Commercial Pilot

The entire course is focused on preparing you to become a working helicopter pilot. From the day you start ground school you will learn all the skills necessary to become a successful helicopter pilot. Everything from how to make a decent pot of coffee to how to place an all terrain vehicle into the back of a pickup truck with a helicopter using a 150’ long line.

Our primary focus is flight training but we are also a certified air-taxi, aerial work operation and you will be exposed to many operational situations during your training and will learn what is expected of you as a new pilot working your way up in the helicopter business. Such as the proper way to clean a helicopter and how to work in a hanger and not break anything, more helicopters are damaged in the hanger than when flying. Your flying career will start with you working in the hanger and decisions about who will start flying and who won’t are usually based on how well you work on the ground. So we feel this type of training is essential to your success, as a pilot and you will fulfill the duties of a new pilot in our operation when your studies will allow the time.

KVH uses the turbine powered Bell 206BIII JetRanger to complete all flight training.

In the past we have tried a number of smaller less powerful helicopters for primary training, and they were good for learning the basic flight maneuvers, but we were unable to take full advantage of the excellent mountainous terrain in the area until the student was flying the turbine powered JetRanger.
With the increased performance of the JetRanger we are able to introduce true mountain flying to the student at a much earlier stage of the course, effectively making most of the commercial course a mountain course.

For your first flying job you will likely be flying a JetRanger helicopter. Employers and their customer’s look at how many hours the pilot has on the type of helicopter. After completing the KVH commercial course you will have 100 hours on the same type of helicopter you will start your career flying, which should put your resume on top of the pile based on flight time on type alone.

We are located in south-eastern British Columbia the surrounding area is ideally suited to helicopter flight training with mountainous terrain and densely forested training areas within minutes of the airport. The weather conditions and terrain are very representative of areas a helicopter pilot can expect to encounter during normal operational flying.

From start date to full certification (100 flight hours), should take 3 months. We are, however, able to alter the time frame of the course to meet each individual students specific needs. It is our objective that all potential pilots complete the CPHEL flight exam in the minimum time allowed (75 hours of pilot flight time). We encourage this so that full advantage can be made of the remaining 25 pilot flight hours, mountain and long line training. We believe that the pilot with the extra training in long line and mountain flight will be better prepared for the job market.

Our chief flight instructor has 20 years experience in the industry and over 15,000 helicopter flight hours, being certified on 11 different helicopters. Since 1989, he has been on job sites in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Yukon and North West Territories. Flying for forestry, seismic drilling and recording, wildlife management, mining surveys and most recently, heli-logging as Training Captain of a Sikorsky S 64 Sky-Crane. Our policy of limiting the number of students will ensure that each student will benefit from our instructors vast knowledge and job experience.
Many previous students have found full time employment in the industry, from company management, pool pilots to base pilots. Although, like attaining any employment, one must be prepared to pound the pavement, and work from the ground up.

Please let us know if we can assist you in any way; you may have questions about financing, accommodation, transportation, or other matters. We are committed to train well prepared Pilots, ready for the work site.

Thank you for your interest in Kootenay Valley Helicopters. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.