Helicopter Flight Training

This requires a minimum of 50 hours of flight training, of which a minimum of 20 hours is flown dual with an instructor and a minimum of 15 hours is flown solo by yourself. Usually the first 15 to 20 hours training covers basic exercises and generally learning to fly the helicopter, before going on that magical 'first solo'. The last 30 hours consists of the compulsory advanced exercises including mountainous terrain and cross country flying. If required, students can complete additional non compulsory ratings such as sling, night flying, and type ratings. However there is very little time within the 50 hours of PPLH course to complete much more than the set syllabus, so if a student wants to complete any of these additional ratings, the PPLH may end up taking longer than the 50 hour minimum requirement.

A student already holding a fixed wing licence can reduce the 50 hour requirement by as much as 10 hours under the following system. Half of one's fixed wing 'pilot in command' time, flown within the proceeding 12 months (to a maximum of 10 hours) can be accredited.

For students with no previous flying experience, the Civil Aviation Authority requires a medical examination to ensure the applicant meets the required fitness standard and this must be completed before one can fly solo. In addition to this it is now an International Civil Aviation requirement to pass the Fit and Proper Person criteria, which is assessed by CAA and to also pass an English language examination, as English is the 'official' aviation language. In conjunction with the flight training, six theory exams have to be passed. Most Private Pilot students are able to study the PPL subjects by themselves and Wanaka Helicopters instructors will provide tuition if required.

There are a number of Aviation Theory Colleges at various locations throughout the country, which PPL students can attend but these cater more for Commercial Pilot theory. The six subjects to be learnt are Aviation Law and Regulations, Meteorology, Navigation, Helicopter Principles of Flight and Technology, Flight Radio Terminology and Procedures, and Human Factors. For fixed wing pilots holding either a PPLA or CPLA, an exam "credit" is required in only Helicopter Principles of Flight and Technology. These exams have to be passed before starting on the navigation phase of ones flight training.

The Private Pilot Licence can be condensed to fly as often as the student is capable. However, experience has shown that the average student can only fly about two lessons a day before becoming 'saturated'. If training full time, the 50 hours PPL usually takes about four to six weeks to complete.

150 hours of flight training is required, of which a minimum of 35 hours must be dual instruction and 35 hours must be solo flight. The same exercises are covered as in a PPLH, but to a much higher standard. The additional 100 hours required over and above the 50 hour PPLH requirement, means that much more additional advanced training can be done on such exercises as mountainous terrain, sling load operations, type ratings as well as some practical 'in the field' flying. Also, during this time we encourage students to fly solo as much as practical as this solo time is especially good in developing good decision making skills. Private Hire and taking friends for flights is another way to build hours, but private hire is only permitted on a restricted basis.

A student already holding a fixed wing licence can reduce the 150 hours by as much as 70 hours, under the following system. Half of one's fixed wing 'pilot in command' (P in C) time, flown within the proceeding 12 months (to a maximum of 50 hours) can be credited towards the helicopter licence. If those P in C hours have been flown on Commercial Operations (i.e. you are an operating commercial fixed wing pilot) then an additional 20 hours can be credited, taking the maximum to 70 hours.

As with the PPLH, six examinations in separate subjects must be passed. They are Aviation Law and Regulations, Meteorology, Navigation, Helicopter Principles of Flight, Helicopter Technology, and Human Factors. Helicopter Principles of Flight and Helicopter Technology are two separate exams in the Commercial Licence as opposed to one for the Private Licence. A PPLH Flight Radio pass suffices for the CPLH. If a student is the holder of a current CPLA, only Helicopter Principles of Flight and Helicopter Technology examinations have to be passed.

Most CPL theory courses run by the Commercial Theory Schools take 10 weeks to complete, terminating with the examinations. CPLH flight training can be condensed to fly as often as the student is capable and at this stage of the training, a student can probably cope with up to 3 to 4 hours flying a day. If training full time, and allowing for bad weather days and other days off, it would take about 2 - 3 months to complete the 150 hours. This 2 - 3 months plus the theory course time means that the average time to complete the whole CPLH is in the vicinity of 6 - 7 months.

Wanaka Helicopters is situated in the heart of New Zealand's Southern Alps and wherever we fly in this region we encounter mountains. Consequently any pilot operating here has to have a different skill level than what might be required in other low level areas. We are fortunate in this country to have vast areas of uncontrolled airspace where one can fly and train without the constraints of Air Traffic Control and other regulatory authorities. Most other countries around the world do not allow landings away from airfields and their mountain flight training consists of just flying around a the mountains whereas here in NZ we actually operate 'in, around and on' the mountains.

The advantage of flying in this environment is that right from the start of a pilots training, they learn to cope with all the unusual aspects associated with operating in the mountains. In NZ, mountain flying is a compulsory part of obtaining a licence and in some areas where a flight school is nowhere near any mountain terrain, this is quite hard to achieve. Sometimes a lot of ferry flying is needed to get to a mountainous area before any mountain flying technique training can begin. Another consideration is the size and type of mountains that are used for mountain training. The South Island is the only part of the country that has mountains of considerable magnitude. Predominately the South Island mountains range in height from 3000 to 9000 feet (1000 to 3000 metres) with odd ones higher than this up to 12000 feet (4000 metres).

Wanaka Helicopters are the NZ specialists in mountain flight training. Our instructors operate flight training and commercial operations in the mountains on a daily basis. The two compulsory mountain flying courses associated with the private and commercial pilot licence comprise of a minimum of 5 hours training for the private licence and 10 hours training for the commercial licence. This training starts with a general familiarisation in the mountains and learning to cope with unusual horizons and illusions and mountain top landing techniques up to an altitude of around 4000 feet. The next step are operations in sloping valley situations, landings in more confined spaces and gullies and on knobs and benches on the sides of mountains, before progressing to high altitude operations where we operate up to 10,000 feet with landings as high as 7000 feet. Here power margins are severely diminished and techniques are learnt to be able to safely operate, land and takeoff with very low power margins.

At different times of the year we encounter different conditions. Winter time is especially good for teaching snow and low temperature operations with all its associated difficulties. Higher summer temperatures mean higher density altitude considerations must be thought about and we don't just limit mountain flying training to fair weather days. Windy and marginal weather condition flying are also part of the advanced training.

Wanaka Helicopters offers a unique Certificate in Advanced Mountain Flight for helicopters. The Certificate in Advanced Mountain Flight - Helicopters is a Government approved course and only Wanaka Helicopters is accredited to run it. This is a non compulsory course that can be taken over and above the mountain training received within the Private and Commercial licence training. Anyone can come to Wanaka Helicopters for this mountain flying course. If you learn to fly here then a lot of this course will be taught as part of the compulsory mountain flying, but even if you are already a pilot and want to advance your knowledge or skills, then you can take the Advanced Mountain Flying programme. Alternatively we will 'tailor make' a package that will suit the individual.

Wanaka Helicopters philosophy is to not only teach a pilot above average skills but also to produce a pilot who has a good, mature and professional attitude, which will be beneficial to any future employer. Rather than pamper a student under a sheltered training environment, we expose, especially commercial students, to as many 'experiences' as possible, so they become familiar in most aspects of helicopter operations.

We want them to leave with an in depth knowledge of real life operations and have developed sound decision making processes. We limit the amount of students training at any one time because we are more interested in providing quality rather than producing numbers. Here you will receive our full attention and will not be treated as a 'number'. Our fleet consists of the latest model, low houred helicopters, which are kept and maintained in top condition and are always hangered. We demand a high standard of cleanliness and tidiness and teach all students the absolute importance of a professional approach to their chosen career.

We train all our pilots to display a high degree of professionalism, so they seldom have to display their high degree of skill!