Fly a helicopter yourself in Mallorca

Have you acquired a taste for flying in Mallorca yourself?

It's great to be able to fly over beautiful places like Mallorca and sit at the controls yourself. This dream can come true, because it's not that difficult to get your licence. All you need is a little time for lessons and the necessary change.

What do I need to get a helicopter licence in Mallorca?

First of all, you need a police clearance certificate and a medical certificate attesting to your fitness to fly. Special emphasis is also placed on your eyesight. You must also have completed a first aid course. The minimum age to start training is 17 - however, you are only allowed to fly yourself at the age of 18.

How does helicopter pilot training work on Mallorca?

In order to be authorised to take the test, you must have completed at least 45 flying hours. This ultimately makes the helicopter pilot licence expensive, so you should budget at least EUR 10,000 for it. There are only a few flying schools on Mallorca.

The theory lessons make up the largest part of the training, as at least 80 lessons must be completed. These are the subjects:

• Navigation
• aerodynamics
• Aeronautical knowledge
• meteorology
• Radio communication

In the practical part, you will learn how to fly the helicopter, what to do in emergencies and how to fly manoeuvres. You will be accompanied by a flight instructor. However, 10 of the 45 flying hours must have been flown alone without the help of the instructor.

If these requirements are then met, you will take the exam. The theoretical exam takes about 6 hours, the practical 1-2 hours. The exam can be shortened for people who already have a private or commercial pilot's licence.

If you want to fly helicopters commercially, you need more extensive helicopter training and must complete or provide proof of continuous flying hours.

How does a helicopter work?

The most important difference to an aeroplane is the rotor blades. You can think of it like a fan. The air that flows in as the blades rotate provides the lift. This is then dependent on the inflow speed, the angle and also the shape of the cross-section of the rotors. This shape or cross-section of the rotor blades is of particular importance for the lift that you want to generate - it must be stronger than the gravitational pull of the earth in order for the helicopter to lift off.

The popular Bernoulli theory explains it like this:

The movement of the rotor blade and wing splits the airflow into an upper and lower stream. The curvature of the upper side of the rotor blade (asymmetric profile) lengthens the distance of the surface. This means that the upper airflow has to cover a longer distance than the lower airflow. Both sides move through the air at the same time, so the upper airflow must flow faster than the lower airflow in order to equalise the distance. The different speeds generate different pressures, so the lower blade is pushed upwards and the other is pulled upwards by the negative pressure, which is the lift. More speed therefore generates more lift.

How fast does a helicopter fly?

A standard helicopter with a piston engine, such as a Robinson 44, flies at around 180-200 km/h and has around 200 hp

How high does a helicopter fly?

Helicopters normally fly between 800 and 1,500 metres high, up to a maximum of 5,000 metres - at high pressure. Larger helicopters can also fly up to 7,000 metres.

What does a helicopter need to refuel?

Helicopters with turbines need paraffin, those with pistons fly on petrol. The consumption depends on the engine that is installed. Accordingly, consumption is between 140 litres and 800 litres per hour.