R-44 Weight & Balance Calculator
Live CG envelope check for the Robinson R-44 Raven II — the aircraft you'll fly. Built around our 30-gallon operational fuel cap. Bookmark a loading; the URL saves your numbers.
Open W&B CalculatorEarn Your Helicopter Rating in the Adirondacks
FAA Part 61 helicopter flight training. Patient, experienced instruction. Year-round availability — even when the tour season is over.
Why train here
The right airspace, the right aircraft, the right CFI
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Resident CFII Helicopter
Walter Dusseldorp — CFII Helicopter, on the field. Schedule around your life, not the school's.
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Robinson R-44 Raven
The most-flown civilian rotor-wing trainer in the world. If you can fly the R-44, you can fly what comes after.
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Beautiful uncongested airspace
83K means more learning, less holding short. Mountains, water, and wide-open valleys for confidence-building.
Programs
From your first lift to your CFI ride
| Program | What it is | Hours | Approx total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery / Intro | 30 min at the controls + ground briefing. The cleanest way to find out if rotor-wing is for you. | 30 min | $349 flat |
| Private Pilot — Helicopter (PPL-H) | Your first FAA helicopter certificate. Solo flight, cross-country, checkride. | 60–70 hrs typical | $50,000–$60,000 |
| Add-on Rotorcraft | Fixed-wing pilot adding the helicopter rating. Major regional opportunity for airline and GA pilots. | 25–35 hrs | $22,000–$30,000 |
| Commercial Pilot — Helicopter | Pathway to paid rotor-wing work — HEMS, tour operations, ENG. | varies | By quote |
| CFI-H / CFII-H | Become an instructor yourself. Many of our students return as instructors. | varies | By quote |
| Recurrent / BFR / Phase Checks | Stay current and sharp. Short cycles, repeat customers. | 1–3 hrs | By the hour |
Pricing
Transparent, all-in
All-in dual flight instruction is $725 per Hobbs hour. Ground instruction is $75 per hour. The discovery flight is a $349 flat package and includes a brief, 30 minutes of stick time, and a debrief. No hidden fees, no surprise upcharges.
What you'll need
- FAA medical certificate (3rd class minimum for PPL-H — we can recommend AMEs in the area)
- Government-issued photo ID
- Ability to read, speak, and understand English
- Renters insurance with NCHF as additional insured before any solo flight (we'll guide you when you're ready)
- Time, focus, and a willingness to read the FAR/AIM and the Robinson POH cover-to-cover
Meet your instructor
Walter Dusseldorp — CFII (Helicopter), Private Pilot (Airplane Single-Engine Land), MBA, adjunct professor at Rutgers University. Chief Instructor at North Country Heli Flight and lead pilot on every training flight.
Walter's path to the cockpit ran through frontline healthcare first. He began his career as a medic, advanced to flight medic, and then went the full distance through helicopter aviation — Private, Commercial, CFI, and CFII Helicopter. On the fixed-wing side he holds his Private Pilot ASEL and is working through the instructor add-on (CFII Airplane expected by end of 2026), which will let him teach both categories under one NCHF roof.
That arc — medic to flight medic to CFII Helicopter — gives Walter a perspective most flight instructors don't have. Pre-hospital and flight medicine train you to operate inside high-stakes systems where precision, regulation, safety, and sound decision-making aren't optional. Walter brings the same standard to the right seat. Students leave NCHF as confident, decisive Pilots-in-Command — not as license-holders waiting for someone to hand them a real flight.
His academic work at Rutgers, in healthcare leadership programs, sharpens how he teaches. Aerodynamics, regulations, weather, autorotation procedure, decision-making under task saturation — Walter breaks complex topics into practical, grounded explanations a student can use the next time they're flying solo.
Outside the school, Walter is the creator of Flight Path Pioneers, the free FAR/AIM study tool that every NCHF student gets full access to from day one. He believes in conservative weather, accurate weight-and-balance, real autorotation proficiency, and the patient, repeated practice that produces a pilot you'd put your family in the cabin with.
Free study companion
Flight Path Pioneers — your free FAR/AIM study tool
Walter is the creator of Flight Path Pioneers, a free pilot-training web app covering Helicopter & Airplane from Private through ATP. NCHF students get the same study tool every other CFI wishes they had.
- 660 FAA written-test questions across all certificates and ratings
- Oral exam flashcards · DPE scenario questions · checkride checklists
- Weight & balance calculator (R22, R44, C172, Piper, and more)
- "Ask CFII" — an AI flight mentor that cites the FAR/AIM live
- Free forever; Pro Lifetime $99 one-time for full features
Built by your instructor
Helicopter · Airplane · Private — ATP
Private · Commercial · Instrument · FOI · CFI · CFII · MEI · ATP · Rusty Pilot
Pre-flight tools
Use these every flight
Two free tools that live on this site — for our students, our pilots, and any pilot in the region who wants them.
KGFL Weather Briefing
Live METAR for KGFL (Floyd Bennett Memorial), KALB / KSLK TAF, winds aloft, and direct links to Aviation Weather Center, 1800wxbrief, and AOPA. Same data your pilot is using before every flight.
Open Weather Briefing
Already enrolled?
Schedule a lesson & track your progress
Existing students book lessons against the live shared calendar — and use the password-protected student portal to follow the syllabus, log flights, self-grade, and submit progress to your CFI.
Schedule a Lesson
Live FareHarbor calendar — same availability as tours, so no double-booking. Discovery flight, dual instruction, ground, recurrent / BFR.
Widget goes live once FareHarbor is wired up. In the meantime: (518) 361-1380
Student Portal
Track your training: syllabus by level, lesson plans, flight logbook with self-graded performance, goals, and CFI review. Access code provisioned at enrollment.
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New here?
Schedule a discovery flight or send us your goals
Tell us about your goals. We'll be in touch within 24 hours to schedule your first lesson.