On Aug 2, 4:34 am, The OTHER Kevin in San Diego skiddz "AT" adelphia
"DOT" net wrote:
On Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:32:11 -0700, Chachie
wrote:

Hi there I am about to embark on a new career as a helicopter pilot. I
have taken a couple of lessons and have found that I love it, and
want to do it for the rest of my life. I am 24 and newly married to a
wonderful woman who is ready to take on this adventure with me. I have
a few questions that I need answered for me to make the final decision
to do this.

1) Is there any room in the helo business for civilian pilots. From
what I have heard its heavy on the X-military side. Can I make it as
a civilian pilot?

Sure there is. Yeah, there are a lot of ex-military pilots working
out there, but I personally know a half dozen guys who learned on
their own dime that are working as pilots right now.

2) Is it better to get my license from a well known school or a
smaller school. The school I found here in Chicago has some great
instructors, enough choppers, and a great atmosphere. Is that good
enough, or do I have a better chance at another school.

Go talk to the school. Talk to several instructors. Talk to current
students. Take everything with a grain of salt. If it sounds too
good to be true, it is. Hit upwww.justhelicopters.com(Alternate
forum),www.verticalreference.comand any other heli based web sites
you can find and ask there.

3) When I am done with my flight school, and have all 5 flight
ratings, how do I get my 1000 min hours to start a job?
I have talked to people and most of them said "become an instructor
and teach till you have enough pilot in command time.
Is there a better way? What about to get turbine time?

Unless you've got a quarter million dollars lying around, there's no
better way to get your 1000 hours. Since you mention 5 ratings, and
two of those would be instructor certificates, why would you not
instruct? As for turbine time, you'll get that with your 1st real job
after instructing.

4) When I am done with school I will have to start paying back the
lone I took out to fund this. Will I be making enough as a
Instructor, or whatever I do to make my hours, to be able to pay
regular bills and start paying off the loan, or does my wife need to
be working 2x as hard during that time?

This is the crappy part of the industry. You'll spend about $60,000
getting your ratings only to get a job that might make you $18/hour
when you fly. However, once you get your 1000 hours, the income comes
up quite a bit. For example, my former instructor now flies S76s down
in the Gulf Of Mexico and makes about $500/day on a 14 on/14 off
hitch. That's close to $60k/year.

5) From what you have experienced, where is the best place to get a
loan for what I need. I have found a few places with a SLM loan from
Salliemae being on top. Any advice on where else to look?

SallieMae is probably your best bet. Stafford Loans are also an
option. The flight school folks will know about the financing options
available.

5) What is some advice you could give me that would help me on my
journey, and career?
aka "if I could do this again, I would do ______"

...NOT fly with Silver State Helicopters. I won't go into why, but
only because I have pending litigation against them. You can do your
own research on them and form your own opinion.

The big thing is, fly at least twice a week. Anything less and you
tend to forget what you learned the previous lesson. Conversly,
flying too much gets overwhelming at times. Above all, study, study,
study. It's not difficult stuff, but there's a lot to remember. If
the local community college (or the flight school) offers ground
courses, take them. The King DVDs are pretty decent as well.www.ipilot.comhas practice tests you can take as doeswww.mywrittenexam.com. I didn't take any of my writtens until I could
score 100 on 5 practice tests in a row. So far, my lowest score on an
actual test was a 95.

I really do appreciate all who post comments on this. I am really
excited and ready to get started. I know it will take a lot of work,
but I am ready and dedicated to do what it takes.

YOU may be dedicated, but you WILL need the support of your wife and
immediate family. It's a big undertaking and without that support,
it'll be difficult to say the least. If you've got kids that are old
enough to read (Say 4th/5th grade) make up flash cards and keep 'em in
the car. When you're driving, have them drill you with the flash
cards. I had my kids do this and they actually learned quite a bit
about flying helis, so much so, that 2 of the 3 want to learn to fly
when they're old enough. That's year after next for my oldest.

Again, do some research before you dive in. You'll be on the hook for
15 years with that loan and it'd be a waste to earn your tickets and
never do anything with it.

Good luck!

One more thing - find an ENG chopper pilot who will sell his spare
seat. From what I've heard you can get turbine time for around $100/hr
with luck.