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miket_68
22nd Nov 2007, 13:11
Or a crisis.
Not sure if this belongs here or RotorHeads, appologies if incorrect.


Passed my PPL(H) June this year.

Got my R44 Rating. +17 stone

After a short battle with the CAA got my class 1 (Lasik treatment).

Started Module 1 DL BGS.

Lost weight

Got my R22 Type rating for the hour building.

Sat down and worked out some financial options..........

The only one I could come up with is remotgage the house, which the wife is ok with..well sort of.

Currently in IT but bored with it.

Really looking forward to doing the Hour building CPL, FI and enjoy the buzz of the airfields I have visited.

This has been a ambition of mine to be a pilot for years, only held back by the Class 1.

Looking to finance the HB, CPL, FI total UK costs £65000 including time off (mortgage still has to be paid).

States not an option and not much cheaper after accomadation food etc (wife and son still need to eat and be dry).

My question is.... viability. After all the training is over, I need to clear £2000 per month to pay mortgage (including £65k training), bills etc.

Is £2k / month take home a viable wage for a low hour newbie FI ?

I have been advised that £40/hour would be rightish.

3 hours per day - £120 * 5 days * 4 weeks = £2400 minus tax = £1600

This wont pay the bills. Are these figures correct, am I way off base.

I dont want to give up as I have been very motivated to get this far (just hadn't done enough research by the look of it).

What are your views, opinions etc.

Be kind but by no means sugar coat your responses.

Many Thanks.

MikeT:confused:

Whirlygig
22nd Nov 2007, 13:17
Is £2k / month take home a viable wage for a low hour newbie FI ?
No it's not.

You would need to have a gross salary of nearly £33k (under PAYE, slightly less if self-employed which would be more likely).

However, can you work part-time/freelance in IT at the same time? This would normally attract a higher hourly rate and may then be viable.

Cheers

Whirls

manfromuncle
22nd Nov 2007, 14:11
£2000 a month! I wish. Not a hope. Full-time, at best, you will clear £1400 pcm as an FI. At worst £500-£800 a month in winter.

heli-mad
22nd Nov 2007, 17:58
Hi there,

try visiting the links in the "so you want to be a helicopter pilot" thread...people asked this before. It is not an easy road.... i did what whirls said, part-time to start with, built up commercial/instuction experience in order to be more employable.

Try another thread in FI forum which asks the same question as well.

Good luck:)

Haggis Hunter
22nd Nov 2007, 20:48
FI(H) pay ain't all that bad, after a couple of years a company may wish to use you for CPL training, teaching a CPL course, £3500 in a month or so, plus retainers, not bad I say.

Yeah as mentioned, winter, it bites, less pay, but I love flying in winter, snow covered mountains are the bee's for good views.

NNorth Sea at the moment, you need an IR(H), unless you're one of the odd lucky ones.

Anyway good luck and enjoy!

HH

jeepys
22nd Nov 2007, 21:38
Being an F.I. is hard work for little monetary reward. In the summer you will work every hour god sends and then sit on your back side in the winter. Sure on a good day in the summer you may fly 4/5 hours at £40 p/h but during the winter months you will be lucky to fly 10 hours a week and a FI week is seven days.
You cannot bank your chances on earning £2000 per month (take home) as an FI. Never. If you do you may become dissapointed.
As whats been said the N.Sea route is by far the best route to earning some decent money but the IR will set you back £30k upwards.
Good Luck.

Camp Freddie
22nd Nov 2007, 22:20
miket_68,

I have a standard answer to questions of this type, as having done both feel semi qualified to comment

Option A, CPL(H) only, high risk, chance of employment poor or nil
Option B, CPL(H) + FI rating, higher cost, low risk, lower returns
Option C, CPL(H) + IR, higher cost, high risk, higher returns

IMO, in your particular situation Option B does not cut it, you will not achieve £2000 take home as an FI, you will struggle to get that gross. it is very unpredicatable, one month I earned £3500, another month I got £500, and I think that PPL training is not so busy as it was, (I stand to be corrected on this)

on the other hand CHC pay something like £36k for new co-jos with <500 rising to £53k for a P2 with 3000 hours, but you need an IR, and the risk is way higher of not getting hired.

so how lucky do you feel ?

regards

CF

timex
22nd Nov 2007, 23:14
If you can get hired by the North sea operators ISTR you will be given an IR and type rating which you will then be bonded for x amount of years. However you will get a decent wage.

Tailboom
23rd Nov 2007, 21:07
What problems did you get with the CAA over your Lasik treatment I'm an instructor with a class 1 medical and I'm thinking about getting it done

Droopystop
24th Nov 2007, 09:25
Timex,

I wouldn't rush to a NS operator expecting them to pay for an IR. It has happened, but it is very much the exception to the rule these days.

ROTORVATION
24th Nov 2007, 10:32
Hi there,

If you want to be a pilot then go for it. However, make sure you have a back up plan, and you can get your self the income you require from another industry sector if you need it.

Generally, a newbie CPL FI will not get any where near that amount of money. The problem is it can occasionally happen, as it did with me. I fell into an Instructors position at a shool who had just had two people leave. In the first year I worked myself hard and made £35000 and the second year pulled in £44000.

A realistic first year salary for a new FI is 18000 - 20000 if you work hard and are willing to travel.

Good luck