Heliocopter pilot as career change?

You may want to go to the forums on justhelicopters.com and verticalreference.com
and get feedback from working helicopter pilots. Both websites were apparently
created by EMS pilots who were filling their spare time (one joked that EMS means
"Earn Money Sleeping"). Also, I was thinking you had your commercial airplane license
when I commented on the $20K figure below. If you're a low time pilot, you'll also
have to add in additional cost to get you to the 250 hour time required for a commercial,
and it would be cheaper to build the time in airplanes.
Max T, MCFI


Max T, CFI wrote in message news:4ckac.137249$1p.1789941@attbi_s54...
$20K sounds about right to get the commercial helicopter. I think initially
your bigger opportunity to fly for hire will be as a helicopter CFI. Just
had my first helicopter lesson last week, and the CFI, who has about 400 hours
in helicopters, said he spent about $45K in training in checkrides (private
through CFII). Sounds like he feels he'll be teaching for another 6-12 months
before he'll get hired on either in the Gulf of Mexico or Grand Canyon, which
he said were the two biggest markets for turbine helicopter jobs at around $45K.
He said typical EMS jobs want 1000-3000 hours of experience.
Good luck!
Max T, CFI, ATP


Otis Winslow wrote in message .. .
I think the challenge will be getting insured as a low chopper time pilot.


"NewsMonkey" wrote in message
...
Hello All,

I was hoping I might be able to get some feedback/advice from people who
have experience in the commercial aviation field. I am trying to make a
decision on whether pursuing a career, as a commercial helicopter pilot
is realistic.

First a little (I promise) bit of background. I am a 34 y/o man in
good health and I currently work as a software engineer. My education is
that of a Biochemist but I entered the computer field, and left graduate
school, writing software during the "Dot Com" boom of the late 90's. As
most everyone knows when the bottom dropped out of the "Internet" era a
lot of jobs went with it as well as the security I had in the field. The
fact is that with economy still recovering and many, many software
development projects going over seas, jobs are still hard to find and
the salaries have been literally cut in half. All that being said, I
have started looking at possibly switching to other careers.

I am a private pilot though I do not have many hours flying solo. In
fact, after I got my ticket I barley got to fly at all, mostly because
of money. In fact is has been about 5 years since I have flown solo and
I would need some instructor time in the cockpit before being ready to
go up on my own again.

I have always looked at careers in aviation as something that I would
enjoy but since I never went the military route I figured I never had a
chance. Also the regular long time away from home that airline pilots
endure is something that would not be right for my wife and children.
Plus after what my flight instructor told me regarding the low pay that
pilot's get while trying to get their Multi Engine, and Turbine, etc...
Ratings? Let's just say from what he told me you don't start making good
money as an airline pilot until you are flying the 737 size jets and
higher.

In any case I had the opportunity to speak to a helicopter pilot
instructor at my local airfield. He made it sounds as if civilian
helicopter pilots can get hired without military experience. Contrary to
what I had thought, he said that non-military pilots worked for
medieval, police, and news organizations as well as others. He went on
to mention tourism related professions out in Alaska and other
locations. I asked him if one had to own their own helicopter to be paid
as a pilot and he said not at all. He said that in his situation he
started instructing by leasing a Robinson helo and the business just
grew and grew. Now he owns 4 R22's and hires others to instruct for him.
Now this all sounds nice but he does have an incentive to get someone to
take lessons from him, hence why I am looking for outside opinions from
those who are already in the field.

What I am looking for is a career that I would love going to everyday
and one that might allow me to support my family. I still enjoy writing
software and have had limited success writing commercial programs and
consulting, but if it were realistic to think that I could find a job as
a commercial helicopter pilot to provide/supplement my income I would
invest the time and money (approx $20,000) it would take to earn my
commercial rating.

Thank you in advance for any advice or comments.

- David )

NewsMonkey wrote in message t...
In article ,
says...

I doubt that he plans to give up his day job. I think he has been
reading the writing on the wall. Software jobs have been evaporating
faster than a raindrop in the desert.

Your are right on target. I like developing software. It's just that it
is getting harder and harder to find a job. Also job security is non-
existent. However, I still want to pursue doing something that I love to
do. Going to a job I hate everyday is a quick way to become bitter and
resentful and my wife and children don't need that.

That's why I'm adding an MBA to my letters. It would be pretty hard to
keep flying if you let your income drop below the 6 figure mark.
-Robert

Its not impossible to make a carreer change to commercial
helicoptering, but it will be difficult. As someone already
mentioned, CFII's and clerks at Home Depot make about the same thing.
The difference is that Home Depot clerks aren't usually having as much
fun. At the same time, they aren't risking their lives either.

I know a CFII that just got a commercial job flying for the oil people
in the gulf (of Mexico) with less than 400 hours. So its not
impossible.



Dennis Hawkins
n4mwd AT amsat DOT org (humans know what to do)

"A RECESSION is when you know somebody who is out of work.
A DEPRESSION is when YOU are out of work.
A RECOVERY is when all the H-1B's are out of work."

To find out what an H-1B is and how Congress is using
them to put Americans out of work, visit the following
web site and click on the "Exporting America" CNN news
video: http://zazona.com/ShameH1B/MediaClips.htm

I'm sure I've come into this conversation way late, but I have to ask: 400
Hours & Flying in the GoM?? How much luck does this guy have?! (I say all
this with a smile on my face, so don't think I'm being sarcastic)
The lowest I've ever seen is 1,500 + IFR and 135 Check ride already in
place. Most won't even talk to you without an ATP.
I really don't care what or where I fly as long as it is in a safe
environment.
I don't have a CFI, just a normal old Commercial Heli ticket and have
managed to get over 600 hours so far (in two years). I must send out my
thanks to those heli operators who have allowed me to hitch rides over the
years.
When I first decided on this career change (from 10+ years in law
enforcement) the school I attended said there was no good reason to get an
IFR...but when they hired a CFII & purchased an IFR trainer it suddenly
became the most important thing they emphasised, of course by then I had
already blown almost all my $$ and was about 5 hours away from my licence.
Oh, well. We live and hopefully learn, right?
So, if you see someone advertising a job, ANY JOB, flying any heli (other
than R22), with an hour reqirement less than 645.2, you let me know!!!!!
Thanks for taking the time out to let me vent.
-J

wrote in message
...

Its not impossible to make a carreer change to commercial
helicoptering, but it will be difficult. As someone already
mentioned, CFII's and clerks at Home Depot make about the same thing.
The difference is that Home Depot clerks aren't usually having as much
fun. At the same time, they aren't risking their lives either.

I know a CFII that just got a commercial job flying for the oil people
in the gulf (of Mexico) with less than 400 hours. So its not
impossible.



Dennis Hawkins
n4mwd AT amsat DOT org (humans know what to do)

"A RECESSION is when you know somebody who is out of work.
A DEPRESSION is when YOU are out of work.
A RECOVERY is when all the H-1B's are out of work."

To find out what an H-1B is and how Congress is using
them to put Americans out of work, visit the following
web site and click on the "Exporting America" CNN news
video: http://zazona.com/ShameH1B/MediaClips.htm

(Mark) wrote in message

snip


I would LOVE to find a way to marry my love of computer and flying.
However I haven't found a niche for this (yet).

snip some more

Years ago I worked for a company who sold a software/hardware
combination to pharmacies in every little town in the southwest.
Their field service engineers were all pilots. This allowed them to
have fewer field service guys and to provide quicker service with the
ones they had. To drive to some of the various places would have
taken 4-5 times as long. Our office was just a few blocks from Ft.
Worth Meacham Airport. They could take a service call and be on-site
in hours.

I keep hoping that I can find a similar company now that I have a
pilots license and 25+ years in the computer industry.

Kenny G.

I'm sure I've come into this conversation way late, but I have to ask: 400
Hours & Flying in the GoM?? How much luck does this guy have?! (I say all
this with a smile on my face, so don't think I'm being sarcastic)
The lowest I've ever seen is 1,500 + IFR and 135 Check ride already in
place. Most won't even talk to you without an ATP.
I really don't care what or where I fly as long as it is in a safe
environment.
I don't have a CFI, just a normal old Commercial Heli ticket and have
managed to get over 600 hours so far (in two years). I must send out my
thanks to those heli operators who have allowed me to hitch rides over the
years.
When I first decided on this career change (from 10+ years in law
enforcement) the school I attended said there was no good reason to get an
IFR...but when they hired a CFII & purchased an IFR trainer it suddenly
became the most important thing they emphasised, of course by then I had
already blown almost all my $$ and was about 5 hours away from my licence.
Oh, well. We live and hopefully learn, right?
So, if you see someone advertising a job, ANY JOB, flying any heli (other
than R22), with an hour reqirement less than 645.2, you let me know!!!!!
Thanks for taking the time out to let me vent.
-J

wrote in message
...

Its not impossible to make a carreer change to commercial
helicoptering, but it will be difficult. As someone already
mentioned, CFII's and clerks at Home Depot make about the same thing.
The difference is that Home Depot clerks aren't usually having as much
fun. At the same time, they aren't risking their lives either.

I know a CFII that just got a commercial job flying for the oil people
in the gulf (of Mexico) with less than 400 hours. So its not
impossible.



Dennis Hawkins
n4mwd AT amsat DOT org (humans know what to do)

"A RECESSION is when you know somebody who is out of work.
A DEPRESSION is when YOU are out of work.
A RECOVERY is when all the H-1B's are out of work."

To find out what an H-1B is and how Congress is using
them to put Americans out of work, visit the following
web site and click on the "Exporting America" CNN news
video: http://zazona.com/ShameH1B/MediaClips.htm

In article , Shiver Me Timbers wrote:
I currently work as a software engineer

First as everyone will tell you, I'm sure - DON"T give up your day job.

I'd agree with that; the day job can pay for the flying.

In your shoes I would start approaching the small, tiny, out of the
way, miniscule mom and pop operators and have a serious talk about your
abilities as a software engineer and how you could seriously help them
improve, promote, and maintain their computer systems particularily on
the web.

The trouble is - on a small mom and pop shop, they simply won't have
enough work to keep a software person busy for more than an hour or two
a week at most. It just won't pay the bills. Added to that, the job
market is oversaturated with 'web designers'. If finding work in
software engineering is hard, finding work in web design related things
is much harder - probably as hard as getting an airline job.

If the software job's work hours is preventing flying, freelancing can
provide more time flexibility, so helicopter training can be fit in
between (and as a freelancer, you can also 'network' a bit more easily,
especially if you hang out at the airport and do freelance work for
business owners who happen to be pilots. You'd never guess how I've got
100% of my freelance work.). The best line of work is things that CANNOT
be outsourced - that require physical presence. Many small/medium
businesses have appalingly bad (worm/virus-ridden) LANs, no backups, and
no sysadmin to sort out the mess and make a network that works well.
They can't hire a full time sysadmin because they maybe only have an
hour a week of sysadminning that needs doing.

So do like the jets - become a fractionally-owned sysadmin :-) You can
provide general network/computer health services to a number of
companies, and if there's a few of them owned by pilots, then usually, a
bit of flight time comes with it ;-)


--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

Dylan Smith wrote:

So do like the jets - become a fractionally-owned sysadmin :-)

And, if you're in the States, keep in mind when you're pricing your services that the
IRS wants an extra 15% for self-employed people.

George Patterson
This marriage is off to a shaky start. The groom just asked the band to
play "Your cheatin' heart", and the bride just requested "Don't come home
a'drinkin' with lovin' on your mind".