BC Helicopters

BC Helicopters is a helicopter flight school next to Abbotsford Airport in British Columbia, Canada. It trains private and commercial helicopter pilots and has done so since the 1990s. The school calls itself a small, family run business.

The main program takes four months and includes 100 hours of flight time. The homepage gives a total price of 82,000 Canadian dollars from zero experience to commercial pilot in a Cabri, not counting student housing. Training is one on one, and instructors adapt to how each student learns. Students fly over mountains, valleys, lakes and coastline in changing weather.

The school flies three helicopters. The Cabri G2 is the light entry trainer and has a fully articulated rotor, energy absorbing seats and a crash resistant fuel system. The Robinson R44 Raven II is widely used in the industry. The Bell 206 is turbine powered and gives students experience on a turbine engine. The about page describes three eras of fleet: the Robinson 22 from the 1990s to 2001, the Schweizer 300 from 2001 to 2017, and the Cabri G2 from 2017 on.

The school says it has trained more than 500 students and flown over 50,000 hours in more than 30 years. A graduate says he now flies with Bailey Helicopters in northern British Columbia on oil and gas work. The owner and CEO, Sancho Gelb, runs short online presentations on Zoom with a question time, on Monday to Thursday.

Social links go to YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, and the site has a contact form and a phone number.