So you want to be a helicopter pilot? It used to be that if you wanted to find helicopter flight training schools and learn how to fly a helicopter, the only available option was to join the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corp and even that wasn’t a guarantee you’d be accepted. These days finding quality helicopter training schools is as easy as doing a quick internet search. But beware – not all helicopter flight training schools are the same.

The Fine Print

Before you even step onto the flight line, make sure that the helicopter school you choose is accredited. Specifically by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC). This ensures that you receive an education that is recognized throughout the United States and abroad. Furthermore, your flight curriculum must be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to operate under Part 141 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. Again, the FFA and its governing bodies guarantee that you are trained with real-world equipment and not just examinations. A good starting point is helicopter-training.net which is a great online resource for finding a helicopter flight training school. You may consider this the “fine print” of helicopter flight training schools, but if these al-important requirements aren’t met, you might as well just play a video game.

From Classroom to High Altitude

Regardless of what you want to learn - it could be helicopter flight training or basket weaving – not all schools have your best interest in mind. When it comes to piloting a helicopter anything less than the best can lead to accident, injury or loss of life. In order to transition from classroom to high altitude you need to bank the required flight time learning about such busy airspace, external load flying, confined area landings, and high-altitude flying to name just a few with pass/fail criteria to ensure a grasp of subject knowledge.

What Not to Expect

When it comes to piloting a helicopter the cold hard facts are such that until you get behind the wheel and begin logging some flight time no instructor can judge your progress. With that in mind, any helicopter flight training schools that guarantee you’ll find a job after course completion or make any guarantee other a promise to provide instruction is just blowing air up your rotor blades.

Piloting a helicopter is serious business and maybe even more demanding than piloting an airplane. So it only stands to reason of searching out the easiest route to achieve your goal, you should search out helicopter flight training schools that make no bones about being tough on their students. At the end of the day that tough-love will pay off when you’re up in the air and the helicopter flight school can add another successful pilot to its list of graduates.

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