Questions from Brazil

[miltonbarboza]

Hello,
I'm brazilian and next month I'm going to Toronto to finish my English School. I'll stay there for 6 months.

I'll visit some helicopter flight schools in Ontário and in USA (next New York), but I have some doubts.

I prefer to study in Canada, but the cost is cheapest in USA and I think FAA is most important than JAA (I don't know).

Can you help me to decide if I study in USA or in Canada? Which is better for a commercial helicopter pilot?

Thanks,
Milton

[rotorfloat]

If you eventually plan on obtaining your Brazilian helicopter license, you may want to see what the training hour requirements are for your country.

A Canadian Commercial Helicopter license is 100hrs. minimum. Most other countries are 150hrs. Of course you could still train in Canada by simply purchasing 50 additional hours. One benefit is that you will already be licensed and you may use the extra 50 hours for more operational-type flying (mountain flying, external loads, etc.).

I know one student who took his fresh Candian CPL ticket home to find out he was 50 hrs. short of his country's requirements

In Canada, instructors generally have many years (or decades) of operational experience before instructing. In the US, instructing tends to be a route for low-time pilots to build experience. There are always exceptions to this, so please research your schools carefully.

Also, consider training in the western part of Canada or the US, in the mountainous regions, you will learn more skills that will be beneficial when you start flying back home.

Oh, and Canada is not JAA licensing.

[miltonbarboza]

If you eventually plan on obtaining your Brazilian helicopter license, you may want to see what the training hour requirements are for your country.

A Canadian Commercial Helicopter license is 100hrs. minimum. Most other countries are 150hrs. Of course you could still train in Canada by simply purchasing 50 additional hours. One benefit is that you will already be licensed and you may use the extra 50 hours for more operational-type flying (mountain flying, external loads, etc.).

Here is 150 hours too. Thank you for the observation.
I'm thinking about the East because i'm going to Toronto to study english. But I already heared about this. I heared about CHC, but on the site they don't have much information.

Oh, and Canada is not JAA licensing.

Really??? I thought it was. What is the canadian license?

But there are schools which you can take the JAA or FAA, or not?

[rotorfloat]

As far as I know, there isn't any JAA licensing schools for rotary-wing in Canada. I do know of one FAA licensing school here, there may be others.

Canada's licensing is ICAO compliant (as is Brazil's), so your hours flown under a Canadian license will credit towards your FAA or JAA conversion.

I hope this has helped.

[miltonbarboza]

I hope this has helped.

Yes you helped.

Another thing is about the costs. In USA is realy cheapest, or there are costs that are not included?

[rotorfloat]

Most, if not all helicopter schools in Canada are all inclusive in costs: The hourly rate includes fuel, instructor, airport fees and ground school.

Additional fees for the student are typically ground school supplies and Transport Canada fees (written exam, flight test, and licensing fees, respectively), and housing.

Some schools offer housing for students inclusive with their Commercial/International course, or at an affordable rate.

Every school has their own policy on payment. Some require 50% upfront, some require payment in 10-25 hour block times. For the most part they can be negotiated for your own needs or financial limits. I have yet to see a school turn away a student because they could only pay 10 hours at a time as opposed to 25 hours at a time. "Take your money elsewhere"....ya right

I'm not sure the cost breakdown in the US for training, but the worst case scenario I can imagine is additional hourly cost for instructor, fuel, and groundschool.

Good, reputable schools will be forthcoming with all associated costs and fees so that there are no surprises.

[miltonbarboza]

Thank you again.

So I'll visit some schools in Canada and USA and decide to after.