Jobs in aussie

[automan]

hi,

Can you Aussie instructors out there ,let me know what the job market is like for helicopter instructors in Australia.

cheers

Automan.:)

[imabell]

hi automan

not many replies to your question.

there are about 18 helicopter schools in australia, most of them are on the east coast, one in western australia.

eight of these schools are located in south east queensland, beautiful one day perfect the next.

most of the schools operate only two or three machines, some have a couple more.

for you to become an instructor over here you will have to first convert your licence to a proper one and then do a flight test for the issue of a grade two rating.

we have two ratings, grade two and grade one. if you meet the criteria you would then do a test for a grade 1.

you have to have a minimum of 400 hours total time to qualify for a grade two rating and then have 400 hours of ab initio training (no nav included) under your belt to upgrade.

over here we prefer you to have a couple of thousand hours experience behind you so that you can impart that experience to the student. this is not a law but a preference.

there are schools that hire low time instructors but the students never seem to get far in the industry because they are not taught how to survive and get ahead. in fact some students abilities are stifled by the lack of ability of the instructor.

i am sure that when you were paying massive ammounts of money to learn that you got more for your money from the high timer than the just qualified to flap instructor.

if you have something to give to a student and not just wanting to clock up a few hours at someone elses expense then come over and give it a go.

for you information there are 6,500 licenced helicopter pilots in australia. there are currently 1,800 pilots with valid medicals and about 750, give or take a few, helicopters to go around.

we have the best flying environment in the known world and no jar's.

see you ;)

[weasil]

I am soooo tired of hearing this same old argument over and over. It is a load of nonsense.

You cannot lump all flight instructors into the same category based on their number of hours. Over the years I have seen flight instructors with 15 yrs experience who are absolutely terrible, no recent knowledge of the rules, no ability to teach, and a desire to charge way too much for time spent sitting around chatting. I have seen furloughed airline pilots instructing with no desire to be there, regardless of their airline experience this makes for a bad instructor.

On the other hand I have seen instructors with maybe 500hrs dual given and a thorough understanding of aerodynamics, aircraft systems and a natural teaching ability, a desire to see their students advance and a willingness to work hard long hours for little pay.

You should be ashamed of yourself for lumping all instructors into those stereotypical categories.

[imabell]

no ones lumping all instructors into one pile or another and sure there are good low time pilots who can instruct and high timers who are not interested.

the fact is that generally in the helicopter industry low time pilots generally do not possess the high skill levels required to generally train employable pilots. the proof is out there. generally.

most helicopter pilots with reasonable experience would agree,
most helcopter pilots with little experience may not agree.




:eek:

[ClearBlueWater]

As a 200 hour pilot having just passed the JAA CPL(H) in the UK my opportunities for commercial work are next to zero. The most likely route available to me now is to somehow build another 100 hours (at GBP 180 per hour, taxes and landing fees included) and then do the Instructors course (GBP 8000) in the hope that someone will then pay me as an instructor before I can get commercial work.

Like most in my position the only reason I would go down the instructing route is to build sufficient hours to fit into an AOCs insurance restrictions. I do not have any desire to instruct per se. Furthermore I entirely agree with the sentiments above that as a very junior pilot, CPL or not, I am far from ideal material to be an instructor even if I did want to be one. It seems obvious that in general the most experienced pilots will be in a better position to impart quality instruction than their very junior inexperienced colleagues. Even if the junior pilot does have a flare for teaching their practical knowledge base cannot equal that of the experienced pilot. It makes sense to me that instructing should be the last job a pilot does at the end of a commercial career, not the first before a commercial career. But what choice do we have?