Im 15 and wana be pilot but i dont know what school to go or how much it costs...?
i want to be a police helicopter pilot, im 15 and half yrs old and want to join a flight school but how much will it cost me ... can u give me any websites and info about joining flight school..I live in Glendale, CA I really want to be pilot but i have heard it costs alot.. i wanted to start right now so after i graduate glendale high shool i would go to police helicopter pilot... any ideas or websites that ppl can train me for free or i have to pay.. THX ALOT GUYS..
Aircraft - 4 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
I'm not a law enforcement pilot just to be clear. I'm an air traffic controller and fixed wing pilot (airplane pilot). I work with law enforcement pilots all the time and am only answering because nobody else has. First as far as I understand, focus on becoming a police officer first. You'll have to spend a few years on the regular patrol beat before you can be a police pilot. Then when you have your commercial helo certificate you can apply in your department for any open positions. Focus on being a police officer first and gettign to know the pilots in your department. Nobody is going to train you for free unfortunately. Flying is very expensive. California is more expensive than where I live, but to give you an idea, I was talking to a helicopter pilot about per hour rentals and his figure was 140 dollars an hour for the cheapest simplest helo in their fleet. It takes a minimum of 250 flight hours to be a commercial pilot and I'd bet an instructor (and you'll fly with one 70% of the time in those first 250 hours) runs 40 dollars an hour. I found one flight school http://www.universalairacademy.com/ and they list the basic R-22 helo at about 200 dollars per hour. I'd go to a small airport, I don't mean the one that has only a few airline flights a day out of it, I mean the small one most people don't know is out there and ask around. You can probably find a little cheaper. For now, plan on being a cop first. In high school see if a local airport needs a linesman for a part time job. Work around aviation fueling cleaning and storing airplanes. Soak up everything. You'd be amazed what can happen and what you'll learn. If you work hard and are good at that you may score some free flight time or instruction. Flight time is flight time if you can legally log it. I wouldn't even turn down a short 30 minute flight in a glider if I could log it. I believe up to 100 hours in non helos counts toward that 250 hour requirement. If you snag 50 free hours in anything that flies and don't pay 200 bucks to rent a helo, thats 10,000 dollars you get to keep. Not bad. I'd also suggest looking into high school law enforcement ridealong programs. Soak up everything you can. It will only help.
2 :
I think this is not the eligible age to become a police helicopter pilot and other thing is unfortunately there is no such site or institutes that provide you free training, but yes many can provide you at affordable rates and for that you have to search in your own area. I wish that God will fulfill your dream of becoming a pilot.
3 :
You can get practice hours in right now, you need 100 practice hours to get your license. Each practice hour costs around 200-300. By the way you can't get your license until you are 16.
4 :
First, the single best resource for information about becoming a law enforcement pilot is this site: http://www.policehelicopterpilot.com/ Next, let's get a couple of details straight. It's 150 hours for your commercial helicopter certification (US, part 61). The ages are 16 to solo, 17 for private, and 18 for commercial. It is correct that most police helicopter pilots are selected from within the department from experienced officers. You will likely have to put in several years of police service before they would choose you as a pilot, and even then there are no guarantees because so many people will be applying for it. Some departments will pay for training, but again, no guarantees. Obviously if you were a pilot already that would give you an advantage. Only a small minority of departments hire civilian pilots with no police experience, but they would expect years of pilot experience instead. The bottom line is that this is a long and hard road. Even if you had your commercial pilot certification at 18, you will still have a long path before becoming a police helicopter pilot. The key is to do your research, consider all the different ways to reach your goal, and stick with it. Also, you should always consider a college degree. It makes you a more competitive job candidate and serves as a backup plan in case you need or want to work outside of aviation or law enforcement. Check out the following. The first is my general answer about civilian pilot training, and the second has links about flying helicopters. Both have links to flight school listings. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AgomlMrbEezv1AETlL8ZKb3sy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20090629182957AA2T9cF&show=7#profile-info-3i90pOWVaa http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AnSRxr5Fdxgs.afnRBMJTATty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20090715222935AA91UDq&show=7#profile-info-51ukaXtNaa Good luck!
