Thats a good question - I took my ATP check ride in a TH-57C - any turbine helicopter you take a ATP practical test in, comes with a type rating regardless of whether its > 12,500 lbs or not.
-
Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?
Go here:
Edit Account Details and Profile
GOUGE Military Competency Route to CFI/CFII - advice
- Thread starter ChuckMK23
- Start date
Thats a good question - I took my ATP check ride in a TH-57C - any turbine helicopter you take a ATP practical test in, comes with a type rating regardless of whether its > 12,500 lbs or not.
It seems sort of nebulous for helicopters because the FARs are pretty clear about the 12,500 limit so perhaps it was an ATP-ism or more done for insurance purposes.
That being said, jet aircraft are all type-rated regardless of gross weight as you alluded to, so there are slight differences in requirements.
That BH-206 type rating was a puzzle. Some time on Google led to a few articles discussing changing regulations and stating: Effective August 4, 1997, the following type ratings for helicopters weighing 12,500 pounds or less are no longer issued to holders of airline transport pilot certificates: When did you get your helicopter ATP?
1994! It’s been a while!
Just passed Airplane CFII checkride - a whopping 40 minute oral and two approaches in the airplane for a .6.
This experience reinforces the route I took. If you are a Helo type and were an IP in HT's or a ICP/NI/ANI or any sort of Stan type in a squadron - by all means simply take Mil Comp Instructor with Sheppard gouge for prep. With a Helo CFI/CFII in hand the path to Airplane CFI and CFII are though the additional rating path - despite what Sheppard says, the additional rating Instructor exams are shorter and of less difficulty = high score percentage - the Sheppard CFI and CFII written prep does contain the questions even though Sheppard does not warranty it as it does the full exam.
The practical/checkrides are also more straightforward on this path - the DE acknowledges you are already an experienced instructor.
My 2 cents - I could have done the MCI and Airplane CFI & CFII in 2-3 months with focused effort. In my case, while working a fairly demanding full time job - took me November '17 to now... almost 10 months.
Oh and each time you pass a checkride on your Instructor certificates, all your ratings get fully renewed for 2 years. I reached out to a local Sheriff dept aviation dept asking if they needed a Helo CFI/CFII for flight reviews and Instrument Proficiency Checks and was met with a resounding YES (OH-58A department, small Ohio unit). They pay a decent standard hourly rate for as needed instructors. Will keep you all posted on how this goes. this one unit was flying guys to Calif just to find a helo CFII who had an unexpired flight instructor certificate and was legal to sign off.
This experience reinforces the route I took. If you are a Helo type and were an IP in HT's or a ICP/NI/ANI or any sort of Stan type in a squadron - by all means simply take Mil Comp Instructor with Sheppard gouge for prep. With a Helo CFI/CFII in hand the path to Airplane CFI and CFII are though the additional rating path - despite what Sheppard says, the additional rating Instructor exams are shorter and of less difficulty = high score percentage - the Sheppard CFI and CFII written prep does contain the questions even though Sheppard does not warranty it as it does the full exam.
The practical/checkrides are also more straightforward on this path - the DE acknowledges you are already an experienced instructor.
My 2 cents - I could have done the MCI and Airplane CFI & CFII in 2-3 months with focused effort. In my case, while working a fairly demanding full time job - took me November '17 to now... almost 10 months.
Oh and each time you pass a checkride on your Instructor certificates, all your ratings get fully renewed for 2 years. I reached out to a local Sheriff dept aviation dept asking if they needed a Helo CFI/CFII for flight reviews and Instrument Proficiency Checks and was met with a resounding YES (OH-58A department, small Ohio unit). They pay a decent standard hourly rate for as needed instructors. Will keep you all posted on how this goes. this one unit was flying guys to Calif just to find a helo CFII who had an unexpired flight instructor certificate and was legal to sign off.
Last edited:
Chuck,
What company or flight school did you end up using for this add on? What plane did you get your check in?
I did the add on written prep with Sheppard Air. I needed an endorsement to take the add on written and simply had a local CFII who I know well endorse me to take the exam after I showed him my test prep progress. Since I already had a CFII Helo, This was an add on - Part 61 does not specify any specific experience requirements for the Practical. I did some right seat instrument flying practice with a buddy in a local flying club 172 - had a local CFII friend endorse me, and then called a local DPE - who charged me $400 for the checkride. All preparation was done in a 1977 Cessna 172N with Garmin avionics.
The magic is to get the mil-comp Helo CFI/CFII first!
Question about milcomp stuff, not directly related to cfi. Do you have to be current to get the commericals and instrument certs/rating. I'm a c130 guy, 2 years out of cockpit, never bothered to do the milcomp when I was flying. Will probably be going back to the cockpit in a year or so. Do I need to wait till I have been flying again or can I just go to a fsdo with my records and get issued everything? If I have to wait, if I go t6, will I need to do a few civilian hours in a multi to qualify for the multi stuff?
I do not believe there is any recent experience requirement. Just take the exam and go to a FSDO with your supporting documents and an Examiner will issue you Airman Certificate..in your case you almost certainly qualify for Commercial Pilot Single and Multi Engine Land and Instrument Airplane.
Get Sheppard study software, and take knowledge test...
Awesome, thanks
There is no currency requirement, but look up you FSDO ahead of time before heading down there looking for paperwork to be filed. Both of nearest FSDOs wouldn't process Mil-Comp paperwork (admittedly, they couldn't define if CFII was truly Mil-Comp, but it wasn't worth my time to find out). I ended up going to a local DPE and paid $25 (or whatever it was) for them to file the paperwork.
Lower traffic FSDOs appear to not have this restriction.
Lower traffic FSDOs appear to not have this restriction.