| Overview |
| The Process |
| Flight Training |
| Theory Training |
| Cert IV in Aviation |
| After Training |
| Staff and Instructors |
| Costs |
| AS355 Simulator |
| Past Student Careers |
| NVG Training |
| Pilot Training Enquiry |
Flight and Ground School
Staff and Instructors
The Heliwest Flight School comes under the guidance of Chief Flying Instructor Andrew Denny.
Andrew is joined by an experienced team of flight school instructors and staff. Please feel free to contact any of the Heliwest team for advice on how to proceed with your helicopter training.
Andrew Denny (Chief Flying Instructor)
Andrew Denny began his initial training at Bankstown Helicopters in early 2003 with the dream to escape the unforgiving and alcohol soaked world of the hospitality industry. He completed his commercial licence in late 2004 and promptly ditched his work as plate chucker (ie function manager and waiter). He then began work as a charter pilot and hangar rat for Bankstown Helicopters for the next couple of years, building experience with aerial photography jobs, harbour flights, and helicopter deliveries. In May 2006 he spent a month in Los Angeles completing his FAA Commercial Rotary conversion before returning to Bankstown Helicopters to gain his initial Flight Instructor Rating, where he instructed for the next year. The following year he joined Heliwest, settling in Perth, with the first task on arrival to complete his Grade 1 Instructor Rating upgrade and ingratiate himself with the local students. In his time with Heliwest Andrew has been involved in several elements of helicopter operations outside of the flight school, including two seasons with the WA Surf Lifesaving Helicopter, aerial photography and filming, charter flights, and gas pipeline survey work amongst others. In 2011 Andrew took over from the previous CFI, Andrew Wilson, conveniently allowing students to not have to learn a new name and concentrate on their studies.
Andrew Wilson (Grade 1 Instructor and Approved Testing Officer)
Andrew joined Heliwest full time as Chief flying instructor after having been associated with the company for the last 2 years. He is also a CASA Approved Testing Officer, giving the Heliwest Flying School the advantage of now conducting tests as required within the company. He has been flying for over 10 years and after having spent a few years instructing in Sydney, moved to the Gold Coast where he took on a Chief Pilot role for Gold Coast Helicopters. In 2006 Andrew went to work for Great Barrier Reef Helicopters in Cairns where he flew charter and tourism flights in AS350 and Bell 206 aircraft and the past 18 months has seen him working as a contract pilot for many major companies around Australia. Andrew is excited to be part of such an experienced group of instructors and believes Heliwest will give a prospective student the best start to their career because of the variety of work undertaken by Heliwest.
Tim Hand (Chief Ground Instructor)
Tim started flying aged 14 as an Air Force Cadet and continued his training to achieve his CPL(A). He holds a Multi-Engine Command Instrument Rating, Instructor Rating and a Bachelor's Degree in Aviation. After several years working for Heliwest as a helicopter crewman and ground crewman, Tim decided to complete his CPL(H). In the fixed wing world, his experience consists of flight instruction, formation flying, aerobatics, instrument flight, night flying, scenic, survey and tourist work. His time in and around helicopters includes working as a company line pilot and simulator instructor, theory training, crewing for power line surveys, fire operations and ground support. Tim now works to build and develop the ground school operations at Heliwest. He can guide you through the complexities of CASA theory exams and any ground training you require.
Paul Gibson (General Manager and Grade 1 Instructor)
Paul commenced his aviation career with the Military in 1987 as a 'flight fitter' on Bell 206 'Kiowa' and AS350 helicopters. After gaining his L.A.M.E. qualifications Paul worked for Lloyd (now CHC), Jayrow and Bell helicopter as an engineer throughout Australia on Bell 412, 212, 407, 206, MD 500 and Sikorsky S76's. The delights of Papua New Guinea beckoned and Paul worked in the jungles of PNG for both Pacific and Island Helicopters before becoming Chief Engineer at Sea World Helicopters on the Queensland Gold Coast. He became a pilot and with dual qualifications he worked at Uluru and Melbourne. He joined Heliwest in 2003 as a flight instructor. Paul has since held the positions of Operations Manager, Chief Engineer and now General Manager. He has been part of the Heliwest growth since day one and has intimate knowledge of the various facets and clientele of the company. Qualified on all the Heliwest fleet as both pilot and engineer, Paul offers his twenty years of experience to any of our students and despite his GM door often being closed, do not hesitate to track him down for advice.
Andrew Menzies (Grade 1 Instructor)
Andrew's desire to fly was very strong from an early age but with the Scottish weather he thought it would never happen. Andrew took his first TIF in Coffs Harbour 1991 which should have been the beginning of his career. Sadly it took almost another 10 years to get back to Australia and take up flying training and received his licence in 2001. The early hours of Andrew's career were joy flights from the Fleet Helicopters base in Armidale NSW. Andrew then spent some time being shown the ropes of mustering with Dave Fox in Richmond, North Queensland where he tried to teach him how to fly properly! Thanks Dave! Mustering is considerably more than flying and it was a great experience to be exposed to that side of the industry. Then the NT called for some mining and tourism ops followed by SA for the same. Then it was back to NSW for an instructor rating with Gavin Morgan at Aero Wasp. Then off to WA and Heliwest. "Heliwest provides a lot of variety and being the spice of life, that suits me." Andrew has been involved in instructing, surf rescue, mosquito control, film making and charter not to mention sweeping the hanger floor. "After 10 years in the industry it is getting better all the time."
Chris Harris (Grade 1 Instructor)
Chris originally did his flight training on the Gold Coast, while working part-time as a meter maid. Once he completed his CPL he made the journey down south to work with Phillip Island Helicopters. After hours of flying tourist around the Little Penguins Chris decided to complete his instructors rating and worked as a instructor for Professional Helicopter Services based at Moorabbin Airport, Melbourne. A few cold winters later Chris decided to pack up the car and drive the 3500km's across the Nullabor to join the Heliwest team. Chris holds a grade 1 instructor rating, ATPL and is endorsed in the R22, R44, H300 and B206.
Andrew Humphries (Grade 2 Instructor)
andrewhumphries@heliwest.com.au
Andrew comes to the Heliwest team following 12 years of service with the Royal Australian Air Force as a Pilot and instructor. He has approximately 4000 flying hours on a range of aircraft types from the Pilatus PC‐9/A advanced trainer to the C‐130J Hercules. During his time in the RAAF Andrew deployed to various overseas operations including Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor. He was also a Qualified Flying Instructor on the PC‐9/A and C‐130J Hercules. His instructional background includes aerobatics, formation flying, night flying, instrument flying and was an NVG instructor on the C‐130J. Andrew completed his helicopter training with Heliwest in late 2009 whilst on long service leave with the RAAF. After flying numerous operations with Heliwest he has recently completed his helicopter instructor rating and looks forward to passing on his experience in aviation to all prospective students who choose Heliwest for their flight training. Andrew is endorsed on the R22, R44 and B206B/L.
Laird Parsons (Grade 1 Instructor)
Laird came from an agricultural background to do his commercial license with Heliwest. Once his training was completed he very quickly found work in the Northern Territory. The work started with scenic flights but then moved on to things such as general charter, survey work, mining support and even some mustering, ranging from the very top of the NT down to the bottom of the Gulf of Carpentaria. When his wife got pregnant for the third time (there really is nothing good on TV in the bush) they decided that he needed to be home a bit more often, so came back to Perth to work for Heliwest. These days Laird work's in the flight school as a grade 1 instructor preparing the next generations of pilots to brave the wild north of our country.
Trent Clayton (Grade 2 Instructor)
Trent comes to us from Brisvegas Queensland where he was teaching CPL helicopter flight theory, flying charter, aerial photography and various other airwork whilst assisting in the flight school operations. Trent comes from a professional rugby league playing back ground spending 11 years with NRL and French clubs. Trent went on to play on the world stage playing at international level. Trent holds R22,R44,H269,B47 endorsements and a Flight instructor rating. Trent's professional mindset and theory knowledge brings great qualities new students can draw from. As you can see Trent suffers from a small case of autohagiographer ism (self proclaimed).
Colin Clarke (Grade 2 Instructor)
Colin was a late starter to the world of aviation starting his flying aged in his mid 30's and completed his flying training at Professional Helicopter Services, Melbourne in May 1999. He has worked as a casual pilot conducting Charter, Tourism and Filming over much of Australia, including Phillip Island Helicopters where he crossed Bass Strait in an R44 to film a commercial, with their sister company in Mildura and at HeliServ in Melbourne where he flew for the Spring Racing Carnival in 2009 and 2010. Colin finally left the Victoria Police Force after 23 years service to join Heliwest at the start of 2011 as an instructor at the Toowoomba Base and is looking forward to shaping the pilots of tomorrow. Colin is endorsed on 6 types of helicopters including the B206, R44 and of course the R22.
James Hall (Grade 1 Instructor)
After 10 years of working as a sparky and watching helicopters from the sidelines all his life, James embarked on his aviation training in May of 2008 with Heliwest and in October gained his CPL(H). In December that year he packed up his remaining meagre possessions and accepted a position in Albany to start up the new Heliwest operation down there. Commercial operations including film, photography, SAR and tourism followed before the call of the flight school was heard and James jumped at the chance to pass his experiences and enthusiasm for flying onto the next wave of helicopter pilots. In January of 2011, he then jammed what he could fit into an R22 and flew across the country to start the new Heliwest flight school in Toowoomba QLD. Having trained here at Heliwest, he is always keen to embark with students on their journey towards fulfilling their dreams, enjoying the rewards that come from watching them progress to achieve their goals.]
Daniel Greening (Grade 2 Instructor)
danielgreening@heliwest.com.au
After completing his licence with Heliwest, Daniel settled down in the quiet town of Kalgoorlie and took on the role of Base Manager. He conducted scenic flights around the Superpit, Kalgoorlie and the Goldfields region. Daniel was then endorsed on the B206/L, before moving into our fly in fly out operations from the Pilbara. After completing a BO 105LS endorsement and Co-Pilot instrument rating Daniel started flying as Co-Pilot on our EMS equipped BO105LS operating VFR and IFR in the Pilbara. From here, Dainel went on to complete his Instructor Rating and has joined the flight school team. Today while operating as part of the flight school team as his main role, Daniel also assists in various EMS operations across the country for Heliwest.
Ali Telling (Ground Instructor)
Ali Telling has recently joined the Heliwest team as ground school trainer and to assist with course development. Ali’s career in aviation started over fifteen years ago and she spent several years as a fixed wing flight instructor operating her own flying school at Jandakot airport. Ali is passionate about the importance of high standard ground instruction as a vital part of the training process. Upon recognising that many flight schools were failing to offer quality theory, she developed and conducted theory courses for all fixed wing subjects including instructor and instrument training as well as continuing to instruct in the air. Requiring a new challenge Ali moved over to the rotary world, obtaining her commercial license in 2006 and spending the next three years successfully building up the theory departments and conducting scenic and charter flights for two Jandakot based flight schools. Following a year spent combining travel and teaching Ali is looking forward to working with the Heliwest team and benefitting from their support and expertise to develop a world class rotary and fixed wing theory program.