Can a Canadian citizen do their training in the US and get it converted to Canadian? I'll be in the US for a year for an internship through school and was wondering if I could do a helicopter license while in the US.

Yes you can do this. If the intention is to fly helicopters commercially, I would do a bit more research about getting a job afterwards. Some employers frown on getting your license this way because supposedly the training isn't as good in the u.s.. I don't know if I believe that or not. I have a feeling that the people who say this about American conversion pilots are the flight schools, protecting their income stream.
Just like fixed wing flight training. Their are good instructors and bad instructors, and some that don't want to train. Just make sure your instructor is good, you are always learning and your having a good time. .

I did a CPL-A to CPL-H conversion here in Canada in 2013. Of the 3 instructors I had, their average time was well over 10,000 hours. Compare that to the typical US flight school where (like fixed wing here), many of the instructors still have wet ink on their licenses.

I had considered saving some money and going to the US for some of my training. In the end I'm glad I didn't. It was some of the best training I have ever had in an aircraft.

YMMV

Glenn

macdonjo wrote:Can a Canadian citizen do their training in the US and get it converted to Canadian? I'll be in the US for a year for an internship through school and was wondering if I could do a helicopter license while in the US.

It's very easy to convert a PPL(A) from FAA-land to TC and I've not seen anything to suggest it's any harder for a PPL(H).

It's not for commercial. It's for private license.

I understand it will be cheaper in the US, but that's not the primary reason of doing it there. The primary reason is I will be there for a year anyways.

mmartin1872 wrote:Some employers frown on getting your license this way because supposedly the training isn't as good in the u.s.

I'm inclined to believe this, based on how stringent everything was for writing here (3 sheets of signed paper, test was on the computer, recorded on camera, and an affidavit signed saying I wouldn't discuss questions) vs the FAA releasing a book every year of all the questions and answers for the exams.

All the hoops you had to go through...it was because you have been identified as a terrrornist.

As to the Op.

The US offers two types of training.
The first is referred to as part 61. It is very loosely regulated, and, as such, quality is all over the place. The standard is the very minimum.
If you are not a US citizen to the best of my knowledge you can not get the necessary M1 visa to train in this stream. But that might have changed

The other path is referred to as part 141. These schools are heavily regulated . And almost all of them can get you the M1 visa if you require it. Despite heavy regulatory oversight, many of them, in my opinion, are lacking in teaching basic flight skills, and all of them are super expensive in the long run. The Minimum...not average time for a PPL is about 70 hours. And this incudes many hours of "stage checks" to the point in the PPL that you train for a few hours, then get checked. The stage checks, despite the spin are as much about making certain your instructor is doing their job as assessing your abilities.

But when it comes to actually training instructors, they are little different from part 61.

The other thing is that the pendelum on training is now putting so much emphasis on teaching pilots how not to make a decision and silly scenarios that are truely meaningless, that very little emphasis is being placed on basic flight skills.

This will of course change as the accident trend indicates accidents are happening because of poor piloting skills. They dont seem to be able to achieve a balance..

You can PM. I have some pretty good study details from many of the 141 scools. The details are confidential, but I can share an opinion.

Canada is generally better, but if you are in the US, it can be difficult to find a good school.

trey kule wrote:All the hoops you had to go through...it was because you have been identified as a terrrorniss.

Maybe I should stop saying "Jihad me at hello" to everyone I meet.