Darren Smith, Flight Instructor
  Home | Login | Schedule | Pilot Store | 7-Day IFR | IFR Adventure | Trip Reports | Blog | Fun | Reviews | Weather | Articles | Links | Helicopter | Download | Bio

Site Map

Subscribe

Private Pilot
  Learn to Fly

Instrument Pilot
  7 day IFR Rating
  IFR Adventure

Commercial Pilot

Multi-Engine Pilot

Human Factors/CRM

Recurrent Training

Ground Schools

Articles

Privacy Policy
About Me

Keyword:
  

Support this Website

Answerman


 Helicopter Navigation:  Why Learn Helicopters | Costs | Private Pilot Helicopter | Commercial Pilot Helicopter | Glossary | Helicopter Lesson Guides | Helicopter Ground School | SFAR73 | Accelerated IFR Rating 

Question:  I want to minimize the amount of time I spend training for the Helicopter Instrument Rating in an actual helicopter.  Can I do part of the Helicopter Instrument Rating in an airplane?

Answer:  FAR Part 61.65 requires that 15 of the 40 hours of training to be in the aircraft category that the instrument rating is sought.  So under that requirement, 25 hours can be in an airplane as long as 15 hours is in helicopter and 3 of those must be within 60 days of the checkride. 

Now it remains to be seen that a helicopter pilot can be successful in an instrument helicopter checkride with only 15 hours of training in a helicopter and the rest in airplanes.  I've sent both kinds of pilots to their respective checkrides and found that the physical skills of operating the respective aircraft need to be reinforced to ensure the right physical responses on the checkride.  As a recent example, I just sent an airline captain to a checkride for a helicopter instrument rating.  He took all of the 40 hours in the helicopter to build the skills required to pass a checkride even though since he had an instrument rating (airplane) he only needed 15 hours.

So my philosophy... not recommended to split the training between 2 aircraft categories.  Build the habits and body/kinestetic skills in the aircraft category you are seeking the instrument rating for.

Your Thoughts...

Name: (Anonymous posts deleted)

 E-mail: (if you want a reply)

 How did you hear
of this website?
Message:  (What should I write?)
 Business Card
WebSearch
News Group
Safety Seminar
Advertisement
Word of Mouth
Other(specify)
(Required) Enter number from image to send:

    

Check this out...
  Home | Login | Schedule | Pilot Store | 7-Day IFR | IFR Adventure | Trip Reports | Blog | Fun | Reviews | Weather | Articles | Links | Helicopter | Download | Bio
All content is Copyright 2002-2010 by Darren Smith. All rights reserved. Subject to change without notice. This website is not a substitute for competent flight instruction. There are no representations or warranties of any kind made pertaining to this service/information and any warranty, express or implied, is excluded and disclaimed including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. Under no circumstances or theories of liability, including without limitation the negligence of any party, contract, warranty or strict liability in tort, shall the website creator/author or any of its affiliated or related organizations be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages as a result of the use of, or the inability to use, any information provided through this service even if advised of the possibility of such damages. For more information about this website, including the privacy policy, see about this website.