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Helicopter Instrument Rating
at East Coast Aero Club; updated August 2010
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The best helicopter jobs require an instrument rating. The best
instrument instructors are those with extensive experience flying in
actual instrument conditions. At East Coast Aero Club, many of our
CFIIs have Airline Transport Pilot certificates and hundreds of hours
flying real aircraft in real clouds.
A helicopter instrument rating will improve the precision of your
flying, both VFR and IFR.
You will get your helicopter instrument training in N171WT, a
beautifully maintained 2009 Robinson R44, rented at one of the lowest
prices in the world. Your school will be East Coast Aero Club,
established in 1985 and home to more than 30 aircraft, about 12 miles
northwest of Boston, Massachusetts at KBED. We can also offer
training at our Nashua, New Hampshire (KASH) location.
What's it like?
Check out these videos for a sample of our teaching:
What's it cost?
According to FAR 61, you need the following: 40 total hours of actual
or simulated instrument time (can be in an airplane), out of which 15
hours must be training in a helicopter from a CFII-H. Therefore, if
you already have significant hood or actual IMC time, the cost should
be 15 hours times our dual rate, which is less than $400 per hour.
Budget $6000.
Our CFIIs
Here are capsule biographies of some of our instrument instructors:
- Paul Cantrell, CFII for more than 20 years, a lot of time in an IFR-certified Bell 206L
- Philip Greenspun, more than 3000 hours total time, ATP for both
airplanes and helicopters, experience flying the 50-seat Canadair
Regional Jet for Comair
- Mike Rhodes, ATP, FAA Designated Examiner
A good schedule
We recommend flying at least 3-4 times per week in order to maximize
retention and minimize cost. Each flight should be roughly 1.5 hours
in length.
Ready to Sign Up?
Call +1 781-274-6322 or, for more information, see our helicopter training web page.
Recommended Reading
You get a lot more out of each instrument training hour if you
thoroughly understand the IFR system prior to getting into the
helicopter. We recommend reading the following books:
Note that the FAA books are available for free in PDF format on
faa.gov. It is a good idea to take your knowledge test before
commencing flight training, more so than for the Private rating.
Text and photos Copyright 2006-10 Philip
Greenspun.
philg@mit.edu