free, along with as much advice and help as you may need during or after qualifying. Because I think I can safely and rapidly advance you through to the required standard in the minimum numbers of hours the absolute cost of a course of tuitiion with me is likely to work out cheaper compared to others who quote a lower hourly rate but take longer and charge for the ancillaries.

But most of all I think is important that the training is ENJOYABLE. Learning to fly a heliucopter is not cheap, and requires the investment of a fair amount of time. For lots of people it is the culmination of a long-held ambition, and I wouldn’t want anybody to be disappointed to find that learning to fly was a dull slog. I try to make he flying as interesting as possible within the confines of the required syllabus. We’ll fly any time the weather conditions are safely flyable, which will give you a little extra confidence when you’re eventually out on your own that you wouldn’t have if you only went out on brilliantly clear, calm days during training.

My overriding objective for the training is that you can demonstrate that you are a safe and competent pilot in your GFT, and that is what all examiners will be looking for. After your test you can hire my helicopter for self-fly hire and perhaps continue yor progress with occasional instruction.

The best way to find out if helicopter flying, Connington or training with me are what you want is to arrange for me to give you a trial lesson.

PPL

Obtaining a PPL(H) allows you to take full advantage of the flexibility and efficiency of helicopter flying. You can take your friends or family on pleasure or sightseeing trips or use the aircraft to take you to business engagements. Flight times, even in a modest piston-engined helicopter are a fraction of journey times by car and the convenience of rotary flying means that you can land at many hotels or even in friends’ back gardens. Generally, as long as you have permission from the owner of the land, you can legally land there.

I’ve included the full requirements in a separate page which you can review here. The basic requirements are that you take a class 2 CAA medical and complete at least 45 hours of flying under instruction, with 10 of those hours being solo. During the course you must become competent in a set of standard exercises which comprise a syllabus set out by the CAA. These form the basis of the final General Flying Test which you must pass to receive your licence.

It is possible that you will need more than 45 hours, and you should factor this into your calculations when budgeting for the course. However I take great pride in the fact that a large proportion of my clients are ready for the exam within the 45 hours, and I will put you forward for the test as soon as I am confident that your flying has reached the required standard. As I am a Flight Examiner myself, I am well able to judge the competence of my students (although you will be examined by an external examiner which I will arrange). For whatever reasons, some other training establishments do not seem to be able or are perhaps not inclined to get students through to the Flight Test as quickly as I am.

CPL

In order to be paid to fly a helicopter you must hold a  Commercial Pilots Licence. It is a modular course: first you have to pass a course of exams and then complete a course of instruction. You must already hold a PPL(H) and pass a Class 1 medical.

The flying course consist of a minimum of 30 hours flying (or 35 hours if no night qualification is held) with various exercises to complete the final tests for the issue of the CPL(H).

Passing the ground examinations will take several months, as it is a far more detailed course than the PPL exams. Once the exams have been completed and a Course Completion Certificate has been obtained the student may start the CPL (H) Modular Course.

Flight Instructors Course

 Having obtained a CPL (H) most pilots become flight instructors as one of the ways to build up sufficient experience to enable them to obtain work as a commercial pilot.

I am qualified to teach the Flight Instructors Course - FIC (H). .