The Importance of Flight Hours and How to Build Them
Before you can launch your career as a helicopter pilot, will need to build up your flight hours. The more hours you log in the sky, the more jobs will become available to you— and the more qualified for them you will become.
There are many reasons why flight hours are essential but being able to build on your existing experience and future employment opportunities are among the top two.
Similar to learning how to drive a car in a supervised environment before receiving your license, flight hours allow you to learn the ropes and become more comfortable up in the air before advancing into any positions, aircraft, or scenarios that you may not be ready for.
While there is a shortage of helicopter pilots, employers won’t budge on required flight hours. Your future employers will want to ensure that you can follow procedures, recognize signals, and adapt quickly to any scenario.
Flight hours are important as they provide you with a safe space to become proficient in handling a helicopter to the standards of your desired next steps. Understanding the flight hour requirements for different career paths will help you chart your course to your dreams.
The timeline of your licenses and ratings
Through a certified flight school, you can complete all of your licenses and ratings while working building the hours you will need for the career of your choice.
Private License
The first step for anyone interested in becoming a helicopter pilot would be to receive your private license. The FAA mandates at least 40 hours in flight time before you can take the test for your license. However, because flying a helicopter requires a lot of hand-eye coordination and multitasking skills, many aspiring pilots end up completing between 50 to 60 hours before obtaining their license.
Instrument Rating
Following your private, you can begin working toward your commercial license. However, since you will need to log numerous hours to obtain your commercial license, you may undertake your instrument rating to help satisfy some of these hours, in addition to receiving your instrument rating.
An instrument rating will enable you to operate an appropriately equipped and approved helicopter without any external visual reference to the ground. In short, it provides you with the ability to fly through the clouds or any other weather situation where there is little to no visibility. This valuable training enhances your understanding of the helicopter and its instruments.
Turbine Transition Certificate
Once you have your instrument rating with a piston engine, you can begin working with larger and more powerful aircraft with a turbine engine. While turbine transition training is not necessary, this certification can open the door to many more career opportunities and as well as build your experience in other aircraft, making you a more versatile and experienced pilot.
External Load Certificate
External load training helps pilots learn to transport materials and navigate hard-to-reach areas. This certification is especially important for pilots who want to work in industries such as agriculture, conveservation, and construction. External load training involves maneuvering a helicopter with items suspended underneath the aircraft. Common careers that utilize external load include wildfire firefighting or search and rescue missions.
Commercial License
To be able to get paid to fly, you must have your commercial license. Once you have your private license, you can begin working toward your commercial license. With your private license, your time in a helicopter can be logged as Pilot in Command (PIC) time. You will need at least 100 hours of PIC time and 150 total hours in flight.
Training for your commercial license will expand on what you learned during your training for your private license while introducing new and advanced maneuvers. Within your ground instruction, you will study advanced aerodynamics and the rules and regulations around commercial operations.
Certified Flight Instructor (CFI)
Following the obtainment of their commercial license, many pilots will continue their training in order to become a certified flight instructor (CFI). After all, there’s no better way to solidify what you have learned and put it into action than by teaching other aspiring pilots.
To get your CFI rating, you will need at least 200 hours of total training. But the good news is that the hours you logged to get your commercial license can count towards the 200 hours required for your CFI rating. So you will really only need about an extra 50 hours. Many flight programs will divide these final hours between flight instruction and ground instruction.
Certified Flight Instructor Instrument (CFII)
Once you have your instrument and commercial ratings, you can apply for your Certified Flight Instructor Instrument (CFII). Receiving your CFII in addition to your CFI is essential because many employers will only hire applicants who have both their CFI and CFII.
During your CFII training, you will learn how to coach students through their instrument training. As a job candidate, you will be the complete package for potential employers because you will be able to develop a well-rounded curriculum and fly with all levels of students.
Building Hours After Graduation
By the time you graduate from flight school, you could have around 250 flight hours under your belt. However, to qualify for most high-paying jobs, you will need at least 1000 hours. This seems like a lot, but many businesses require this for insurance purposes and everyone has to start somewhere.
It can be difficult to know precisely how many hours a specific job will require as it varies by industry, location, and position requirements. We recommend you start by doing a job search on the types of careers you are most interested in and take note of the required criteria for eligible candidates.
But rest assured, there are a variety of jobs available to helicopter pilots, once you build your hours you will have a variety of jobs available to choose from. While your first position may not be your dream job, the good news is that you can work your way up to your optimal number of flight hours on the job and get paid to do it. Let’s look at some of the most common entry-level jobs and a couple of the more advanced positions.
Flight Instructor
As we stated in the last section, one of the first jobs many students will get after school is a position as a certified flight instructor (CFI). Many pilots choose this as their initial job as the position allows you further focus on your craft while launching your career as a helicopter pilot and building hours at organizations with consistent, ongoing flight operations.
Many flight programs will hire their top graduates back if they complete the program with both their CFI and CFII. However, before you settle on a flight school, you should ask about the job opportunities available to graduates.
Tour Pilot
Another early career option is becoming a tour pilot. If a flight school is connected to a helicopter tour company, you may have the chance to work as both a certified flight instructor and a tour pilot following graduation.
If you would rather work as a tour pilot full-time, there are plenty of independent helicopter tour companies that you can apply to, many in some great destination locations. Tour piloting can be a fun and scenic way to build your hours while getting paid to meet new people and do something you love.
Agriculture Pilot
Most agriculture employers only require 250 flight hours for their entry-level positions. If your goal is to work in crop dusting, you will not have to wait long upon graduation to get started. Eventually, you will need to get your Agriculture Pilot’s License (APL), but that only takes about a month. Within the agriculture sector, your external load rating will be extremely beneficial as you apply for jobs in the industry.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Pilot
To work as an emergency medical services (EMS) pilot, you will need between 1000-2000 flight hours to get started. Building these hours may take a while but the career can be endlessly rewarding and worth the wait.
Once you hit about 1,500 hours of flight time, you can consider applying for your airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate to become qualified to fly larger aircraft. While your ATP certificate is not required, it can make you competitive among other pilots within the applicant pool for higher-paying jobs like an EMS pilot.
Firefighting Pilot
Due to the risks associated with the job, many aerial firefighting employers require between 2,000-2,500 flight hours to ensure your experience matches, if not exceeds, the demands of the position. Many employers will want to ensure that you have both external load and low-level flying experience within your other certifications and previous positions.
Start building Your Flight Hours with Lake Superior Helicopters
If you are ready to take your career to new heights, our Professional Pilot Program at Lake Superior Helicopters can put you on the right path to achieving your goals. We offer both direct and degree-rewarding pathways to allow students to train in the way that works best for them. With our commitment to our students, we have been able to maintain a 100% employment rate among our graduates.
In addition, we offer numerous internal scholarships, along with external scholarships and financial aid resources through partnership with Lake Superior College. To learn more about our program, check out our program page or begin your application today.