It’s All in the Preparation

Posted on October 30, 2009 by Maria Langer

What it takes to conduct a 6-day helicopter excursion.

On Sunday, I begin the fourth and final 6-day Southwest Circle Helicopter Adventure I’m conducting for calendar year 2009. The trip is the culmination of months of preparation, most of which happens in the weeks and then days leading up to the trip itself. I thought it might be interesting to some reader to see what goes into it.

A Year in Advance

I make hotel reservations for the weeks of the planned excursions a year or more in advance. I have to do this to ensure that I get rooms for my guests (and myself, in many cases) at some destinations.

The most troublesome destinations are Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon, and Lake Powell, in that order.

Zero-Mike-Lima at Monument Valley.

In Monument Valley, we stay at Goulding’s Lodge, which overlooks the valley from the west. It’s not a big place and it has lots of historic significance. It’s also very popular with bus tours. That means it fills up quickly and early. I normally reserve a room with a king bed and a room with two queen beds. If the trip is sold, my guests get first choice based on preferences selected when the excursion is booked. Sometimes, however, I have to get two identical rooms. The other room is for me; there’s no where else within walking distance — I won’t have any ground transportation there — to stay.

At the Grand Canyon, I usually try to book rooms at Bright Angel Lodge (rim cabins with or without views), Thunderbird Lodge (standard rooms with or without views) or Kachina Lodge (standard rooms with or without rooms). I try in that order because, in my opinion, those are the best value rooms. Lots of people want to stay at El Tovar. I think it’s overrated. Sure, its historic — so is Bright Angel — but the rooms are small and cramped, just as you might expect in a 104-year-old hotel. They’re also very expensive — the more spacious rooms cost far more than the budget I’ve set aside for overnight accommodations. And although the hotel is right on the rim — so are the other three I listed — very few of the rooms have any kind of view of the canyon. Bright Angel offers a more rustic, historic experience steps away from the rim. Thunderbird and Kachina are more modern and motel-like but are also more comfortable. And let’s face it: when the sun goes down at the Grand Canyon, there isn’t much to do. A comfortable room is important.

As for me, I go with what I consider the best value on the rim: a half-bath room at Bright Angel. Sure, the shower is down the hall and there’s no television, but you can’t beat the location or price.

At Lake Powell, my guests stay at the Lake Powell Resort. It’s a huge resort complex right on the lake, with views, private patios, pools, a hot tub, restaurants, etc. I get lakeview rooms for my guests. They’ll spend nearly 24 hours at the resort and I want them to be comfortable. I don’t stay there, though. It’s too expensive and too far from the helicopter for me. Lately, I’ve been staying at the Days Inn across from WalMart. Less expensive, clean, and it has wifi.

Of these three hotels, I have to pay for the rooms at the Grand Canyon and Lake Powell up front. That means thousands of dollars in prepaid hotel expenses. I think of it as an investment. And when the excursions sell, I’m ready.

The remaining two nights — one in Sedona and one in Flagstaff — are usually relatively easy to book with at least a month’s notice. I don’t book them until an excursion is booked.

One last thing I do after booking: I modify the Southwest Circle Availability page on the Flying M Air Web site to clearly indicate what dates are available.

On Booking

Lookout Studio at the Grand Canyon by Maria Langer

One of my favorite subjects is Lookout Studio in the early light. (You can click it to see a larger version in my Photo Gallery.)

When an excursion is booked, I start by sending a package of materials out to my guests. The package includes a bunch of brochures, as well as a preferences questionnaire. They fill in the questionnaire with their preferences for rooms (for example, 1 king or 2 queen beds?), tours (for example, Antelope Canyon or Navajo Tapestry boat tour at Lake Powell?), and other options.

When I get the questionnaire, I start working the phones. I confirm and, if necessary, attempt to change existing hotel reservations. Sometimes I might have booked a non-view room at the Grand Canyon, for example, because that’s the only thing that was available at booking; I may be able to change it to a better room. I make new reservations for Sedona and Flagstaff. I also make reservations for tours. I book rental cars and rooms for me.

As I do all this, I’m entering dates and times and details into iCal, which I use for scheduling. This builds an itinerary for my guests. I’ll send them a PDF version of the itinerary for their approval. They may have some changes — perhaps they want to do their helicopter tour over the Grand Canyon a little later in the day to enjoy more time in Sedona that morning — and I’ll make them, if I can, when they tell me.

A Month Before

In the middle of each month, I look at the excursions scheduled but not booked for the following month. Then I work the phones again to cancel the hotel reservations I made for those dates.

Although I can cancel with as short a notice as two or three days, I’ve realized that it’s not a good idea to wait until the last minute. Not only can forget to do it, but I’d prefer to have the prepaid expenses refunded back to my credit card as soon as possible. Besides, with a month or less advance notice, I’m not likely to be able to get the rest of the excursion — other rooms and tours — booked satisfactorily. It’s best to just throw in the towel for those dates. I update the Web site to remove those dates so folks don’t try to book them.

Canceling all those dates takes the better part of a morning. There are a lot of dates in the systems and the reservation clerks don’t understand why. I have to explain it to them. I also have to make sure they only cancel the dates that need to be cancelled.

Accounting for the refunds is a nightmare. I have to match them in my accounting records by date. Although the hotels don’t usually make mistakes, sometimes they do. And it’s a real pain in the butt to fix them.

A month before a booked excursion is also when I take the 50% deposit from guests. I confirm with my guests that we’re still moving forward — this deposit is not refundable. I’ve never had anyone back out at this stage of the game.

Once I have the deposit, I send out the luggage, hats, and other goodies I’ve promised my guests. I provide the luggage so I know it’ll fit in the aircraft. They’re Totes wheelie bags. Admittedly, they’re not the best quality, but they’re lightweight and they will last for the entire 6-days of the trip, as well as through any baggage handling the airlines subject them to on the way to or from Arizona.

If my guests have requested dinner at El Tovar during their stay, this is also when I make reservations. You can make them as far in advance as a month; if you want until the last minute, you’re likely to be eating at 5 PM or 9 PM. I try to book for either a specific requested time or right after sunset.

A Week Before

I reconfirm all reservations about a week before a booked excursion. This takes about a half day.

I also fine-tune the itinerary and do a final check to make sure it’s correct and resolve any problems I might have found.

If my guests are flying in and I haven’t gotten their flight information, I call or e-mail them to get it. I also send them instructions for finding the Terminal Three helispot at Sky Harbor Airport if I’ll be picking them up there. I can’t leave the helicopter unattended there, so they’re responsible for finding me.

I also begin my daily weather checks, just to keep an eye on storm systems, temperatures, and wind forecasts. I’ll be checking the weather along the route every single day for the next two weeks.

Three Days Before

I take the final 50% deposit three days before the excursion. This is also when I do all the paperwork that goes into the guest package:

Receipt for payment.
Welcome letter.
Printed itinerary.
Sedona and Flagstaff street maps.
Grand Canyon walking tour, shopping, and dining brochures.

I create the flight manifests and weight and balance calculations for each leg of the helicopter flight. This is required by the FAA to be on board the helicopter during the flight.

The Day Before

The day before the trip, I go through the helicopter and pull any item that I won’t need to have on board for the flight. I reorganize the under-seat storage bins so it’s easy to find what I need. The seat behind me will be for luggage — mine underneath and theirs secured on top. I make sure the bungee I’ll need to secure the luggage is on board.

I’ll also add the items I need for a long cross country flight. I usually bring along 4 quarts of the W100+ oil I use — I can definitely expect to add at least one quart during the trip, but I sometimes need more. The oil is hard to find, so it’s better to have enough with me than to have to hunt for it. And for our flight over Lake Powell, I need life jackets, so I bring those along, too. And I stow the manifests I’ve created. I don’t need to consult them in flight, but they must be on board, so I put them in my Hobbs book under my seat.

I also make sure the helicopter and its windows are clean, that my spray bottle for cleaning the windows is full, and that my rags are clean. I do a thorough pre-flight, which I’ll mostly repeat the next day before the flight.

The Trip

On the first day of the trip, I meet my passengers at the predetermined airport. After introductions and hand-shaking, I give them a complete and thorough passenger safety briefing, pointing out things like the fire extinguisher and the location of first aid and survival equipment (under my seat). I load up their luggage — mine is already under that back seat — and secure it. Then I help them aboard, make sure they know how to operate the seat belt and doors, and close their doors securely for them.

Then we’re off. I won’t go into the trip details; you can read about a typical itinerary here.

As we fly, I tell them what I know about the terrain we fly over. I know the routes by heart — I’ve flown over them enough — but I still have occasional surprises: wild horses, a herd of antelope, mild turbulence where I don’t expect it, etc. I share just about everything I see with my passengers — they’re probably sick of listening to me by the end of their trip.

In Page, my guests visit Upper Antelope Canyon. If I have time, I scramble into Lower Antelope Canyon with my camera and tripod. (You can click it to see a larger version in my Photo Gallery.)

At each destination, I have two goals: get my guests to their tour or other activity on time and handle the luggage. Every day’s activity is different and may have free time around it. I need to get people where they need to be and make sure they know how to get around — especially back to the hotel — for the day. Once I set them loose, I won’t see them until the next morning when we meet for departure.

I’m in charge of their luggage. At most destinations, our rooms are not ready for us when we arrive. That means I Have to either check or carry around the bags but be back for check-in time. When I check in my guests, I get a key to their room and bring their luggage in. I leave the key and, on the first day, I leave the welcome package.

I do this every day. The goal is for my passengers to enjoy a scenic helicopter flight to their destination, worry-free transportation to the central area, and time on their own for tours and other unscheduled activities. Anytime after check-in time, they can go to the hotel’s front desk, give the clerk their name, and get their key. Their bags are already waiting for them.

Heck, why can’t I find a vacation like this?

I also handle any arrangements for parking the helicopter, such as getting fuel, putting on the blade tie-downs, preflighting for the next day, and cleaning the windows.

The next day, I meet my passengers at the predetermined time. Although they usually bring their luggage with them, I can fetch it if they want me to. Then we head on out for the day. Some days, there’s an activity in the morning; other days, we just go to the airport and fly out to our next destination.

We do this for six days with five overnight stops.

I made this photo in Sedona during one of my excursions. (You can click it to see a larger version in my Photo Gallery.)

To be fair, I usually have most evenings and early mornings to myself. Once the bags are stowed in guest rooms — always by 4 PM — as long as the helicopter has been tended to, I’m free. I hike at Sedona and the Grand Canyon, do photo flights for other folks at Lake Powell, relax and blog at Monument Valley, and stroll around town and enjoy Thai food in Flagstaff. I take a lot of photos. I blog. This coming trip, I hope to work on a novel.

I have a huge amount of responsibility — these folks have paid thousands of dollars for a dream vacation. It’s my job to make sure it doesn’t turn into a nightmare. I take that responsibility very seriously. What I’ve found is that by doing everything I can in advance, the trip goes much more smoothly. And the more trips I do, the more smoothly each one goes — although I admit that the first one back in 2006 was the smoothest one of all.

When It’s All Over

On the last day of the trip, I return my passengers to the starting airport and see them off. If they liked the trip — and they always do — I get a nice tip. Then I bring the helicopter back to base, clean it out the best I can, and put it away.

The trip is expensive, but so is flying the helicopter. I’ve recently introduced what I call “a la carte pricing,” to reduce some of the sticker shock. Instead of paying for the whole package up front, guests can simply pay for flight time and my overnight costs. Then they’ll be responsible for taking care of all the other arrangements — hotels, tours, ground transportation, etc. — for themselves. That would certainly take a huge weight off my shoulders. But unless the guests want to skip overnight stops and tours, it won’t save them any money. My margins are tight; I don’t make much on each trip. I seriously doubt whether they could do it for less without sacrifices.

To my knowledge, I’m the only helicopter operator in the country offering these trips. After reading what it takes to conduct one, can you get an idea why? If that’s not enough to explain it, consider this: each time I take the helicopter away for six days, that’s six days that I can’t do any other for-hire flying — other than the occasional photo flight at Lake Powell. So my revenue stream is basically turned off for those six days. Not many helicopter operators would be willing to take a helicopter offline for six days at a time.

If you’re wondering why I don’t just fly back to base each night, consider this: it costs more to fly the helicopter for an hour than it costs to stay overnight at any of the destinations. And since we’re always at least an hour — and as much as three hours — away from base, it simply doesn’t make sense to go home every night.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not complaining. I love doing the trips. I love sharing my knowledge of Arizona with my guests — especially folks from out of state.

And who could complain about an all-expenses-paid trip to five of Arizona’s most popular destinations — by helicopter?

Marketing Madness

Posted on October 27, 2009 by Maria Langer

I design and assemble 24 copies of a 12-page marketing piece for Flying M Air.

The Arizona tourist season is starting and will be in full-swing by mid November. That means it’s time for me to meet with Phoenix and Scottsdale hotel and resort concierges to make sure they’re aware of Flying M Air’s tours and day trips and to make it easy to sell them for me.

With the relocation of my helicopter from Wickenburg to a base much closer to my customers, I was able to cut prices on all of my tours and day trips. That should make them more attractive to customers. They are not, however, cheap. My lowest price tour is a 50-60 minute trip around Phoenix that costs $495 for up to 3 people. My most expensive flight is a day-long trip to Grand Canyon West’s Skywalk that includes at least four hours in the helicopter and all ground fees and costs $2,495 for up to three people. Ouch.

When you’re selling services with big price tags, you can’t expect a flyer printed on your Epson inkjet printer to impress anyone. You need to create marketing materials that will fully explain and illustrate what you’re offering, presented in a professional-looking package.

And that’s what I spent much of the past week doing.

Flying M Air I use plastic portfolio binders with a cover insert to prepare 12-page booklets about my company and its services. The cover has an 8×10 glossy photo of the helicopter with my company marketing design (the blue and red swirls).

Inside, there’s a “Welcome” letter, mostly for the use of hotel/resort guests who might be browsing the book on their own. It provides brief information about the company and urges them to book through a concierge. If a concierge isn’t available, however, they can call us directly for more information and reservations.

Next are full-color information sheets about the tours and day trips we offer. Each tour sheet includes at least two photos of the destination or route, full pricing information, and branding elements such as my logo. You can see thumbnails of these pages here, on the right side of this post. I created each of these sheets in InDesign, using photos from a collection I’ve been building steadily for about six years. When they were finished, I e-mailed them to the local KwikPrint. The folks there printed them out on their color laser printer. Although I have a color laser printer, their’s does a better job and, given the cost of consumables on mine, is actually cheaper. As you might imagine, all of these documents are available as downloadable PDFs from the Flying M Air Web site. I figure I spent about $200 on printing.

August 2009 AZ Highways I also included a copy of the front cover of the August 2009 issue of Arizona Highways magazine, which listed my company’s Southwest Circle Helicopter Adventure as “The best way to see Arizona in a week.” I clipped out the paragraph about us and pasted it onto the cover image so both the cover and the text are on the same page. The folks at KwikPrint handled the copies of these sheets,too. They look nice.

Then there’s a full page summary of all tours and day trips and their prices, including optional add-ons like Jeep tours or lunch stops.

Finally, there’s a page that provides information about our helicopter, including the make and model, engine specs, and passenger-friendly features.

Putting the books together was rather time consuming and tedious. We did it after dinner last night. Mike helped me. I spread piles of each page out along the table and we walked around the table, inserting pages into the booklet’s plastic sheets. It took about an hour to do 24 of them. I figure that if I would have paid a marketing firm to do the same job, it would have cost me at least $5K for design and document creation and $20 to $50 per booklet.

The resulting booklets are extremely attractive and professional. They present the image I want people to have of my business. The removable pages make it easy for a concierge to pull out a page and make a copy for a guest or co-worker. Frankly, the only way I could make this any better is to print individual booklets using something like iPhoto. But if you make them too nice, people take them as souvenirs — as I discovered the expensive way with a local guest ranch a few years ago.

But what’s most important about the booklets is that they provide all of the information a concierge needs to help a guest make an informed decision about a tour or day trip with Flying M Air. And that, after all, is the purpose of this exercise.

Later this week, I’ll start making the rounds with my husband, Mike, who has become the company’s Marketing Manager. By that time, we’ll have my new business cards back from the printer.

This season, it’s do or die in the Phoenix area. I’m determined to make it work.

I Love My 1987 Toyota MR-2

Posted on October 22, 2009 by Maria Langer

Book value: $250. Reliability: Near 100%.

This morning, I had to drive down to Phoenix Deer Valley Airport (DVT) to pick up my helicopter for a charter out in Aguila, AZ. I have a 1987 Toyota MR-2 that I bought new in October 1986. That’s my airport car. It basically lives down in Deer Valley when I’ve got the helicopter out. The idea was to drive it down to Deer Valley, park it, do my flight, and then bring the helicopter back to its Wickenburg hangar so I could wash it before returning it to Deer Valley.

That was the idea, anyway.

This morning, the MR-2 roared to life, just like it aways does. But I had some trouble getting it out of first gear — I leave all my cars in gear when I park on our hilly driveway. I rolled back and got it half turned around. Then I attempted to shift into first or second to depart. The gearshift wouldn’t budge.

Understand this: the car is standard transmission. It was my first standard transmission car. I learned to drive stick on that car. A week after taking it home, I was driving back and forth to my job in downtown Manhattan from New Jersey, battling bridge and highway traffic. I got really good with a stick shift really fast.

And the car still has its original clutch.

It only has 133,000 miles on it. When I bought my Jeep in 1999, it became my secondary car. When I bought my Honda S2000 in 2003, it became my third car. I didn’t even need it for sporty drives anymore. That’s when it became my airport car.

Here’s my old helicopter and Toyota MR-2 parked at Howard Mesa during the summer of 2004.

I don’t think I put more than 1,000 miles per year on it after that. It spent the summer of 2004 at Howard Mesa or Grand Canyon Airport when I flew helicopter tours for one of the operators at the Grand Canyon. It spent at least two years in Prescott as an airport car — my mechanic was based there for a while — and then another whole season in Scottsdale — I used to fly there quite often. When the Scottsdale cops called and threatened to tow it away, I drove it home. It spent a year or two in my hangar. Then I brought it down to Deer Valley to be my airport car there.

It didn’t mind neglect. It just about always started up when I turned the key. The only exception was once in Prescott, when the battery had finally died. Fortunately, I’d parked it pointing down a little hill. I released the break, popped the clutch in second gear and got it started. Drove it to Sears, put in a new battery, and went about my business.

Every year or so, I get the oil changed. I bought it new wiper blades and sun screens about a year ago.

Today, when the clutch wouldn’t engage, I wasn’t very surprised. Hell, it was the original clutch! More than 23 years old! What the hell did I expect?

My Honda visits my Toyota at DVT.

I took my Honda down to Deer Valley. I locked it up. I wasn’t happy about leaving my best car overnight at Deer Valley. The Toyota was disposable. The Honda wasn’t.

As I flew west to my gig, I thought about the Toyota. I wondered if this was how it would all end. It didn’t seem right to put hundreds of dollars into a car with a Kelly Blue Book value of under $250.

I did my gig. It involved over 3 hours of flying north of Aguila. It ended with a flight to Wickenburg to photograph some property. I’d drop off my clients at either one of the spec homes they’d built or nearby private helipad that they led me to believe was part of their property. We were doing the photo flight when I heard some chatter on the radio. Wickenburg Airport was closed. Turns out, an F-16 trainer had crash-landed there earlier in the day. So I landed on the helipad. I didn’t have enough fuel to get back to Deer Valley and I couldn’t land at Wickenburg. I wound up leaving it there for the night. As I type this, the airport is still closed.

Back at home, Mike got the idea that maybe the Toyota’s clutch wasn’t broken. Maybe it just needed fluid.

We pulled the owner’s guide out of the glove box and looked it up. We found the reservoir. It was bone dry. (Oops!) We grabbed some of the recommended DOT 3 brake fluid out of the garage and filled the reservoir. I pumped the clutch pedal. A lot. I started the car, pushed down the clutch pedal, and smoothly shifted it into first gear.

It works.

So my Toyota continues to run smoothly with its 23-year-old clutch. Best of all, it seems very forgiving of my neglect.

How can I not love a car like that?

Going Around

Posted on October 11, 2009 by Maria Langer

Complacency leads to sloppy flying.

I did a go-around today when landing in Sedona.

It was the second go-around I did in just over a week.

If you’re not a pilot, you might be wondering what I’m talking about. A go-around is a flying maneuver you perform when you realize that you’re botching up a landing beyond what you can smoothly — or perhaps safely — fix.

[To be fair, sometimes it isn’t the pilot doing the go-around who’s botching up the landing. Sometimes the tower tells a pilot to go around when the plane that landed before him is still on the runway. I was in a commercial airliner that did a go-around because of that. There are lots of reasons to do a go-around, but I won’t lean on any of those.]

In both cases, I was expecting a routine landing and simply wasn’t paying as much attention to what I was doing as I should have been.

Last Saturday it was while landing at a helipad at a rides event. I came in too high. If I’d been alone on board, I could have made the landing safely by simply descending from a high hover. But I had three passengers on board and enough fuel to put us right about at max gross weight. I could easily see myself running out of power in an out-of-ground effect hover with that crosswind. Why fight with it? I went around. I joked with my passengers that they were getting a half landing for free.

N630ML at Sedona Airport.

Today, I think my brain was out to lunch while I made my approach. The AWOS reported that the wind was 170 at 17 gusting to 28. I came in almost parallel to runway 3. What was that all about? The gusty quartering tailwind had me fishtailing all over the place, dancing on the pedals as I tried to make the pad. All the time, I’m pulling more and more collective. I knew I’d run out eventually — like the guy who landed his R44 there in a bush. So even though I was only 25 feet off the ground, I pushed the nose forward, gained speed, and flew out of there. I came around in on the taxiway parallel to runway 21 (duh-oh!) and had a smooth landing, despite the gusts.

Although I’m not happy about having to go around, I’m glad I had the presence of mind to do so. Too many pilots try too hard to make a sloppy landing work. That’s where you get hard landings, bent rotor blades, chopped off tail cones, and mangled helicopters.

But today’s go-around was a real wakeup call for me. It reminded me that I’m probably not thinking as much as I should be when flying. I’m at about the 2200 hour mark and complacency is rearing its ugly head.

Flying isn’t automatic; there is thought involved. Any “routine” landing can go south at any time for any reason. I should always be prepared. I should see problems before they become problems.

And there’s no excuse for sloppy flying.

So I’m scolding myself, publicly. And I’m hoping a few more experienced pilots scold me, too. (Try to be gentle, though, okay?)

I don’t want to be involved in an accident that gets linked to from someone else’s blog.

How to Become a Helicopter Pilot, Part II: The Big Tests

Posted on September 29, 2009 by Maria Langer

I want pilots to know what they’re doing — and prove it.

In the first part of this post, I explained the prerequisites to taking the tests you need to take to become a pilot. If you haven’t read that yet, read it now.

In this part, I’ll tell you about the two tests: the knowledge (AKA “written”) test and the practical test (AKA “check ride”). You’ll also find a few links to useful resources to help you pass them.

Written Test

The first of two tests you must pass to become a helicopter pilot is the knowledge test, which is also known as the “written test.” This is the test that has Stu — remember the blog reader from Part I? — so worried.

The written test is proof that you understand all the things you learned in ground school. If you don’t know or understand these things, you won’t pass the test.

The written test isn’t really a written test. It’s a multiple choice test with four possible answers per question. You can get a study guide that actually lists all the questions with their answers. This is possibly the best way to cram for the test — if you like to cram. It’s not the best way to learn the material, though.

Want to see what’s on the test? Download all the questions.

Want to learn? Talk to a flight instructor and other pilots. Watch the videos. Read the AIM. Read articles in Vertical, Rotor & Wing, HeliNews, and even Flight Training. Visit blogs and forums where experienced pilots discuss flying issues. Ask questions; listen to answers. Hang out at airports. Buy a scanner and listen to the local airport chatter.

The written test and ground school knowledge are important . It makes me very sad that Stu (and so many others like him) isn’t taking it as seriously as he should. After all, the first time he gets hit with LTE in a hover, is he going to know how it’s caused and what he can do to stop it? When he does a photo flight with a fattie on board on a hot day in that R22, will he know how to avoid settling with power? Will he understand the danger of thunderstorms or virga or what a lenticular cloud means? Will he know what to expect when flying close over the top of a mountain ridge with a tail wind? Will he be able to read a chart well enough to keep out of a restricted area or learn whether military operations in an MOA affect his operating altitude? Will he bust Class Bravo airspace because he doesn’t know which magic words from ATC grant him entry? When the clutch light flickers on in his R22, will he know what to do?

How can anyone consider himself a pilot if he doesn’t possess the basic knowledge required to be a pilot? Passing a multiple choice test about the basics of flying the aircraft is the least a future pilot should be required to do.

And you must pass the knowledge test before you can move forward to take the big test. FAR Part 61.39, “Prerequisites for Practical Tests,” starts with:

(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, to be eligible for a practical test for a certificate or rating issued under this part, an applicant must:
(1) Pass the required knowledge test within the 24-calendar-month period preceding the month the applicant completes the practical test, if a knowledge test is required;
(2) Present the knowledge test report at the time of application for the practical test, if a knowledge test is required;

It’s a really good idea to take and pass the knowledge test as soon as you get the required endorsement. It gets a big part of the learning process out of the way, clearing your mind so you can concentrate on the flying and use your knowledge to understand how the flying works.

It also starts a clock ticking: once you pass, you have just 2 years to take and pass practical test. Otherwise, you’ll have to take the written test all over again. How’s that for a motivator?

Check Ride

Once you’ve met all the other requirements above and have passed your written text, you’re ready for the practical test, which is better known as a “check ride” or “check flight.” The practical test is administered by a special examiner who is authorized by the FAA. In some instances, it might be a CFI at your flight school. It could also be someone who works directly or indirectly for the FAA.

I personally believe that a check ride with the FAA or an examiner not employed by your flight school is a better check ride. Your flight school has too much riding on your test and might pass or fail you based on any number of factors other than your knowledge or ability.

Did you pay a flat fee for all your training with a guarantee of completion with a set number of flight hours? Are you near the end of that time? What’s the flight school’s motivation? Do you really want to become a helicopter pilot if you’re not ready? Sadly, a now-defunct flight school that passed too many students before they were ready has gotten a reputation for it. Many of those students, now pilots looking for jobs, aren’t even getting interviews.

Don’t Get Milked!

In 2001, I was ready to take my commercial check ride. My CFI signed me off just before he left for a job at the Grand Canyon. But my new CFI, following instructions from the chief flight instructor, claimed I couldn’t perform the most basic of maneuvers. They refused to give me a stage check I needed to get an endorsement for my check ride. Shocked, I left the flight school and went to another. I took and passed my check ride after only 10 days there.

It was pretty obvious that the first school wanted to keep my $200/hour of dual flight revenue flowing in as long as possible.

Or perhaps the flight school’s enrollment is down and they need your hourly dual rate revenue to pay their bills. What’s the flight school’s motivation? Do you really want to keep financing your flight school?

Before I go any further, I should remind you that before you take your practical test, you need to meet the rest of the requirements of FAR Part 61.39, “Prerequisites for practical tests.” I won’t quote them here; use the link to read them for yourself. In general, no good flight school will sign you off until you meet these requirements. If they do and you go to take the test, you’re likely to have the test stopped before it gets going. That would be a real embarrassment, because it would show the examiner that you didn’t bother to read Part 61.39 and have wasted his time.

The practical test is actually two tests in one. The first part is an oral exam, where the examiner asks a bunch of questions he thinks you need to know answers for. These are usually the same questions covered in the written test — but there’s no multiple choice crutch to lean on. There are also questions specific to the helicopter you’ll be tested in. Better know the engine horsepower, RPM limits, emergency procedures, fuel capacity, best RPM and speed settings to extend your range in autorotation, and just about anything else in the POH. This part of the test can be as short as an hour or as long as three or four. It depends on the examiner and how confident you can make him about your knowledge.

Once the oral part is finished, the flight part begins. FAR Part 61.43, “Practical Tests: General Procedures,” gives a good idea of what the goal is. It starts with:

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, the ability of an applicant for a certificate or rating issued under this part to perform the required tasks on the practical test is based on that applicant’s ability to safely:
(1) Perform the tasks specified in the areas of operation for the certificate or rating sought within the approved standards;
(2) Demonstrate mastery of the aircraft with the successful outcome of each task performed never seriously in doubt;
(3) Demonstrate satisfactory proficiency and competency within the approved standards;
(4) Demonstrate sound judgment; and
(5) Demonstrate single-pilot competence if the aircraft is type certificated for single-pilot operations.

This is the meat of the matter. Does the pilot know what he’s doing? Can he prove it beyond doubt?

The flight part of the test usually includes preflight inspection with questions, examination of aircraft documents, and the flight itself. Then you fly. From the moment you step in to the moment you step out, the examiner is watching you. If he thinks, for even a moment, that you’re unsafe or don’t know what you’re doing, he’ll fail you. If you scare the crap out of him — or even make a big boo-boo — he’ll stop the test.

Want to know what the entire practical test will cover? Download the Practical Test Standards.

Pass it and you’re a pilot.

And That’s All There Is to It

Yes, the heading is a joke. Getting a pilot’s license is not easy. But should it be?

Let’s face it: a pilot flies aircraft over the ground. If he screws up and crashes, he can kill innocent people on the ground as well as his passengers. It’s a heavy responsibility. Don’t you want pilots to know what they’re doing? I do.

Flying is not something to be taken lightly. Want proof? Search this. I’d say that 95% of aviation accidents are due, in one way or another, to pilot error. Don’t think so? Read the reports. I do.

My message for “Stu” is this: If you want to be a pilot, get serious about it. Study hard, learn what pilots need to know. Stop making excuses. Put up or shut up.

Because the last thing the world needs is another “lazy” pilot.

An Eclectic Mind

Web site and blog for Maria Langer, writer, video producer, jewelry artist, boat captain, and helicopter pilot. Blogging since 2004.

Category Archives: Flying