Kenny Keller breaks down the private pilot helicopter add-on for fixed-wing pilots. You need 30 hours total (20 dual, 10 solo), no written test, but you'll face an oral and practical. Examiners focus on currency, VFR minimums, and equipment.
Questions this video answers
30 hours total.
20 hours of dual instruction and 10 hours of solo.
No — there is no written test; only an oral and a practical (checkride).
Yes — pursuing a commercial helicopter rating from a private fixed-wing requires meeting commercial requirements and taking the associated tests.
Chapters
Alright, daily flight brief number five requirements for the add on. We get those as instructors. A lot of people will use fixed wing for the example, they have their fixed wing rating and they want to do the helicopter add on. And I'm gonna go ahead and be transparent this one. What we talked about this morning, we're like okay, rated pilot, you don't know how to open up the far aim and look at the rex.
Okay, right, that's a good point.
Because as a pilot you need to know how to use the far aim. With that being said, Chris just looked up the requirements before we went flying today to make sure he was fresh on it. My memory is 30 hours for the add on. Correct?
Correct.
20 hours of duel for the add on. 10 hours of solo for the add on.
Okay, 30, 30 total.
And that's 30 total.
That's broken down into 20 hours of duel, 10 hours of solo. So let's just for example, you're like you said, a private airplane guy and you want to get your private helicopter add on.
Right.
Then you are still going to have to do 20 hours of duel with me with an instructor and you're still going to have to do 10 hours of solo.
Yep.
With no written test, that's a big thing.
Glad you brought that up because I get that quite often where someone contact me and they're like, hey, you know, I'm working on the written for the add on. And I'm like, hey, guess what, you don't have to do it. And people are of course relieved. So for the add on, if you're a private fixed wing, you're doing private helicopter add on in the in the US there is no written test. Okay, good news. So you need the oral test and the practical test. I know, the next thing that's popping into my mind is but when you're doing an add on, so many times pilots will say, well I only need this because I'm doing an add on. Well, I only need that because I'm doing an add on. And then they show up at a checkride because they didn't want to refresh all their private pilot knowledge. And then they stumble on the add on because they say, well I'm already a pilot, I already know all the VFR stuff. And then they don't refresh that knowledge and then struggle on the checkride. Have you seen that?
I have, I have. And now granted, the DPES will hone in like say you're an airplane coming to helicopter. The DPES will mainly, at least our DP will Mainly ask what the differences are like in weather minimums or, you know, that kind of stuff or regulations for, you know, fuel reserve or something like that. But if he sees that you are struggling on what's your basic VFR minimums, he's gonna, he's gonna hone in on that. He's gonna start asking you questions that you should already know. Exactly. You should already know the answers to that. So I mean, don't be surprised that if you as an add on person, that your instructor will not cover some of the basic stuff. Yeah, no, it's just, it's just common sense. And I would think, as any instructor would want to make sure that. Anyway, I mean, you know, I'll tell you a quick story. I had a guy that went for not. I mean, it's a. He's. He was doing instrument add on. Okay. So instrument add on in the helicopter because he's already instrument rated in the airplane. Right, Right. So he goes to the exam and the examiner straight off the bat goes, well, what do you need to stay current? And guess what? He didn't know.
Yes.
And that's kind of my fault too. I took for granted that he was an add on. Yep. So he flies IFR all the time.
Yep.
Okay. So he, I would have thought that he would have known what's it take to stay current for your ifr?
Yep.
And he actually had to look it up.
Yep.
And. And it kind of worried the examiner.
Right. Oh, crap.
If this is how it's going to start off. But ended up being just fine. Just had a brain fart. And part of that was, you know, he flies IFR for a company all the time. So they automatically get renewed, you know, their currency stays. He stays current because he flies IFR all the time. So he's like, you know, so. But yeah, there's a prime example of, you know, that should. Everybody should know, well, how do you stay current?
Exactly. And you were there a month ago when I did my CFI reinstatement check. Right. Because I had let it lapse. And you know, from our debrief afterwards, I, he stuck me on some of the basic stuff that even though I'm doing a CFI renewal. Reinstatement.
Right.
But he still starts out with all the same stuff an examiner is going to ask you on a private add on, you know, what do you got to do? Be current. You know, what do you have to have in the aircraft? What do you have to have on you? They still always go back and hit all that basic stuff. And if you haven't looked on it, looked at it in a while, it will get you. So we covered the hours for the add on, the requirements like the cross countries and so on. Those are the same whether you're doing an initial or an add on. Correct. There's no distinction in the between the add on requirements that you need to do in the helicopter.
So yes, there's still. Yeah, you're still gonna have to do the requirements. That's part of that 10 hours of solo, that 20 hours of dual. Now one question kind of add on to that is people want to know, hey, I'm a private airplane, but I want to get my commercial helicopter. Is, is that doable? Yes, it is. You can go from your private airplane and get your commercial helicopter, but that is going to require more hours because now you have to do the comm requirements.
Yes.
And you will have to take a test for that because you're doing a commercial add on to the private airplane. Absolute.
Absolutely. And that's a great question. I'll bet we'll hit another day and we'll go in more into detail on that because that's the commercial add on. There's a lot of things that pop up with that. So we'll make sure and do that in another video coming up. So let us know what you wanted to see in our upcoming Daily Hawks Daily Flight brief videos. Go below for a free PDF copy of Top 10 Checklight Tips, Amazon number one bestseller.
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And subscribe the channel. Click the bell. Let us know what you want to see in future videos. See you in the next video. That was number five.
Dude, those are going good. I think this is, you know, it's the short little two, three, five minute videos that people watch too.
Yes.
Like when I click on YouTube and I see it's like 45 minutes, I.
