Find a school and instructor. Due to the high cost and specialized nature of helicopter flight training, helicopter flight schools and flight instructors are not nearly as common as their airplane equivalents. There are helicopter schools in most every state, although most are located in the southern portion of the country where flying weather is most suitable. When selecting an instructor, consider your instructor's qualifications, amount of flight hours, certificates, pass/fail rate and personality.
Find a helicopter. There are hundreds of types of helicopters although only a handful are commonly used and suitable for training. The Robinson family of helicopters, the R-22 and R-44, are used at most flight schools. The Robinson R-22 is most popular as a trainer due to its low acquisition and operating cost. The R-22, however, is challenging to fly and has performance issues. Other popular trainers include the Schweizer 300 series of trainers, Hughes helicopters and for some training, a turbine Bell 206. For initial training, however, the most simple and low-cost helicopter will normally be used.
Take lessons. A significant amount of ground and flight training is required to obtain a helicopter pilot certificate. You must learn how to hover, taxi, do takeoff and landings, go-arounds, performance maneuvers, basic navigation and emergency procedures such as auto-rotation. You must also have extensive book knowledge on rules and regulations, helicopter systems, weather and airspace. Difficulty and standards increase throughout the course as completion nears.
Obtain necessary experience. An applicant for a Private certificate must obtain 40 hours of flying including at least 20 with an instructor and 10 hours of solo flight time. You must also demonstrate a certain standard of knowledge and skill. When you are fully proficient in all maneuvers required by the Practical Test Standard (PTS) and the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs), you may take a "checkride" with a qualified examiner. Once you have passed your checkride, you may continue on to other ratings such as Instrument, Commercial, Flight Instructor and Airline Transport Pilot licenses.
