If you want to become a helicopter pilot and make a career out of it, the first thing you should do is to enroll at a helicopter training school. In this way, you will be equipped with the right skill and both basic and advance knowledge of the aircraft you are planning to fly. After finishing the course, you are eligible to apply for a license. After acquiring the license, you can call yourself a helicopter pilot.
But as simple as it sounds, becoming a helicopter pilot is way too complicated than taking the course and acquiring a license. To better understand this, consider the following.
Before enrolling for a helicopter-training course, make sure you have enough finances to finish it. This is a long-term commitment that involves a lot of money (ranging from $20,000 to $45,000) and therefore, must be planned properly. One shortage or missed training hours could mean bigger expenses. It is painful both on you and your pocket to realize that you are 20 hours short of finishing the course after you realize that you are out of resources to continue, so make sure that once you enter, you can finish.
You should also know if you are fit or not. It is useless to go and complete the training if you cannot acquire for a license. Read on the specifics about the medical requirement of becoming a helicopter pilot before anything else. If you feel you are fit, validate it by doing a research.
Make a research on the different helicopter training schools. You can prioritize the location since cost of relocation is too much. It would be better if you choose a school that is near your place so that you don't need to relocate. Also consider the cost of the training.
The usual helicopter training course could cost at around $20,000 to $45,000. This would last depending on your availability. Usually, it would be over between 3-7 months with a 5-day a week training. The cost would payoff after you have finished the course and acquiring the license. You can either have a Private License or a Commercial Helicopter License where you can fly a helicopter and make it a career.
With the cost and the duration of the training, it might not be so practical if you only would want to try out the experience of flying a helicopter. And, it would not also be so practical if you don't have any plans of becoming a helicopter pilot.
With these comes the availability of helicopter lessons. Helicopter lessons will teach you how to fly a helicopter in an instant. After a short briefing at the ground, the instructor will point the helicopter you will fly. You and your instructor will board the helicopter and off you go. The instructor will let you hold the controls with him assisting you all throughout the process. What you have learned at the ground briefing together with the assistance of your instructor will let you fly a helicopter.
The quickest helicopter lesson would take for 20 minute whole some lesson would let you fly a helicopter for several hours. The longer you hold the controls; the longer deeper skill you gain. It is compete hands on that would let you soaring and flying with birds.
Once you have finished the training and after acquiring a Helicopter License, you can now be called a helicopter pilot. One thing to note is that there are two kinds of helicopter pilot license: Private Helicopter License and Commercial License. The training is different. Of course, the Commercial License is much thorough. Think of this: we have a professional and non-professional driving license which is relatively the same with the Private Helicopter License and Commercial License. And one thing more: if you plan to make it a living, salary is not worth that much, but with more experience and better skill, you can get paid big-time.
