Solo Hours Requirement for CPL -Helicopter

[shogun506]

I'm not quite ready to apply for it yet but I've been looking into the requirements and credits for DND applicants acquiring a CPL for helicopters. I've looked up the Transport Canada requirements and they state that the requirements are considered to be met for DND applicants who have achieved wings standard as long as:

(i) has met the flight time requirements specified in subsection (4) of which a minimum of 10 hours flight time was acquired in helicopters in the 12 months preceding the date of application, and
(amended 2005/12/01; previous version)
(ii) obtains a minimum of 60% in the written examination Commercial Pilot Licence (Helicopter) Air Law, Air Traffic Rules and Procedures (HARPC).
(amended 2005/12/01; previous version)

Now looking in subsection (4) among the requirements the one that concerns me is a requirement for "35 hours solo flight time emphasizing the improvement of general flying ability and skill, including a cross-country flight to a point a minimum of 2 hours flight time at normal cruising speed from the point of departure including a minimum of 3 landings at points other than the point of departure" which is not something I see myself getting in the CF anytime soon. I was talking to a Griffon pilot who said he's preparing for the application soon but he seemed to think that his PIC time would cover the solo time requirement. Does anyone know whether this is true or will I need to spend some money getting solo time civilian side before applying?

The document I'm reading is located here:
https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/regserv/cars/part4-standards-421-1086.htm
CPL Helicopter section is 421.31.

 

[rnkelly]

You can count round robins for landings at points other than the point of departure.  The nature of helicopter ops usually means you're landing several times at places other than the point of departure so I'd argue that point if the TC officer auditing your logbook has issues with it.  Detailing what you did during the flights in your logbook or an additional reference document is key for the TC auditor to be able to give you credit.

I only have about 1000 hrs total time from flight training and a griffon tour and only had to write the exams and was given a ATPL-H with all the bells and whistles (IFR, night, etc) so found TC to give me quite a lot of credit for the flying/trg done in the CF.  This was all done less than a year ago and did the exams over a two week period (study included) and I'm no genius.

Now, what purpose the license serves is another story, not much in the way of work right now in the helicopter industry with the economy and resources/oil sector.  Recreational flying doesn't really exist in the helicopter world either like the way it does for cesna's and the like.

 

[shogun506]

That's interesting info, thanks. So did you have the solo hours listed under the requirements in section 4 or did they credit them based on your hours doing other things?

 

[rnkelly]

No, I didn't have the solo hours either.  All hours in my logbook are CF so I suppose they counted my PIC time instead (I'd argue PIC hrs are tougher then solo hrs btw).  Be nice to the TC official auditing your logbook, good luck!

 

[Posthumane]

The Transport Canada CPL requirements are written in the context of a student going through the typical process of PPL->CPL->ATPL, etc. Most people going through CPL training would not be flying in a multi-crew environment, they would either be flying with an instructor as "dual" or without an instructor as "solo" which is synonymous with PIC in a single crew aircraft. Your PIC time should definitely count towards your requirement, as it's basically there to ensure CPL students don't fill all their time in with dual time.

One thing to be mindful of is that some CF helicopters don't have a civilian model which has a Transport Canada airworthiness certificate (Cormorant being one, I think). I believe a helicopter CPL or ATPL has to have at least one type certificate on it and if you don't have any time in a heli which has a civilian equivalent for which a type certificate can be granted, you may run into issues, as some others have in the past.

Note: I'm not a CF pilot and have never done the conversion, just currently working on my CPL-A.