H ow much does it cost to obtain your private helicopter pilot licence? Let’s put it this way: how long is a piece of string? The amount of money you need to pay until you’re able to call yourself a helicopter pilot depends on lots of things, making it nearly impossible to give an average sum.
The bad news: it’s more expensive than flying fixed-wing aircraft. A lot more expensive. The good news: it’s less than the average yearly UK household budget. There’s a small dedicated private helicopter flyers group in the UK and you can be a part of it.
Let’s break it down step by step. Costs of a PPL(H) can be divided into:
This is where most of your money goes. You’ll need a minimum 45 hours of flight training, including at least 25 hours of dual time and at least 10 hours of supervised solo time. Those are the minimum requirements set by the CAA.
Is 45 a realistic amount? Definitely not
So, budget for 45 x what flight training costs per hour = the cost of your flight training? No, unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. Chances you’ll only need 45 hours to obtain your PPL(H) are actually pretty close to zero. The UK national average is somewhere between 60 and 90 hours. Some do it in less, but there are also people who need more than 100 hours.
Bob Gorman, CFI at EBG Helicopters explains, “We target 60, but make it clear that even that will require regular attendance and a clear commitment to learning all elements of the course from the outset.” That’s not to say it’s completely impossible to do it in the minimum time required. Gorman added, “We do currently have someone on track for 45 hours, but he’s a fixed-wing A320 pilot with 2,250 hours already under his belt at age 25.”
Seeing as it’s extremely likely you’ll need more than 45 hours, some schools choose to offer so-called PPL-packages consisting of 60 hours of flight training. Others divide their packages in blocks of 10 or 25 and most offer pay-as-you-go helicopter flight training per hour.
What’s the price of an hour of helicopter flight training? This, of course, depends on the flying school. Mostly though, it depends on the type of helicopter you’re training in. Most helicopter flight schools use the Robinson R22, which is the cheapest.
Want to train in a four-seater rather than a two-seater? Be prepared to save up a whole lot more. An hour of flight training in an R44 will at least be £150 more expensive than an hour’s lesson in an R22. That’s, if you’d need 60 hours to get your PPL(H), a difference of at least £9,000….
Some examples: at Heliflight UK prices are £350 plus VAT for an hour’s training in the R22, £395 plus VAT in a Cabri G2, and £500 plus VAT in an R44.
At Thurston Helicopters training prices per hour are £338 plus VAT in an R22 and £508 plus VAT in an R44.
At Whizzard Helicopters it’s £370 plus VAT for an hour of dual instruction in an R22, £555 plus VAT in an R44, and £850 plus VAT in a Bell 206 JetRanger.
Yorkshire Helicopters only offers training in the R44, at £440 plus VAT an hour. All the above-mentioned schools offer discounts for prepaid blocks of 10 lessons. Some schools (also) offer training in an R66, a Bell 505 JetRanger X, an AS350 (Single Squirrel) and/or a Schweizer 300.
The choice of helicopter obviously depends on what the flight school is offering. However, it also depends on your own build. The R22 for example, has a maximum pilot height of 6ft2in (1.88m) and a max seat weight of 240lb (which is 17 stone (108kg)).
Also, the total pilot and passenger weight is 400lb, meaning that if you weigh 235lb, you’d have to find a very light instructor to be able to learn on the R22… With a maximum pilot weight of 266lb (which is 19 stone (120kg)) and a maximum pilot height of 6ft6in (1.98m), the Cabri G2 isn’t suitable either if you’re particularly tall and/or heavy.
Don’t forget to double-check what exactly is included in the hourly training rate – and when the clock starts ticking. Is it when you lift off, aka lift to land? Or is the time taken to start up and shut down included in the hour? Is it based on Datcon readings (rotors turning)?
The difference between skids off to skids on time and warming up to cooling down time can easily be five to 10 minutes per lesson, which does add up over the course of training.
And what about the pre- and post-flight briefing? This is especially worth checking with schools that divide their flight training into a price for helicopter rental and a price for instruction.
AH Helicopter Services , for example, offers flight training in a Schweizer 300C for £340 per hour plus VAT, plus instructor costs of £200 per half day session (no VAT). In that half day, you can fly as much as practicable.
Add on: landing fees
Got your hourly rate all clear? Then let’s see what else you might need to pay during training. Such as landing fees (also called airfield fees or sorties fees). At most helicopter flight schools, these fees are already included in the costs of flight training. However, in some cases they’re charged separately. Do realise that even if all landings are included at your chosen heliport, you’ll still have to do some land aways for your cross-country flying that will probably have a fee.
Landing fees vary depending on the airport. Some examples: City Airport (Manchester Barton) charges £30 for non-based helicopters for up to 90 minutes of circuit/hover training. Redhill Aerodrome’s landing fee is £46.20 for a single-engine helicopter, whereas its airfield training sessions cost £23.10.
Brighton City Airport’s helicopter fees start at £25.80 per training sortie and £23.40 per landing. Manston Gateway Heliport charges a landing fee of £25 plus VAT for a single-engine helicopter. However, this fee is waived if you purchase Jet A-1. At Fairoaks, landing fees for an R22 are £19.
Better save up before landing at the London Heliport; with a landing fee of £355 it’s probably the UK’s most expensive heliport.
One of the best bits about helicopters? They can land almost anywhere – on the beach, in your garden, next to a country hotel, outside your local pub. Or, to put it more correctly: in a helicopter you’re not restricted to landing at airports. This means that during your training you’ll also do some off-airfield landings. Most private helicopter sites are free, however, some establishments charge landing fees. During your flight training your instructor will know this. Once you’ve got your PPL(H), make sure to check beforehand.
