Skip to primary navigation Skip to content Skip to footer

PRIVATE PILOTS LICENSE – PPL(H)

WHY CHOOSE ANTHELION HELICOPTERS?

  • We are an approved FAA Part 141 flight school. This means that all our flight and ground syllabuses under this part have been approved by the FAA. All our aircraft, instructors, and our facility have also been independently scrutinized and approved by the FAA and have been shown to adhere to their extremely high standards of safety.
  • Whether you have never been in an aircraft before or you are an airline captain looking for an add-on rating, Anthelion Helicopters has the right program for you, for a private helicopter license.
  • Through our combined 20 years of experience we know what is most effective and efficient in the flight training industry. We understand that our students lead busy and often complicated lives. Therefore, we customize each California helicopter pilot training plan to work around our student’s busy schedule.

FOR NEW STUDENTS

Your flight training will be broken down into the following stages:

STAGE 1: THE FOUNDATION

Your flight training begins with learning the fundamentals of flying and the aircraft you are manipulating. As your skill develops, so does the depth of your flight training by establishing your knowledge both in the air and on the ground. You will learn what it takes to fly an aircraft without the presence of your instructor. Stage 1 ends with a pre-solo test, a check flight, and a review of your ground knowledge by the Chief Instructor.

STAGE 2: SOLO FLYING

You will go through a series of solo flights designed in your personalized instructional plan to meet your solo requirements under Part 141 or Part 61 of the Regulations. At this point, the skills and confidence needed to complete flights on your own will advance. Stage 2 ends with a check flight and a review of your ground knowledge by the Chief Instructor.

STAGE 3: THE CONSOLIDATION

This stage is a consolidation and fine-tuning of the skills you have learned, which allow you to safely and proficiently manipulate the aircraft controls in preparation for taking your FAA Private Pilot check-ride. Stage 3 ends with a mock FAA check-flight and a review of your ground knowledge by the Chief Instructor.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?

Although 35 Hours (Part 141) 40 hours (Part 61) of flight time is the minimum required by the regulations to take a check-ride (see below), the actual time it takes students to meet the Practical Test Standards varies for a variety of reasons – frequency of flights, speed of learning, financial constraints etc. Typically the majority of our students pass between 45-60 hours with the national average being between 60-70 hours.

a small plane sitting on top of a sign

APPENDIX B TO PART 141 – PRIVATE PILOT CERTIFICATION COURSE

1. Eligibility for enrollment. A person must hold either a recreational pilot certificate, sport pilot certificate, or student pilot certificate before enrolling in the solo flight phase of the private pilot certification course.

2. Aeronautical knowledge training.

(a) Each approved course must include at least the following ground training on the aeronautical knowledge areas listed in paragraph (b) of this section, appropriate to the aircraft category and class rating:

(1) 35 hours of training if the course is for an airplane, rotorcraft, or powered-lift category rating.

(2) 15 hours of training if the course is for a glider category rating.

(3) 10 hours of training if the course is for a lighter-than-air category with a balloon class rating.

(4) 35 hours of training if the course is for a lighter-than-air category with an airship class rating.

(b) Ground training must include the following aeronautical knowledge areas:

(1) Applicable Federal Aviation Regulations for private pilot privileges, limitations, and flight operations;

(2) Accident reporting requirements of the National Transportation Safety Board;

(3) Applicable subjects of the “Aeronautical Information Manual” and the appropriate FAA advisory circulars;

(4) Aeronautical charts for VFR navigation using pilotage, dead reckoning, and navigation systems;

(5) Radio communication procedures;

(6) Recognition of critical weather situations from the ground and in flight, windshear avoidance, and the procurement and use of aeronautical weather reports and forecasts;

(7) Safe and efficient operation of aircraft, including collision avoidance, and recognition and avoidance of wake turbulence;

(8) Effects of density altitude on takeoff and climb performance;

(9) Weight and balance computations;

(10) Principles of aerodynamics, powerplants, and aircraft systems;

(11) If the course of training is for an airplane category or glider category rating, stall awareness, spin entry, spins, and spin recovery techniques;

(12) Aeronautical decision making and judgment; and

(13) Preflight action that includes –

(i) How to obtain information on runway lengths at airports of intended use, data on takeoff and landing distances, weather reports and forecasts, and fuel requirements; and

(ii) How to plan for alternatives if the planned flight cannot be completed or delays are encountered.

3. Flight training.

(a) Each approved course must include at least the following flight training, as provided in this section and section No. 5 of this appendix, on the approved areas of operation listed in paragraph (d) of this section, appropriate to the aircraft category and class rating:

(1) 35 hours of training if the course is for an airplane, rotorcraft, powered-lift, or airship rating.

(2) 6 hours of training if the course is for a glider rating.

(3) 8 hours of training if the course is for a balloon rating.

(b) Each approved course must include at least the following flight training:

(4)For a rotorcraft helicopter course: 20 hours of flight training from a certificated flight instructor on the approved areas of operation in paragraph (d)(3) of this section that includes at least –

(i) Except as provided in § 61.111 of this chapter, 3 hours of cross-country flight training in a helicopter.

(ii) 3 hours of night flight training in a helicopter that includes –

(A) One cross-country flight of more than 50-nautical-miles total distance; and

(B) 10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport.

(iii) 3 hours of flight training in a helicopter in preparation for the practical test within 60 days preceding the date of the test.

(d) Each approved course must include the flight training on the approved areas of operation listed in this paragraph that are appropriate to the aircraft category and class rating –

(3)For a rotorcraft helicopter course: (i) Preflight preparation;

(ii) Preflight procedures;

(iii) Airport and heliport operations;

(iv) Hovering maneuvers;

(v) Takeoffs, landings, and go-arounds;

(vi) Performance maneuvers;

(vii) Navigation;

(viii) Emergency operations;

(ix) Night operations; and

(x) Postflight procedures.

4. Solo flight training. Each approved course must include at least the following solo flight training:

(c)For a rotorcraft helicopter course: 5 hours of solo flight training in a helicopter on the approved areas of operation in paragraph (d)(3) of section No. 4 of this appendix that includes at least –

(1) One solo 100 nautical miles cross country flight with landings at a minimum of three points and one segment of the flight consisting of a straight-line distance of more than 25 nautical miles between the takeoff and landing locations; and

(2) Three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport with an operating control tower.

6. Stage checks and end-of-course tests.

(a) Each student enrolled in a private pilot course must satisfactorily accomplish the stage checks and end-of-course tests in accordance with the school’s approved training course, consisting of the approved areas of operation listed in paragraph (d) of section No. 4 of this appendix that are appropriate to the aircraft category and class rating for which the course applies.

(b) Each student must demonstrate satisfactory proficiency prior to receiving an endorsement to operate an aircraft in solo flight.