Over 20,000 helicopter hours
 

I had a goal of reaching 20,000 hours helicopter. I now have 20500 helicopter hours and 20705.5 total hours. I'm just wondering if there are many high time (helicopter) guys. I found a story of one guy in Calgary that has 21,000 hours, comments?

Congrats to you, well done.

JD

Plenty in OZ chasing Moo Cows around with over 20k. I know a couple that have 25K

Sir Richard will take some beating:

Staff and pilots | Southern Lakes Helicopters, Fiordland, New Zealand

Sir Tim Wallis may be up there, along with Bill Black. Dick Deaker for sure has more, but he is a very modest fellow and would probably not own up to it,

Aerial Hunter: The Dick Deaker Story | Stuff.co.nz

There are probably many more in NZ.

As posted above, many mustering pilots in Oz. But no matter where, it is no mean feat!

One of the Pilot Tea Rooms I used to hang out in between flights had a staff with many Old Git's with well over 20,000 hours and ten years or more to go before Retirement.

I once flew with a fellow who had 13,000 hours in just one Type of Helicopter.

The laugh was he was my Co-Pilot and I had about 500 hundred hours on type.

I paid close attention when he offered some advice or commentary.

I believe there was a fellow flying EMS in Canada with over 30,000 hours in helicopters.

22,044 on retirement in June 2009. 17,501 P1 Day, 1,468 P1 Night, 3,969 IF

and loved every minute of it!!

Back in the early nineties I was sitting in the outer office of our local flight examiner while a buddy was inside getting quizzed for his CFII. A nice older couple was sitting with me, speaking French. He appeared to be in his 70s...

After a while I introduced myself and asked why he was there... He told me he was a Canadian pilot renewing his American CFI. I asked a little about his background - he owned an agricultural application company in Canada flying 206s.

At one point I asked him how many hours he had, and he said "oh, I don't really know, I stopped bothering to log them back in the sixties". So of course I asked him how many hours he had back then, and he said he stopped logging when he hit 30,000 hours (30 years prior!).

Was it true? Dunno, never asked the examiner about it, but I can believe it...

I've flown with quite a few high time guys and I've learned lots of tricks that I try to pass onto students, but the one thing I've noticed with the high time guys... They don't rush. They'll fly at Vne for sure, and they can get a lot done in a short amount of time, but they don't rush or cowboy... they fly with an economy of motion that I try hard to emulate but probably will never totally achieve.

I did an IFR flight with one of our local FAA guys, Bill Wicks, quite a few years ago... he was a Chinook pilot in Vietnam and had lots of hours and experience, and was the guy who gave me my first 135 checkride. Anyway, we're going to takeoff into a low overcast and he asks whether he can do the takeoff. Of course! He taxies out onto the runway at a walking pace... sets it down on the centerline, adjusts this, checks that... Meanwhile I'm aware of the guy on approach talking with tower and keep waiting for tower to basically tell us to hurry up but they didn't. And when he was good and ready we lifted off and punched into the overcast.

The lesson I took away was not to be in a rush, take your time, and do it right.

Doesn't look likely that I'll ever hit 20,000 hours but my goal is to try to fly like a 20,000 hour pilot! Congrats dan454!

Ulf Grinde, Co-owner and Chief Pilot of Jamtlands Flyg in Sweden retired in autumn 2015 with over 32,000 hours flown.

Helikopterpiloten Ulf Grinde lämnar över spakarna
(you'll need a translate program like Google Translate if you don't speak Swedish)

There was a pilot in Eket, previously in Escravos (Nigeria) and many other places from Colorado who retired with over 30,000. He started in Vietnam. A mutual friend of ours, Sasless.

Congratulations dan454 !

NEO

Thanks for all of the info guys. The next time someone says that helicopters are dangerous ask them "then why are these guys still alive?" I wonder how that should be translated in fixed wing hours, ideas?

Fixed wing all SE and ME piston but I met this guy who had 52,000 hrs.
Started when he got his Commercial at 18yrs old and had basically flown 1000hrs/year ever since.

A few years back now I was talking to a mustering pilot and the subject of hours came up. He had a little over 10,000 hours nearly all on the R22. I asked him if he thought he was still learning anything past the 10,000 hour mark? "No" he said. "Just sticking my head further in the noose"

22.500 helicopter and counting.

This noose quote strikes a chord...

20,000 is no mean feat however you get there.

I am humbled every time I go to work.

At my company we have 16 pilots with an average level of helicopter flight experience of 10,500 hours. We have one pilot at 25k one at 23k one at 21k one at 17k and one at 15k. most of the rest of our pilots are in the are in the 4k-9k range. Only one is below 4k and hes at 2800

And as for type, one has 16k on type a and one has 12k on type (500's). The average time on 500s is 4k across the company. 500's are all we operate.

Thew more striking statistics are an average level of external load experience of 6,200 hours, and average powerline construction experience of 3200 hours!

And that is not to mention, we had pilots of 24k, 23k, 17k and 14k helicopter experience retire in the past few years!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Long_(aviator)

Granted, he was an airplane guy, but he finished up with 65,000+, most of it in a Piper Cub below 200' looking at power lines. No instrument rating and took one flying lesson in 1933. Some of his logbooks were (and may still be) on display in one of the FBOs at KMGM.

There is guy named Joe Brigham in New Hampshire that is over 40,000 hours in helicopters. Mostly in Bells, Most of it Ag and powerline patrol. He is quasi retired. I believe he still does check rides.

I know of Joe and we have several mutual acquaintances, though I've not met him. He was at one time an examiner in the AW139, among other things, and may still be. Most of the higher-timers I know well are more in the range of 15K.

No need to be 500. Everyone started off with zero. :) I was fortunate enough to have worked in what was basically an airline type job in the offshore, and so built a few hours. SIL, on the other hand, is in a job where he is lucky to crack 350PA. Retired with 19.1K, of which 11.4K was in the 76, and 6.2K Huey in its single and twin formats. The industry even gives out nice little mementos to hang in your man cave, if your into that sort of thing.