Most helicopter pilots learn in the Military. We all attended Emery Riddle at one time or another. Usually to get an additional degree for promotion reasons but it is still one of the largest and most respected schools in the US.

Please remember that a civilian Helicopter rating is very expensive. $45,000.00 to $65,000.00 on average. More if you add on Commercial, sling loading, instruments, and heavy lift to your ticket.

I took advantage of the offer to convert my military license to a full commercial, Rotary Wing, Instrument, Instructor ticket. It was free and just needed a day spent in a classroom taking written tests. I have only used it to contract myself back to the military as a Maintenance Test Pilot. You know, the guy stupid enough to take a 22 million dollar helicopter up to 10,000 ft. just after some other guy had removed both engines, re-built them and stuck them back on, just to make sure they would work again.

I loved my time flying, I started during Viet-Nam with CH-53's. Then after the war and a few years off went into the Army to fly everything in the inventory. Basically if it spun on top, I flew it. I ended up as a senior Test Pilot on AH-64 Apache's and fired the 3rd shot of Desert Storm.

Flying Helicopters is the most fun you can have with your pants on. I once scared the s**t out of a Blue Angle Pilot because he just wasn't used to going 200 mph while 6" off the ground.

All that said, I never even tried to fly in the strictly civilian world. It's boring, repetitive bus driver work most of the time. Helicopter pilots are the vertical taxi drivers of the aviation world. You spend a lot of time sitting around waiting for passengers to arrive, spend 30 mins. getting them to some incredibly small clearing in the woods or onto an equally small platform out at sea, then sit around with no facilities, no comforts, waiting for your passengers to finish their work and fly for 30 mins. to get them home. You then turn the bird over to the maintenance crew for about a million hours of inspections.

The only truly exciting and challenging job for a helicopter pilot is rescue work. Great if you can find the job.

In the long run you will be underpaid, under appreciated, and live a life that everyone else thinks is wonderful.

I don't want to disappoint you just to give you a little reality check.

And the whole thing about crashing a helicopter, Forget it. The reason we practice autorotations is because most of us started in the military and the chances of getting shot at are higher than when flying over the woods of Canada. (But not always)
So we practice, over and over, the technics of landing with no power, Hydraulic failures, missing pieces and parts, and just about any failure that has ever happened.
I have over 3500 first pilot hours in Helicopters (and that is a low time pilot) and the only time I have had to use emergency procedures is the three times people with guns decided to introduce lead particles into my finely tuned airframe.

Berserk Bishop, if there is anything else I can help or advise you on please feel free to PM me.