I can teach you from variety of locations, all just north of London.

Assuming you don’t already hold a license to fly an aeroplane, the PPL(H) course is a minimum 45 hours of flying, though in reality it takes a little longer to cover all the exercises properly. The usual range is 50 to 90 hours.

The main thing which determines how many hours it will take, and therefore how much your licence will cost you, is how intensively you fly. If there are long gaps (more than a week) between each flight, progress can be slower than if you are flying more frequently. Best of all is to fly every day, and complete the course all in one go, but obviously that’s not practical for everyone.

I teach first of all basic control of the helicopter, what the controls do, how to turn, climb, descend and fly level. Next comes hovering, which some people can get a little stuck on, but it always works out ok eventually, followed by take-offs and landings. Then we are able to put it all together to do circuits. Then we learn navigation, and some advanced techniques like landing in a confined area, and on sloping ground. Throughout the course we will also cover emergency techniques to keep you safe in the event of any unplanned event.

There are some exams to do, which are not unduly hard, but take some application. I can help you with briefing sessions if you need them.

If you want to look through the full requirements in detail, Google “LASORS 2010_Section C” and download the pdf. (Or click the LASORS link on the right). Read 2.1 onwards.

Once you have looked around online to find who is offering training in the area that suits you, I would suggest taking a trial lesson with your first choice of school/instructor. Do this until you find somewhere (and someone) you really feel comfortable with. You need someone you can trust and have fun with. It’s got to feel right.

The cost per hour varies by a few pounds here and there, depending on which school you choose. It’s usually around £265 + VAT per hour in an R22, sometimes plus a landing fee. It’s worth bearing in mind that the main thing that determines the overall cost to you is how many hours you take to do the course, not the rate per hour. This is why trust is important, as you need to feel you’re learning with someone who will look after your interests, and not string you along flying unnecessary hours.

If you would like a trial lesson with me, please get in touch.

For more information on learning to fly a helicopter with me, please visit TimGilbert.com

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Once we’re into wind at 70 knots, we lower the collective lever (with right pedal for yaw), roll the throttle off, and check up on the collective to prevent the rotors overspeeding, and add a touch of aft cyclic to achieve airspeed of 60kts.

So we’re now in a descent at about 1650feet per minute, with the rotor speed needle at 100%, the engine speed needle at idle, the wings level relative to the horizon, in trim, and looking out for drift. It’s quite a stable and manoeuvrable flight condition, as long as we are careful to keep the rotorspeed accurate. So we can put turns in (as in the video here) to shorten our travel over the ground, we can even do a 360 orbit if we have enough height.

About half way down the descent, it’s time to decide if we have judged the entry moment right, to mean that we will arrive at ground level with enough space to flare and land. If we’re running out of space, we can throw it away by rolling the throttle back on to join the needles again, push forward on the cyclic to maintain airspeed, and pull “5 minute max” power with the collective lever, to achieve a positive rate of climb.

If we decide we like what we see in the way of a landing area, we can continue the approach till we’re about 40′ above ground level, then start the flare.

It’s progressive, aiming to end up at hover height with little or no forward speed, and with the nose of the helicopter pointing in the direction of travel. Rolling on the throttle to join the needles again, we push forward on the cyclic to level the helicopter, still keeping straight with the pedals, and raise collective with left pedal for a hover.

The main feeling when learning this technique is that there is a lot going on at a very fast pace, so it can be quite intimidating. But as with so many things in a helicopter cockpit, it gets easier with practise.

For more information on learning to fly a helicopter with me, please visit TimGilbert.com

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T the moment it’s only on the US register, so it’s quite a hassle to get rated on it.

For more information on learning to fly a helicopter with me, please visit TimGilbert.com

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Landing area selected when directly overhead, followed by airspeed reduction to zero, then spiral descent, then a little airspeed for the flare. Throttle not closed, as not worth the risk in such an isolated location.

Note the clues as to wind direction given by the birds taking off when helicopter is on short finals.

It’s well worth practising engine failure drills, as rare it may be but it’s happened to me for real. In my opinion, arriving accurately at a suitable spot, at the right height, preferably into wind, and without too much forward speed is the most important bit.

For more information on learning to fly a helicopter with me, please visit TimGilbert.com

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The beach was just about wide enough, and we landed, leaving the engine running for long enough to check that we were alone. The helicopter sank deep into the glassy sand, leaving the tail within inches of a swirl of brilliant white shells.

Slowly and carefully, we transferred the fuel from the barrels of fuel from Waingapu. Either the island was deserted, or the locals here were more timid. There were all sorts of eerie crackling noises in the bushes that came down close to the edge of the beach, but no actual sign of anyone.

I was just waiting for a dart from a blowpipe in my back.

It was hot, humid, and oddly quiet. The helicopter’s engine ticked quietly as it cooled down, and the sea shells rattled occasionally as the gentle waves melted onto them. I took some video, and we left quickly.

For more information on learning to fly a helicopter with me, please visit TimGilbert.com

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At that time, Kupang airport had a busy life acting as the supply centre for the Non Governmental Organisations dealing with the East Timor refugee problem, and the place was littered with clapped out buses and trucks to prove it. Even so, the airport management had dealt fairly and efficiently with us, and we thanked them for having put the airport lights on for us.

“Your English very hard to understand on radio” the controller had explained gravely, as if suggesting that I take some further training. “My English I use a lot for UN planes arrival”.

“Your English very good” I assured him “and you save our lives last night”.

He smiled in gratitude, and shook my hand in farewell.

We got away quickly, climbed over a small hill at the edge of the airport, and headed south-south-east over the sea. The drone of the engine was even and familiar to us, and we settled down for the hours ahead of us. We spent ten minutes chasing a group of sharks to get photographs, only to conclude that they were in fact dolphins.

We rehearsed slowly and carefully the procedures to adopt if we had engine failure; who was to get out first, what forward and vertical speeds we should try and touch the water at, should we open the passenger door on the way down or later, should we launch one liferaft or two, how could we remember to take our radio beacon and some water with us.

For more information on learning to fly a helicopter with me, please visit TimGilbert.com

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Suddenly, we woke up to the significance of the fact that the sun was indeed touching the horizon behind us. We were going east, and we were more than 20 degrees farther south than when we started out from home, so it got dark much earlier than we were used to in the UK. And because we were much closer to the tropics the days were ending more suddenly, without much in the way of twilight. We should have taken all this into account, and kept going, rather than wasting time drinking Coca-cola in the lonely desert.

For more information on learning to fly a helicopter with me, please visit TimGilbert.com

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The radio controller in this clip says he loses us on radar quite early on, so starts asking us for our estimates to various places. As you can here, the radio wasn’t brilliant, and he had quite a thick accent, and he was pronouncing the place names in a local accent (fair enough, obviously). So we had to read all the placenames on the map and try to work out which one he might be talking about.

Then we had to calculate the cumulative time to the place, then transpose it into UTC (GMT) which is the time convention.

Given all that, and the fact that it was swelteringly hot and blindingly bright, meant that it wasn’t our finest hour.

For more information on learning to fly a helicopter with me, please visit TimGilbert.com

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For information on learning to fly a helicopter with me, please visit TimGilbert.com

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It’s a good length trip for a group of R22s.

For more information on learning to fly a helicopter with me, please visit TimGilbert.com

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