"boB" wrote in message news:vUAdg.60153
I didn't ask. But I assumed, by the way she was talking that she went on
her own. I guess it was an investment which paid off.

This is not a bad idea. a 206B Transistion costs $9000 and takes 5 days. Its
worth every penny even if you never fly a 206 again. You'll learn _real_
stuff, not just the pantywaisted version of stuff reqd to get a ticket these
days. All the IPs there are as good as it gets in the rotorcraft world.

Its not uncommon for a smart pro-pilot to pay for his own transistion
training. We're overly familiar with the corporate jet world, and a lot of
guys/gals go to Flight-Saftety on their own dime. If you think 206
transition is expensive, imagine paying $20K out-of-pocket for a single jet
type-rating.

The other advantage to paying yourself is that you wont be hamstrung by the
employer. Most companies will keep you on a short leash by either requring
you to do mundane stuff for a long time before theyll pay for the Type,
and/or by binding you up contractually after they pay for it. This weird
form of endentured servitude is really common among newbie first officers in
aviation. For all practical purposes, turbine helicopters might as well
require a Type rating, cuz you'll never fly one unless you've gone to
transistion training and yearly re-current in each type. The 206 "Type" will
put you in a different postition when looking for a job. ( I'm not saying it
will get you one though, typically you'll need about 1200 Rotor and 200+
Turbine to get a turbine job. )

Bart