Becker Helicopters does not issue a JAR license. The Becker Helicopters 155 hours International JAA course meets the JAA requirements of training and syllabus that you can achieve outside Europe and UK. You still have to return to Europe or UK to complete your final few hours to gain a JAA license. The Exams and Medical are also needed, just like any pilot converting to other countries license requirements.

The International course of 155 hours is a specially developed syllabus that has been designed for pilot wanting to train to JAA requirements. The syllabus was especially written to make sure the pilots returning to Europe have all they need to be able to complete their final flying in a JAA country.

Meticulous research and effort was taken in the development over the 7 months of finalizing the training, and verified at the JAA in Europe to make sure the conversion is a simple and straight forward process.

Jan & I traveled to UK and Europe to meet the CAA and JAA, to ensure what we are teaching is right on track. No other Australian company has made that investment or commitment to the training future of our next generation of pilots.

Some students require additional endorsement and further training in some areas and less in others. We have the ability to dynamically change the modules you need to compete to ensure it’s tailored to your needs. See you in the air

At Becker Helicopters we concentrate on training students from all over the world to achieve a Commercial Pilots Licence. We have researched what you have to do to meet International requirements here in Australia. You can do your training at a fraction of the cost due to a great exchange rate and in less time because of our consistent good weather and uncluttered airspace.

Some aviation training companies in Australia claim they can train international students but they legally are unable to because they are not Government accredited or audited and get students in on a tourist visa. This gets them a 'quick buck' but puts you and your money at risk. The point of this is to be very careful what you believe when dealing with Flying Schools and Theory Providers who claim to be able to provide training for International students. If they are not government accredited they are deceiving the authorities and putting your career at risk.

We are so serious about being able to offer a course to meet the JAA requirements that Jan and Mike recently flew to Europe, visited the UK CAA, the Norwegian CAA and visited the JAA in Holland. They met with some of the key decision makers and made some very good progress toward determining how you can go a long way to obtaining a JAA licence in Australia. They met with Fergus Woods, the head of licensing for the JAA. There is some confusion as to how to actually get a licence in Europe these days. Much of the confusion can be avoided by doing some solid reading and research of the JARs.

We have heard of loop holes and other ways of getting licences. We discovered that there is currently only one school outside of Europe who is able to offer a JAA licence (based in the USA) and we wanted to get the real story and see how we could fit in. We showed Fergus our syllabus and courses. Also discussed was the fact that there is currently very little training being conducted in Europe because of high costs, red tape, airspace restrictions and adverse weather. The end result of all this research has led to the following information.

There are two ways to get a Helicopter JAA CPL licence. You can do either an approved
integrated course or you can do a modular course.

This is conducted at a flight school that has been approved by the JAA to offer an integrated course of training that includes theory and flying components. The school must be approved by a JAA Member State (and therefore is usually within a JAA Member State). This allows the total flight time to be reduced to 138 hours but you must do the course strictly as per the approved syllabus. Most students do not go down this path as it is expensive and locks you into a regimented course.

Integrated courses conducted by government approved schools in other Countries (such as Becker Helicopters in Australia) are not yet accepted by the JAA syllabus, however we have a solution.

The modular course is the path that enables us to train you for a JAA licence. This consists of a theory and flying couse in which you gain an Australian PPL or CPL with 155 hours. On completion of this you are eligible to do a 30-hour modular block (flying) at a JAA approved school (in Europe), then study the approved JAA ATPL theory subjects prior to sitting the flight test with a total of 185 hours. Please note that CPL and ATPL theory courses conducted outside of the JAA do not count toward this final theory requirement. To gain a JAA licence you must sit the JAA ATPL exams.

Currently there are no JAA approved CPL theory courses, most students study the PPL theory then the JAA ATPL (fixed wing as there is no JAA ATPL Helicopter course as yet). The Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is in discussions with the JAA to have the Australian theory and training recognised but being a government agency, that could be some time away.

We have put together a 155 hour international package that will give you an Australian CPL meeting all the JAA syllabus requirements with regards to instrument and night training. Following this we have a 30 hour modular course for you to follow back in Europe, the JAA ATPL theory subjects then a JAA flight test.

Course Information

What are the advantages of coming to Australia to do your training? You've probably heard about Australia, we speak English (which is very important in your aviation career), our beaches, hospitality and relatively affordable living are widely known. The Country is very safe (especially after September 11th) and tolerant of different cultures and religions. The exchange rate is definitely to your advantage with every US dollar or Euro buying you more Australian dollars. We have a currency checker to give you an idea of just how good the exchange rates are. Click here if you would like to check out today's exchange rate.

The advantages in training Down Under can be summarized as follows:

• The exchange rate to the Aussie dollar is very favourable
• Uncluttered airspace, we can fly for hours and not hit the boarder of another country or restricted
  airspace.
• We train you in controlled airspace so you get to make all the radio calls and do all the procedures
  but there are no delays or restricted airspace issues to worry about.
• We still do all the emergencies such as autorotations all the way to the ground, no simulations. Here we make you go all the way.
• Our flight instructors are not junior pilots. All of our instructors have at least 1000 hours of
  commercial helicopter time under their belt which means you get taught by pilots who have been
  there and done that. It is not the blind leading the blind, which sometimes is the case. Our new
  Commercial Pilots are unable to gain an instructors rating until they have a minimum of 450 hours,
  so we do not have freshly trained pilots just doing some time to build hours prior to moving on to that
  next job. This has meant that the quality of training in Australia (and New Zealand) is consistently
  among the highest and most recognised in the World. We train helicopter pilots, we do not give away
  licences.
• The cost of living here is very cheap compared to the USA and Europe. On average you would
  spend $AUD150 per week on food and lodgings.
• We have some very good confined areas and mountain training areas where we can take you for
  some real bush experience. We also promote the advanced training such as low level manoeuvring
  and sling loads within your training package where possible.
• Noise restrictions here are minimal. We have so much open space that there is room for everybody.
• Our courses are full time and integrated, which means we do all of the theory and all of the flying
  at one location. We do not subcontract out parts of our course.
• We own our accommodation buildings and provide bedding, a house keeper and kitchen and laundry
  facilities.
• We can provide you with a 12-month study/work visa. Currently we are in the process of having this
  extended to 2 years so that we can include extra training such as ATPL and Instrument as part of
  your initial training.
• All our Helicopter training is carried out in both the Bell 47 and the Hughes 300 and depending on
  your requirements we can arrange for turbine training as well.
• At the end of your training you are issued with an ICAO recognised Commercial Helicopter pilots
  licence with night, instrument, low flying training, mountain training and in most cases a sling load
  endorsement.

Of course you also have the option to just do the Australian 105 or 125 hour Commercial Helicopter Licence as well as all our other courses including the sling loads, mountain flying, instrument and instructor theory after your training. Whatever you decide we are able to make a training package to meet your specific requirements.

If this interests you or you wish to modify it to fit your needs, please talk with us.