R22 helicopter with instructor:  $275 per flight hour.

Individual ground instruction:  $35 per hour.

A typical Helicopter Private Pilot rating would consist of a minimum of 40 hours of flight training and at least 30 hours of ground instruction, plus books and a check ride.  You can borrow 20 hours of flight time from your commercial rating and not increase your total cost of the Professional Pilot Package.  Estimated total cost are as follows:

$  8,250   30 hours of flight instruction                                                                         

$  2,500   10 hours of solo

$  1,050   30 hours of ground instruction

$     300   Books and study material

$     100   Knowledge exam                                                                                      

$     450   Examiners fee for check ride                                                                         

$     300   Examiners fee for driving to Lake Charles                                                 

$     250   Aircraft rental for check ride

$13,300  Total estimated cost for Private Rating

40 flight hours is the minimum time requirement to obtain a Helicopter Private Pilot Rating under Part 61 of the Federal Aviation Regulations.  Actual time to complete the coarse will vary.  The national average for a Private Helicopter Rating is 60 hours.  Any extra hours needed for Private can be applied towards the total time for Commercial.

R22 helicopter with instructor:  $275 per flight hour.

R22 rental for solo flight:  $250 per flight hour.

R22 Instrument Trainer with instructor:  $300 per flight hour.

Individual ground instruction:  $35 per hour.

For a Commercial Helicopter Pilot rating you need 150 hours total time with 100 hours pilot in command (PIC) in powered aircraft, of which at least 35 hours PIC must be in helicopters.  You must have 50 total hours in helicopters with 20 hours of dual instruction. There is also a requirement for 10 hours of instrument training. Refer to FAR 61.129 (c) for more information. 

For the Instrument Rating you will need 50 hours of PIC cross country with 40 hours of simulated instrument of which 15 hours must be in helicopters.

The following price breakdown is assuming that you have no prior aviation experience and graduated from our Private Helicopter Pilot program with the minimum of 40 hours of flight time.  Should you fly more than the 40 hours during your private training, that time would be subtracted from your 150 hours required for commercial:

$ 12,000  40 Instrument flight instruction, 10 hours of which is cross country             

$  5,500   20 hours of dual instruction towards commercial rating                             

$  8,500   34 hours of solo cross country                                                                      

$  4,400   16 hours to be used where needed (Gets you to the required 150 hours)    

$  1,750   50 hours of ground instruction                                                                       

$     350   Books and study material                                                                              

$     200   2 Knowledge exams                                                                                      

$     900   2 Examiners fee's for both check rides                                          

$     300   Examiners fee for driving to Lake Charles       

$     575   Aircraft rental for both check rides

$34,475  Total cost for Instrument and Commercial

R22 with instructor:  $275 per flight hour.

Individual ground instruction:  $35 per hour.

For a Helicopter Certified Helicopter Certificate (CFI), There are no hour requirements.  You must be able to fly and teach all basic maneuvers to the commercial level from the left seat (Pilot in command of the R22 normally flies from the right seat). 

$  2,750   10 hours of flight instruction

$  1,050   30 hours of ground instruction

$     150   Books and study material

$     200   Knowledge exams (FOI and Instructor exams)

$     700   Examiners fee for initial CFI check ride                                                       

$     300   Examiners fee for driving to Lake Charles     

$     250   Aircraft rental for check ride

$  5,400  Total estimated cost for CFI

Graduates of our CFI program are eligible to be hired as a flight instructor with Performance Helicopters, LLC.  However, there is a requirement of 200 helicopter hours to instruct in the R22 for insurance purposes and to meet the SFAR 73 requirements set by the Federal Aviation Adminstration. Including the Check Rides, if you finish through CFII in the minimum time, you will have 175 hours total time.  The last 25 hours can be flown solo, or split with another instructor that needs to build hours.

R22 Instrument trainer with instructor:  $300 per flight hour.

Individual ground instruction:  $35 per hour.

For a Helicopter Certified Flight Instructor Instrument (CFII), There are no hour requirements.  You must be able to fly and teach all instrument maneuvers from the left seat (Pilot in command of the R22 normally flies from the right seat). You must also have a Certified Flight Instructor rating.

$  3,000   10 hours of flight instruction

$     350   10 hours of ground instruction

$         0   Books and study material

$     100   Knowledge exam

$     450   Examiners fee                                                                                              

$     300   Examiners fee for driving to Lake Charles 

$     270   Aircraft rental for check ride

$  4,470  Total estimated cost for CFII

The complete Professional Pilot Program includes all of the ratings from Private though Certified Flight Instructor Instrument.  Total price is: $57,645.

An R44 transition consists of 5 hours of flight instruction if you have a specified amount of time in Robinson helicopters or 10 hours of flight instruction if you have no time in Robinson helicopters. 

Flight Instruction in the R44 is $500 per hour.