Welcome to Lift-Off, our latest newsletter packed with insights on helicopter pilot training and building a career in aviation
Your career as a helicopter pilot begins the day you decide to start the training. There are a few things you should do and consider before beginning your training.
The foundation
The foundation of your training and career is the English language! The better you master it, the easier it will be. On the other hand, students with poor English skills hardly make progress and therefore spend significantly more money and time. Fortunately, there are many ways to improve your English skills. There are free apps like Duolingo, where you can learn a little every day in a fun way, as well as online and offline courses from language schools, and many things you can do in your daily life. For example, I recommend watching movies and TV series in English with English subtitles. Reading books in English also helps a lot. When you come across unfamiliar vocabulary, you should write it down and study it.
Theoretical knowledge
In addition to the language, you can already start preparing for the theory. On the one hand, there are great, free FAA theory books like the Helicopter Flying Handbook, and on the other hand, you can also prepare using our own training materials and our review class, which I hold online on Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m. This class is completely voluntary, and you are welcome to join even if you’re still unsure about starting the training. Just send me an email, and I can provide you with more information.
Preparations
Of course, in addition to actively preparing for the training topics, there are many other things like medicals, insurance, and more that you need to prepare. For this, I’ve created a PDF that lists the most important things and also contains some information that should help you successfully complete the training. Just send me a quick message, and I can send you the latest version of the PDF.
FAQs
On our website, we’ve created a very comprehensive list of common questions about pilot training. You should definitely take a look at it! http://en.flyhaa.de/faq
Webinars
We regularly host webinars and live events around Europe, where we share a lot of information about the training and the career in the helicopter cockpit. You can watch the recording of our latest webinar here: