What is the cheapest way to become a helicopter pilot (without enlisting)? How much do pilots make?

Answer 1

The cheapest way is to get your Private Pilot's Licence and instrument rating on a fixed Wing, then add the Commercial rotary wing (you don't need a private licence for helo first). Helicopter time is generally more than double that of fixed wing time, (locally to me about $225/hr for helo and $100/hr for fixed wing - a huge differance when talking about 200 or so hours!) and if you convert you will not have to fly as much helicopter time. It will save you a lot of cash if you only get Private and Instrument ratings in a fixed wing and then do your commercial Helo training - to get a fixed wing commercial requires 250 hours, a Helo commercial is only 150 and you should have the fixed wing PPL & Instrument with about 100 hours flight time, leaving you with 50 hrs of helo time to comply with the specifics listed below (these are only MINIMUM times, not guaranteed to get you a licence!)
To quote FAR 61.129(c):
For a helicopter rating (commercial) you must log at least 150 hours flight time as pilot (note - not HELICOPTER pilot) including at least:
100 hours in powered aircraft, (50 must be in helicopters)
100 hours as PIC including at least 35 in helicopters and 10 hours cross-country in helicopters
20 hours of training (dual) for the commercial licence, (if you have a commercial fixed wing you can count that time for this requirement, but as I said, you need 100 hours more to get that!) it must include a 2 hour day and a 2 hour night cross-country in a helicopter, and 3 hours in a helicopter within 60 days of your check ride.
10 hours of solo in a helicopter including:
one cross-country with one landing at least 50 miles straight-line from original point of departure and landings at 3 places,
5 hours night and 10 night take-offs and landings.

If you don't want to enlist, check out your local Sheriff's dept. I know of one pilot who now has his Helicopter Instructor's licence and ATP and had most of his advanced training covered by the local Sheriff's dept. He was a Deputy and they needed pilots - worth checking out!

Answer 2

No you don't need to be a fixed wing pilot first to fly heli's. The cheapest way to get in to heli flying is to contact some of the experimental helicopter companies on the net and ask for flight training. I learned to fly a rotoway exec 162 for $2500.

Answer 3

If you are a highschool senior or junior with strong grades you can contact Texas A&M Corps of Cadets. There is no military obligation! Contact them about the JCAP program. The last space shuttle pilot was a Corps of Cadets Graduate. Tell the Sergeant Major that V. Green Sent you.

Answer 4

I was not able to think of a cheap way to become a helo pilot. Spending something to be a pilot is not a walk in a park. You will need to spend a lot of money. For me before I got my wings my family spend a lot it almost cost two SUVs.

Answer 5

There is no cheap way (other than enlisting), since you will be paying for an instructor, fuel, ratings, and rotorcraft time.
Plus, you will likely have to get rated on a fixed-wing aircraft before anyone will give you instruction in a helicopter.