Is the ground school for fixed wings the same as the ground school for helicopter?

Question

I am considering to get a private license for helicopter and many people have told me to start with the fixed wings pilot license becasue it will be easier and cheaper to transfer then to helicopter.

Thanks for replying.

Answer 1

First, there's no such thing as a private 'license'. It's a certificate.  And if you are wanting to be a rotary wing pilot, start off with the rotary wing training.  It's easy going from rotary to fixed, not vice versa.

Good luck with training...

Answer 2

The ground school will be pretty much the same except for general knowledge which will include helicopter aerodynamic and terminology.  Regulations are a bit different for rotary wing too in some cases.

Thom, only the Americans call it a 'certificate'.

Answer 3

It is very similar, in terms of regulations, airport infrastructure, etc. The biggest difference is the operating theory - instead of talking about wing chords and stalling, you would talk about torque and autorotation. This is just an example, there are many more topical differences.

Answer 4

Some of the groundschool is the same, regardless of what you fly (ie. Meteorology).  Other topics, such as theory of flight, I would suspect to be somewhat different.  Training for fixed-wing is cheaper that rotary, but that is your choice.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

There are many ground school topics that are pretty much universal such as weather, airspace, or navigation. However, there is also a great deal to learn that is specific to one or the other.

You can read the FAA's Rotorcraft Flying Handbook to get a feel for the types of things covered in helicopter ground lessons (large PDF file):

http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aircr...

The Aeronautical Information Manual covers some of the topics that pretty much apply to everyone:

http://www.faa.gov/airports_airtraffic/a...

People often make the argument that you should fly airplanes first to save money, even though your goal may be to just fly helicopters. They assume this to be true rather than actually tallying the costs to see if it holds true. They are basing this on the assumption that you will finish your helicopter add-ons in the minimum time, and this is unlikely. You will still need about 50-60 hours in a helicopter to get the add-on, and that is the same amount it would take if you just start with helicopters.  

You might consider taking demo lessons in each one, learning as much as possible from each flight school, and then choosing one. I personally feel that if you want to fly helicopters, then fly helicopters. If you want to fly airplanes, then fly airplanes. I recommend against using one just as a stepping stone for the other. That would be inefficient and costly.

There is nothing at all wrong with flying both, if that is your goal. If you do intend to fly both, starting in helicopters will be easier from a skill standpoint. That is, transitioning from helicopters to airplanes is easier than airplanes to helicopters. However, they really fly very differently from one another. From a knowledge standpoint, it does not matter which one you do first because regulations, weather, navigation, etc. will be taught by both.

You can find helicopter flight school listings on the following pages:

http://www.sacusa.com/1directory/states....

http://www.verticalreference.com/helicop...

For further informations about helicopters in general, you can visit the following websites:

http://www.verticalreference.com/

http://www.justhelicopters.com/home/defa...

Have fun!

Oh, and don't worry about calling it a "license". Every pilot I have ever met calls it a license in normal conversation. Just don't refer to a helicopter as a "chopper". Now that's really wrong :P

Answer 6

Apollo's answer is spot on. I would just like to add a few things. Most ground schools I know teach the airplane curriculum and not the additional helicopter information you will need.  You may find yourself on your own(self study) or needing ground school instruction from a CFI for the rotorcraft  information.

I fly both and would suggest helicopter training first.  I've heard people suggest to learn to fly airplanes first for 30 years now.  And they all seem to be airplane pilots!  I personally don't know any helicopter pilots that fly both that  would suggest airplanes first.  The physical skills learned to fly helicopters are not used to fly airplanes. Airport operations, airport pattern, the way the controls work, ect. ect.

Navigation is stressed more for airplanes.  I have also noticed that helicopter only pilots are not as comfortable communicating with ATC as airplane pilots whom tend use more ATC services on average.  Depends on the area of country one is flying in of course.  In general, airplanes are good for actually going somewhere, and helicopters are good for everything else.  I've flown helicopters across the country several times,  but I've always found my airplane a better choice for the cross country trips.

Be really careful in checking out the school you intend to learn at.  If they ask you to pay a lot up front, run.  Silver State Helicopters just folded and left a lot of students owing money on loans for training.  

Good Luck!