PPL PDF

Private Pilots Licence The Helicopter Private Pilots Licence otherwise know as the PPL H is the basic licence that allows a person to fly helicopters for his or her own pleasure without receiving pay or reward. It is also the first step to becoming a commercial helicopter pilot if this is your long term goal and have a career in aviation. We have compiled these notes to give you some informal guidance about the PPL (H).

The Course The PPL course is set out by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) as a minimum training course to which all training schools must adhere. This is now becoming the same licence throughout Europe so you may use it equally in other countries. The requirements are:  Minimum age of 17 to log hours  45 hours flight instruction of which :o 10 must be solo o 5 must be instrument flying o a navigation of 100 nautical miles with two landings  7 written examination all multiple choice  A class 2 medical  A flight test with a CAA examiner

We’ll go into more detail and break the list up but basically what we are trying to achieve in the course is that during the course you will receive training and help, to enable you to pass all the exams and tests to gain your licence, and provide you with the basic skills and knowledge to allow you to develop as a safe and competent helicopter pilot. We’re not looking in the PPL to make you the best pilot in the world but to make you safe for your follow on flying.

Learning to fly helicopters will be one of the most rewarding and satisfying things you do. It will become addictive, rewarding, challenging and fun. It is not difficult, but it does take some getting used to as you will be learning a new skill like learning to ride a bike. You will probably feel frustrated at some point in the course. At other times you will be on cloud nine with what you have achieved. You will almost certainly enjoy the flying most, but do not neglect the ground school which is there to give you essential knowledge.

Consider the PPL(H) licence as the starting point of your flying - the best pilots continue to learn throughout their flying career.

The CAA specifies what must be included in a course of training and the standards which must be achieved to gain your licence. There are two main parts:  

The Flying Training Course The Ground School

Our lessons are normally offered in two hour sessions, which includes one hour of flying and one hour pre- and post - flight briefing. The aim of the pre-flight briefing is to ensure that you know in detail the flying exercise before it is flown so that there is a greater understanding of the flight to be conducted. The post-flight briefing gives you the opportunity to discuss in detail with your instructor the exercises you have just performed and are very important. Many schools will just fly a student as this is the income part of the lesson but equally important is the ground work before and after.

At Phoenix we try to arrange for you to train with one instructor and will not change that unless agreed with you or you don’t mind training with others. This is to ensure regularity of your training. All of our instructors are closely supervised by our Chief Flight Instructor (CFI) and we have produced what we hope will be one of the best PPL training syllabuses available. This way you form a bond with your instructor and tend to progress through the course in a more relaxed atmosphere.

We have also produced a unique training plan based on our experience with lesson hand outs prior to your lesson which build to cover most aspects of your flying and hopefully will give you a thorough knowledge and understanding of your course. These are available free of our web site in the student area. The student are of our web site is designed to give you all the information you need. We are trying to make it as interactive as possible with weather and information for your flying. We are hoping in late 2010 to introduce an on line booking system to. The lessons are down loadable as PDF or available from your instructor. At Phoenix we divide your training into three parts with stage checks at the end of each section. The checks are to insure that you have received a high quality of training by your instructor and are conducted by our CFI.

Flying Training The Civil Aviation Authority stipulates that the flying training course must include at least 45 hours of flying training, all of which is supervised by a helicopter flying instructor. Of the total hours, at least:   

25 must be dual instruction given by a helicopter flying instructor 10 hours must be supervised solo flying (pilot in command).

5 hours instrument flying

All the above have to be completed on one aircraft type. This does allow if you are managing to do it by the numbers the option to do a few hours on a different type. This is at your discretion and can be discussed with your instructor. The 45 hours have been divided into 26 air exercises which are listed below.

Of the solo time, there must be at least five hours cross-country, including a cross country flight where you land at two separate airfields with the whole trip being at least 100 nautical miles.

Most people take more than the basic 45 hours to complete their course and although most do, it is not a good idea to set this as a target as you then tend to feel you are getting behind. You will progress best if you can fly regularly, particularly at certain stages in the course. At Phoenix we have divided your training into 3 stages. First is the basic, where you will learn to fly the aircraft. In this part of the course you learn to control the helicopter in forward flight, the turn, the climb, descents, the hover and most importantly to take off and land. You will also learn to fly the helicopter without engine power, known as Autorotation. As important as these flying skills are you will also gain experience in making radio calls and the way that aircraft fly in and around an airfield. At the end of this state a check is carried out on your ability and progress by our CFI and then you will do your first solo - a big mile stone in your training.

From here we will revise on skills learned and continue to the second stage, the more advanced exercises and navigation. Navigation is better done as intensively as possible as this ends in your Cross County Qualifier. In this section you will also accredit most of your solo flying.

The final section or stage three will build on your skills and we will teach you to carry out advanced techniques such as those which you would need to land safely in areas which are confined and in circumstances where you have limited power available. Autorotation skills will develop so that you can safely land the helicopter if an engine were to fail. A very large part of your training is devoted to safety and hopefully when complete we shall have instilled not only the skills but also the knowledge to keep you safe and continue your flying in a manner to both give you maximum enjoyment and safety.

Flying Test Once all the ground exams and flying is completed you will take a Flight Test with a qualified examiner. The test is divided into two main halves; navigation and skill or air exercises. In the test the examiner will look to see that you demonstrate that you can fly competently and safely. He doesn’t expect you to be the best pilot in the world, just a safe one after which we will then apply for you licence for you.

The PPL Air Exercise Syllabus 1.

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Familiarisation with the helicopter.

Preparation for flight - starting and stopping the engine and rotor.

Air experience - an introduction to helicopter flight.

Effects of controls - what the controls do in forward flight.

Attitude and power changes - power, altitude and thus speed change.

Level flight, climbing, descending and turning.

Basic Autorotation - "gliding" a helicopter.

Hovering.

Take off and landing.

Transitions - leaving the hover to achieve forward flight and returning to the hover from forward flight.

Circuits - an exercise to practice accuracy within a circuit at an aerodrome.

First solo - the first of 10 hours pilot in command.

Sideways and backward manoeuvres.

Turns on the spot - turning through 360 degrees in the hover.

Vortex ring - the nearest event to a stall in a helicopter.

Engine off landing - how to "glide" a helicopter and land safely without the engine running.

Advanced Autorotation - "advanced gliding".

Forced landings - an autorotation to a selected landing area.

Steep turns - turning the aircraft at more extreme angles of bank than normal.

Transitions from the hover to the hover at low altitude.

Quick stops - coming to the hover rapidly but safely from cruise speed at low altitude.

Pilot navigation - navigating a helicopter away from an aerodrome including all radio instruction for complying with Air Traffic Control.

Advanced take offs, landings and transitions.

Advanced take-offs and landings on sloping ground.

Limited power operations - operating a helicopter with limited power.

Confined area - how to approach, enter, manoeuvre and depart from confined area safely, i.e. a clearing, small field or helicopter landings site.

Many of these exercises can be down loaded off of our web site in the student area. Other more complicated exercises will be covered in a full pre flight briefing.

Ground School You will need to learn some technicalities of helicopter flying in order to be a safe and competent pilot. The CAA also require that the following topics be studied and an exam to be taken in each subject.       

Aviation Law Human Performance and Limitations.

Navigation Meteorology Aircraft (General and Type) Aircraft Performance Radio Communication

This is not as daunting as it may sound as really aviation is one subject simply divided into several topics. The exams are multiple choice so they give you the questions and 4 answers to choose from. The pass mark is 75% and the papers are done in-house and will be given to you by your instructor when you are ready. You may attempt each subject 3 times with a fourth go at the CAA but to be honest if your are having difficulty your instructor should pick up on this and give additional ground studies to you. It is important to maintain a momentum with these as you may not do a flight test unless they are all complete and you may find yourself in a situation where you are ready to take the test and held back. For PPL we tend to tackle the subjects one at a time moving onto the next once one is done. You must have passed Air Law before going solo and should have passed both Meteorology and Navigation before you Cross Country qualifier. In most cases the subjects are directly relevant to your flying so most students find them of interest.

In addition you will take a Radio Telephony Practical test which gives you a licence entitling you to talk on the aviation air waves to Air Traffic Control Services.

Don’t be too put off by the learning. Remember this is going to become your hobby and we will help you through a programme of guided study recommending which books to buy and discuss the topics with you. The syllabus is generally fairly straightforward.

Medical Certificate You must have a medical certificate before you undertake your first solo flight. It is recommended that you get the certificate very early in the course, or preferably before you start the course. The certificate must be a CAA Class 2 for PPL and a class 1 for CPL. If you intend to go to full CPL we recommend you get a Class 1 as you don’t want to spend money only to find later you a colour blind in one spectrum. The medical is similar to a life insurance medical. They are really only interested in anything that may incapacitate you suddenly affecting your ability to fly. The certificate is obtained from specially appointed Aviation Medical Examiners - they are located throughout the country and we can give you the addresses of AME's convenient to you or if you look up the web link below you should find one close to you. You will need to be subsequently re-examined at intervals determined by your age. http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=49&pagetype=65&appid=21 this is available as a quick link in our student section of our web site

About Us Phoenix Helicopter Academy is a relatively new contender recently set up at Goodwood. Although the school is new the instructors are not. The company is owned and run my instructors who between us have been in the industry for a long time and have taken the best of our experiences to approach training in a new way. Unlike many training environments, Phoenix is a dedicated training facility and not just an add on to a commercial operation. Our instructors are very experienced and dedicated to instructing. We try to instil a very personal service where our students are not treated as a number but on a more personal basis. Flying helicopters either for a hobby or as a career is one of the best things you can do and we believe the training you receive should be of the highest quality and something you will remember forever.

All though we are a small company this gives us the ability to treat you individually. We are attempting to operate more as a club than a school in the sense that once students qualify it doesn’t end there with trips, meetings and events. All student lessons are based on a two hour slot with an hours flying. Although the school income is only generated from the flying hours it is crucial that students get the benefit of a full lesson. In my time I have seen too many students from other schools with close to 100 hours and still have a poor understanding of the basics as they have never been taught correctly.

As an Instructor I am proud to say that I have a 100% first time pass rate and I have never had a student leave me to finish at a different school.

Take the time to have a look though our web site in the student area, and feel free to come down to see us for a coffee and a chat.

Deciding on a school or helicopters as a career is a big step.

GOODWOOD Well what you can say about petrol head heaven. Goodwood is one of those, a nostalgic place that’s very well kept. Its a grass strip aerodrome with a racing circuit round the outside. It is a wonderful training environment for helicopters with large hover training areas, no fees for helicopter circuits and in uncontrolled airspace so you are training the minute you get in the air. What’s more, there are small landing fees, only one per lesson, and you will be training in the beautiful south coast with no restriction on airspace. Because of its location we don’t tend to have the poor weather that other fields can get although it can be windy as we are close to the sea and relatively flat. Take a look in our link section to see for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

Cost and Prices The main cost of completing your course will be the flying training. Our rates include all the costs of running the helicopter. Helicopters are by no means cheap to operate and the pilot instructors are highly qualified and experienced people. This is obviously reflected in the hourly rates quoted; however remember that the flying training costs shown do include all the briefing time and the ground school tuition. We do our best to stay competitive but feel our costs are a true reflection of the service we provide. We offer a variety of packages to suit your individual needs

Pay as you fly Bulk Hours in Advance 10 Hours Club Scheme Bulk Hours in advance 45 Hours

Hourly £245.00 £240.00 £231.49 £222.20

Self Fly Hire

£195.00

Self Fly Hire CLUB

£181.49*

45 Hours £11025.00 £10800.00 £10417.05* £ 9999.00

Free Written Exams Free Written Exams

PAY AS YOU FLY The benefit of cash flow and you don’t have to worry about a large lay out.

BULK HOURS 10 IN ADVANCE Naturally this aids our cash flow so we can pass a saving on to yourself. It also guarantees the price of your next ten hours.

FULL FLYING COURSE IN ADVANCE This includes all the aircraft, fuel and instructors fees CLUB SCHEME We think this is unique to us at Phoenix, but it is common in fixed wing. Basically you become a club member and buy into an aircraft. The price includes maintenance and depreciation. There is an annual club fee of £50 and members get additional discounts on books and supplies at 5% off and we also include any written exams for free. After passing you can stay as a member and purchase additional aircraft hours in advance, ideal for reducing the price of Self Fly Hire.

Pay for aircraft in advance 45 Hours at £90 per hour £4500 Additionally at the end of each lesson pay on an hourly basis Instructors rate £50.00 Aircraft insurance rate £11.00 Fuel rate 33 lts @ £1.53 £50.49* Admin £30.00 Estimated total for each lesson £231.49 45 hours £10417.05 * The price quoted for fuel is an estimate and is changed dependant on the price we will pay.

Whichever scheme you decide on, should there be the need for additional hours then these hour prices will be based on the scheme chosen. We reserve the right to increase prices but will guarantee to hold the prices of courses paid for in advance. All prices are subject to normal V.A.T requirements. In the event of extraordinary fuel price increases we reserve the right to apply a surcharge no greater than the increase to all courses paid on a per hour basis. Once entering a scheme the price quoted shall be for the entire scheme. Should the scheme be ended by yourself we reserve the right to back date invoices to the Standard Training Rate. We shall try in all cases to operate as fair an invoicing system as possible relating to our direct costs. For a full list please see our price page. A full price list is available on our web site as a separate PDF.

Finding Us

We are Here Aeroclub CafĂŠ

Once entering Goodwood Aerodrome/Racing circuit go directly ahead. You will see a tunnel. Go straight through and after the tunnel follow the road round to the left. About 200 yards on the right hand side you will see us. We are the last building before the aero Club. For your Sat Nav our postcode is PO18 0PH

PhoenixHelicopter.co.uk