Having just gained a commercial licence, a flight instructor rating is a standard route that pilots take to keep flying and to vastly improve their abilities. This rating allows you initially to teach for the private licence, but is also the starting block to move into advanced training. We offer this training on the Cabri G2 and Robinson R22.

We offer a full-time instructor course to show you how to fly and teach from the other seat, pick up and correct students’ mistakes, whilst giving you the confidence to succeed in your ground and flying instruction. The course is run by our highly experienced Captain Mike Green, renowned for his expertise in both flying and theoretical knowledge.

We also offer Flight Instructor Refresher Seminars for those whose flight instructor rating is within a year of expiry. These tend to run every three months.

For your flight instructor rating, you must be at least 18 years old by the time you apply for your licence. You also require 250 hours of total flight time on helicopters, of which:

100 hours should be PIC if you hold at least a CPL(H)
200 hours PIC if you hold a PPL(H) and have completed the CPL(H) ground exams
20 hours PIC should be VFR cross-country flying
10 hours of instrument flight instruction should have been received

Your flight instructor rating training course starts with a pre-flight entry test. You receive 125 hours of groundschool on methods of teaching and learning, plus theoretical knowledge instruction. 30 hours of flight instruction are given in effective teaching methods and getting you to the standard where you feel comfortable teaching your own students how to fly.

Finally you will take a test to demonstrate to a UK CAA examiner that you possess the knowledge and flying ability to teach the next generation of pilots with your new flight instructor rating!

At Helicopter Services, we can add new privileges to your existing flight instructor rating, or we also offer courses to become a:

TRI(H) – Type Rating Instructor
IRI(H) – Instrument Rating Instructor
Or an FE – Flight Examiner

Contact us for further information