helicopters

[garn]

Hey everyone,

Im thinking of moving into the mechanical side of helicopters.

I know nothing about how to do this, where to do this, why to do this!!!haha
Any information anyone could give me on this subject would be excellent.
Job prospects, types of jobs, travel, negatives of the job, positives of the job, how well it pays etc.

Im currently saving to pay for my PPL (H) so i have a genuine interest in helicopters and have always been fascinated by how they fly and what keeps them doing that!!!

Cheers in advance, and sorry if there already a big thread on this somewhere!

By the way, i have asked this on the mechanics section but didnt get much response and everyone helps if they can on this forum so heres trying!

James

[HeliEng]

James,

It is a great career, I still go to work everyday and LOVE what I do, but please don't get me wrong, I'm not in it for the money!

IMHO, the best way to get into it, is to get an apprenticeship, it gives you a good foundation to build on, and is a recognised level of training. (At one point when I was contracting, you could only get onto a certain contract if you had an apprenticeship certificate!)
The only problem with that is that I notice on your profile that you are 23, this could be a problem, as I think you have to be below a certain age for apprenticeships, but it might be worth checking it out.

If that is a no goer, some companies will take "trainees" who are a little older that an apprentice.

The possibilities are good, there are contracts and permenant jobs worldwide for licenced and unlicenced engineers, but obviously there is more money with a licence.

For me, the one BIG con, is that after a day of grafting your a*se off working overtime and putting in everything you have, you seldom get a word of thanks, don't get me wrong, there are some managers who make the effort to give out thanks, but it is rare in my opinion.
The other con is that it CAN get repetitive depending on where you work.

There is so much that I could tell you, if you fancy PM'ing me, I'd be happy to give you more info, and details of companies if you need them

Cheers

Helieng

[rotorboater]

I think you need small hands & double jointed wrists as well!:O

[garn]

haha! my hands arnt too bad haha!

[Backward Blade]

Garn,

I am a Commercial Driver and not even remotely close to an Engineer. But I do work in Canada and we are definately short. The pay keeps getting better from what I hear. While the debate in my country regarding the hiring of foreign pilots (especially 0-600 hrs PIC) is quite hot I haven't seen that side of things with the hiring of Engineers. Good helicopter field engineers are, as I've said, in high demand. And there are openings in some of the schools here. The hours are long but if you can find a Director of Maintenance that will show you a few tricks while you work those long hours it will make all the difference.

Good luck sir
Good on ya for wanting to fix em rather than fly them.

BWB

[budgie 75]

Hey Garn
I know that www.bondoffshorehelicopters.com (http://www.bondoffshorehelicopters.com) are doing schemes for trainee engineers.

[africacorps]

Well said yu guys,positive no demeaning comments,if I was a few years younger I would take positives from yur comments.:zzz:

[timex]

What about giving Westlands a call?

[garn]

thanks you guys! i love rotorheads people, so helpful and very encouraging!

Theres plenty for me to check out it seems!