Sun Jun 13, 2021 10:04 am
#1852593
Hi all,
I'm going to apologise in advance because this is going to be a wall of text! I have a ton of questions and I'm struggling to find the best place to ask them so I thought I'd try here. Please don't feel like you need to reply to everything, but any help is appreciated.
First, I'll introduce myself. My name is Stuart and I live in Suffolk. I have no previous experience in aviation aside from the odd simulator on my PC. It was always my dream to be a pilot as a kid but it quickly got swept aside due to the slight inconvenience of not being a rich kid
Last week, for my 30th, my girlfriend got me a trial lesson in a R44 helicopter. We got quite lucky because the company doing it needed to fly to another aerodrome to swap helicopters for a service so they asked if we wanted to make that part of the experience. We accepted, and in return got to fly from Elstree to Denham, swap helicopters, chill in their lounge and fly back. I was given control and allowed to fly for some of the journey and was also given a chance to try hovering back at Elstree (its hard). I loved every minute and so did my girlfriend who got to sit in the back and was quite nervous about going.
Since then, I'm been obsessing with learning to fly so I have a bunch of questions..
1. Is there any rivalry between plane and helicopter pilots? I’m curious if I were to visit a local plane flying club and start talking about helicopters, will I get stepped on? Haha
2. What does a PPL(H) cost? I realise this is a very subjective question and depends on what aircraft and how long it takes among other things. But I’m struggling to work out costs without contacting every flight school directly and asking them for a break down. I’ve seen a range between £10’000 and £30’000. What’s the minimum you should budget for and what’s the average?
3. Is learning to fly a helicopter more expensive than a plane? Hourly tuition on a plane seems to cost a lot less.
4. Once you start the PPL, are you time-gated to finish it? As in, do you have to complete it within a year? What happens if you don’t?
5. I’m curious what private flyers do to fly and keep current. Do you have your own helicopter? Do you hire? Do you share? I get that it’s an incredibly expensive hobby, but is there anything you can do fly regularly and reduce costs?
6. Can anyone recommend any flight schools in Suffolk? Or around East Anglia and Essex?
7. Is it worth looking at Careers or just treating it as a hobby? It looks like there’s a big jump between PPL and commercial and there’s lots of competition. What kind of salary do commercial pilots expect?
8. This ones more for personal interest. I fly a drone for work so I’m required to know a little about basic air law. From my understanding, aircraft have to stay above a minimum 500ft outside of restricted and controlled zones with a few exceptions (for this reason, I can’t fly above 400ft). Planes typically have little need to, but considering helicopters can pretty much land where they like, can they go below whenever they like? Or only during planned and emergency landings? I’ve seen some low helicopters go over when I’m surveying in open areas with no notams.. just trying to understand if they just look low to me or they could legally be below 500ft.
If you’ve made it this far, congrats! Haha. If you can help with any of my questions I’d be very appreciative
Thanks
I'm going to apologise in advance because this is going to be a wall of text! I have a ton of questions and I'm struggling to find the best place to ask them so I thought I'd try here. Please don't feel like you need to reply to everything, but any help is appreciated.
First, I'll introduce myself. My name is Stuart and I live in Suffolk. I have no previous experience in aviation aside from the odd simulator on my PC. It was always my dream to be a pilot as a kid but it quickly got swept aside due to the slight inconvenience of not being a rich kid
Last week, for my 30th, my girlfriend got me a trial lesson in a R44 helicopter. We got quite lucky because the company doing it needed to fly to another aerodrome to swap helicopters for a service so they asked if we wanted to make that part of the experience. We accepted, and in return got to fly from Elstree to Denham, swap helicopters, chill in their lounge and fly back. I was given control and allowed to fly for some of the journey and was also given a chance to try hovering back at Elstree (its hard). I loved every minute and so did my girlfriend who got to sit in the back and was quite nervous about going.
Since then, I'm been obsessing with learning to fly so I have a bunch of questions..
1. Is there any rivalry between plane and helicopter pilots? I’m curious if I were to visit a local plane flying club and start talking about helicopters, will I get stepped on? Haha
2. What does a PPL(H) cost? I realise this is a very subjective question and depends on what aircraft and how long it takes among other things. But I’m struggling to work out costs without contacting every flight school directly and asking them for a break down. I’ve seen a range between £10’000 and £30’000. What’s the minimum you should budget for and what’s the average?
3. Is learning to fly a helicopter more expensive than a plane? Hourly tuition on a plane seems to cost a lot less.
4. Once you start the PPL, are you time-gated to finish it? As in, do you have to complete it within a year? What happens if you don’t?
5. I’m curious what private flyers do to fly and keep current. Do you have your own helicopter? Do you hire? Do you share? I get that it’s an incredibly expensive hobby, but is there anything you can do fly regularly and reduce costs?
6. Can anyone recommend any flight schools in Suffolk? Or around East Anglia and Essex?
7. Is it worth looking at Careers or just treating it as a hobby? It looks like there’s a big jump between PPL and commercial and there’s lots of competition. What kind of salary do commercial pilots expect?
8. This ones more for personal interest. I fly a drone for work so I’m required to know a little about basic air law. From my understanding, aircraft have to stay above a minimum 500ft outside of restricted and controlled zones with a few exceptions (for this reason, I can’t fly above 400ft). Planes typically have little need to, but considering helicopters can pretty much land where they like, can they go below whenever they like? Or only during planned and emergency landings? I’ve seen some low helicopters go over when I’m surveying in open areas with no notams.. just trying to understand if they just look low to me or they could legally be below 500ft.
If you’ve made it this far, congrats! Haha. If you can help with any of my questions I’d be very appreciative
Thanks