ANAC Commercial Pilot Helicopter (PCH)

It is the commercial helicopter licence: it permits you to fly helicopters for remuneration and to act as pilot-in-command in commercial operations, subject to the ratings, experience and medical validity on your licence. It is the step above the private helicopter licence, which does not allow paid flying.

Yes. ANAC's theoretical knowledge examinations for pilot licences are multiple-choice papers, one per subject area, taken on a computer at an authorised examination centre. Each subject is graded separately, so a strong result in one area does not compensate for a failure in another.

Those figures are set by ANAC and are revised from time to time, so no fixed number should be quoted here. Check the current candidate handbook and examination schedule on the ANAC website before you book, and confirm the number of items and the allotted time for each subject.

The passing mark is defined by ANAC in its examination regulations and can change. Do not rely on second-hand figures from forums. Confirm the current minimum percentage and any validity period for passed subjects directly in the official ANAC documentation for the PCH.

Harder, mainly in breadth. The private syllabus is largely about safe local flying; the commercial syllabus adds commercial regulation, performance planning, loading, and operational decision-making. Candidates who memorise definitions without understanding the underlying system usually struggle most on law and performance items.

ANAC does allow re-sitting failed subjects, but the number of attempts, waiting periods and any requirement for additional training are governed by current regulation. Read the retake rules on the ANAC site before your first attempt, because they affect how you plan your study schedule.

Start with air law and operational procedures, since they frame everything else and carry the most weight. Then take aerodynamics and aircraft general knowledge together, followed by performance and loading. Leave meteorology, navigation and communications for last, as they are more self-contained and easier to revise in short cycles.

Three patterns recur: confusing similar regulatory limits, mixing up helicopter aerodynamic phenomena such as translational lift and vortex ring state, and misreading performance questions where density altitude or wind changes the answer. Practise reading each stem twice and eliminating options that are true but do not answer the question.

The theory examinations can generally be attempted before you complete the full flight experience requirement, and many candidates do exactly that so ground school and flying reinforce each other. Confirm the current sequencing and validity rules with ANAC and your approved training organisation.

Use them as a diagnostic, not a substitute for study. After each block, write down why every wrong option was wrong. If you cannot explain the reasoning, go back to the regulation or the technical manual. Timed sets help only once you already understand the material.