Thanks for the break down of $'s Don. Okay so I suppose my next question
is.... Would it be of any benefit to me trying to get a helicopter pilot
job having also become rated in fixed wing? Am I a more attractive
applicant? Or are the two mutually exclusive?
Craig Campbell
"Don W" wrote in message
t...
Craig Campbell wrote:

I never really thought much about doing fixed wing, would that be worth
doing just to have or really only if I really wanted to use it?
"601XL Builder" wrDOTgiacona@suddenlinkDOTnet wrote in message
...

Craig Campbell wrote:

I am about to start my private pilot helicopter course. I have been
told that learning fixed wing first makes it much easier.
I am not sure what to do as my heart was set on rotary but I want to do
it right first time.

Can anyone please give me feedback on this?
Thanks
Craig Campbell

If you plan on getting both get the fixed wing first. It will be cheaper.

If you don't plan on flying fixed wing, I'm not sure it would be cheaper
to get the fixed wing license first. It's true that you can learn to fly,
navigate, and work the radios in $75/hr airplanes instead of $200-$250/hr
helicopters, but you will still have to do the transition to rotorcraft
for your helicopter license.

The way I read Part 61.109 (copied below), the minimum number hours you
would have to have in a helicopter for the transition would be:

3 hours (Combined Dual Night/Cross country)
2 hours (10 Dual takeoffs and landings to stop)
3 hours (Dual training prep for check ride)
10 hours (solo)
=====
18 hours helicopter minimum

If you could learn everything you needed to learn on the helicopter in
that time, it would be incredible. A more likely transition scenario
would be something like 30 hours.

So in that case, you would save ten or so hours of helicopter time, by
spending 40 hours of fixed wing time.

Doing the math with the following assumptions:

Fixed Wing = C150 @ $75/hr wet
Fixed Wing Instructor = $30/hr
Helicopter = R22 @ $225/hr wet
Heli Instructor = $30/hr
Heli Transition = 15 Dual, 10 Solo

Fixed wing plus Rotary route:

Fixed Wing (20*$105)+(20*$75)
Helicopter (15*$255)+(10*$225)
==============================
Total = $9,675 + Ground Instruction
and you would have a Fixed and Rotary Wing Rating

Heli only route:

Helicopter (20*$255)+(20*225)
=============================
Total = $9600 + Ground Instruction
and you would have Rotary Wing only rating

So it would probably be slightly more expensive to start in fixed wing and
transition to helicopter.

As far as the easy part, I found it relatively easy to transition from
fixed wing to the R22.

Regards,
Don W.

Part 61.109 (c)

c) For a helicopter rating. Except as provided in paragraph (k) of this
section, a person who applies for a private pilot certificate with
rotorcraft category and helicopter class rating must log at least 40 hours
of flight time that includes at least 20 hours of flight training from an
authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training in the areas of
operation listed in §61.107(b)(3) of this part, and the training must
include at least—

(1) 3 hours of cross-country flight training in a helicopter;

(2) Except as provided in §61.110 of this part, 3 hours of night flight
training in a helicopter that includes—

(i) One cross-country flight of over 50 nautical miles total distance; and

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

(3) 3 hours of flight training in preparation for the practical test in a
helicopter, which must have been performed within 60 days preceding the
date of the test; and

(4) 10 hours of solo flight time in a helicopter, consisting of at least—

(i) 3 hours cross-country time;

(ii) One solo cross-country flight of at least 75 nautical miles total
distance, with landings at a minimum of three points, and one segment of
the flight being a straight-line distance of at least 25 nautical miles
between the takeoff and landing locations; and

(iii) 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.