The BHH FAA Part141Approved PRIVATE PILOT LICENSE is usually the first step
of your training and is intended for students who have decided to learn
helicopters as a hobby, or are deciding to purchase a personal helicopter.
It is also the first step on the path to becoming a professional pilot.
At BHH, we divide the flying portion of this package into 3 phases:
Stage 1 (pre-solo)
This phase is the foundation of all your future flying, and is designed
to bring you to the level of performing all the basic flying maneuvers in
a safe, proficient manner. You will learn how to skillfully pilot the helicopter
by practicing departures, patterns, landings and radio work. As you move
along in this phase, you will perform emergency drills which will enhance
your safety and confidence as you move on to your big day! When you are
ready to fly the helicopter by yourself, your instructor will sign the appropriate
entries in your logbook and supervise as you hover, depart, and land again
after a few traffic patterns within the airport environment! Congratulations!
You now move onto Phase II.
Stage 2 (Post-Solo Navigation)
During Phase II of our Private Pilot Program, you will continue to master
the basic skills with several more solo flights. An added dimension will
be introduced – navigation. Now you will learn how to navigate outside
of the airport environment. During this phase you will also be introduced
to night flying, and more complex maneuvers. You may also choose to learn
mountain flying at this stage. When this is complete, you will be ready
to take your checkride. Nice job!
Stage 3 (The Checkride)
Now comes the culmination of all your hard work from the previous phases.
You and your instructor will review all of the required maneuvers which
may be presented during your checkride. All of the requirements to take
your checkride have been met, and you will practice, practice, practice,
until you are ready for the biggest day of all!
Requirements
The FAA Part 141 Course that BHH offer mandates that all students have at least 35 hours of flight training
to take their checkride. In addition, you must pass a written examination
at some point before your checkride, this test can be taken in our CATS testing center .In reality, it usually takes more than
35 hours to be fully prepared for your checkride however every student is different and some make it in the minimum hours with training from experienced instructors.
Ground School
The written examination is usually the most daunting of all the Private
Pilot requirements. This written examination grade is usually the first
impression the checkride examiner will get of the student when it comes
time for the Private Pilot checkride. Blue Hill Helicopters offers the only
groundschool in the area structured specifically for the helicopter pilot.
Our private pilot groundschool is taught to commercial standards. In fact,
many of the students in your class may be attending the Commercial Pilot
Program, and heading to a helicopter career. Most area schools don’t
even allocate for ground instruction time when preparing students for their
checkrides, nor do they teach their private pilots to commercial standards.
Don’t leave your training to chance.
Medical/Other Requirements
Before you will be allowed to solo, you must obtain a 3rd class medical
certificate from a designated medical examiner. This consists of a simple
physical checking eyesight, hearing and other physical characteristics.
You must also be 16 years of age to solo, 17 to take your checkride, speak,
read, and write English.
