Pterofranc Flight Services

Flight Instruction

& Hour Building

Please note that the regulations outlined below only represent the minimum requirements. Pterofranc makes no guarantee as to time or cost required to complete any rating. The actual flight hours for private certificates can vary significantly depending on each student's individual needs and requirements.

Private

14 CFR §61.103 & §61.109

Age: At least 17 years old.

Medical: At least a third-class medical certificate.

Knowledge Test: Pass the written exam.

Experience (Min 40 hours total):

  • 20 hours dual instruction.
  • 10 hours solo flight.
  • 3 hours cross-country.
  • 3 hours night (including one 50nm cross-country and 10 takeoffs/landings).
  • 3 hours instrument training.

 

Practical Test: Pass the checkride.

Instrument

14 CFR §61.65

Prerequisite: Hold a Private or Commercial Pilot Certificate (Helicopter).

Knowledge Test: Pass the written exam.

Experience (Min 40 hours actual/simulated instrument):

  • 15 hours instrument flight training from an instructor.
  • 50 hours cross-country PIC.
  • One cross-country flight of 100nm+ with 3 different approaches.

 

Practical Test: Pass the Instrument checkride.

Commercial

14 CFR §61.129

Age: At least 18 years old.
Prerequisite: Private Pilot Certificate.

Medical: You need a second-class medical certificate to exercise the privileges of a commercial pilot, but only a third-class is required for the checkride.

Knowledge Test: Pass the written exam.
Experience (Min 150 hours total):

  • 100 hours in powered aircraft, 50 hours in helicopters.
  • 100 hours PIC (including 35 hours in helicopters).
  • 20 hours ground training.
  • 10 hours instrument training.
  • One 2-hour day cross-country (50nm+), one 2-hour night cross-country (50nm+), 3 hours night training.

 

Practical Test: Pass the checkride.

CFI (Flight Instructor)

14 CFR §61.183

Prerequisite: Commercial or ATP Certificate (Helicopter).

Knowledge Tests: Fundamentals of Instructing (FOI) and Helicopter Knowledge Tests.

Experience: Logged 15 hours of PIC time in a helicopter. It usually requires 20-30 hours of flight and 30 hours of ground instruction.

SFAR 73 requires 200 hours in helicopters, with 50 hours in Robinson R22/R44 (up to 25 hours R22 allowed for R44).

Practical Test: Pass the CFI checkride

CFII (Instrument Instructor)

14 CFR §61.183 & §61.185

Prerequisite: CFI Certificate (Helicopter) and Instrument Rating (Helicopter).

Knowledge Test: Flight Instructor Instrument written test.

Experience: There is no specific minimum for CFII training, but it usually requires 8-10 hours of flight and 15 hours of ground instruction.

Practical Test: Pass the CFII checkride (oral and flight

Hour Building

Do you need to build hours or experience? 

You can build hours and experience mountain flying, cross country night flying, fly your friends and family around, or tighten some things up before a checkride elsewhere. There is a lot we can do while building your hours.

§119.1(e)

This is the code that effectively allows limited commercial operations to be conducted for a small operation like Pterofranc. 

 

For now, these are the services we can provide with our R44 Raven II:

Flight Instruction

Ferry or Training Flights

Crop Dusting, Seeding, Spraying, and Bird Chasing

Aerial Photography or Survey

Powerline or Pipeline Patrol

 

We can also provide pilots to ferry your helicopter wherever you need it to go. If you have any questions, please ask!