There is nothing wrong with sweeping a broom. The main problem is when the hangar rat hangs around WITHOUT PAY, hoping to get some flying.
The hangar rat will always be doing **** jobs. No problem there. Get chemical burns from stripping back helicopters, blisters from sweeping, filthy from emptying bins, etc. It's what a hangar rat does.
BUT because of the level of prostitution in this industry it's all done for free! The hangar rat is expected to roll up to an outfit, day after day, and put in. Hoping to get some flying at some stage. A ferry here, a short charter there. And the industry camoflagues this prostitution with the catch cry "You have to be in the right place at the right time!" Meaning, hang around and you'll get a fly, just make yourself useful while you're at it.
Thanks, but no thanks. I done that and found that I have more self-esteme than that. It's not pride, I'm happy to work, knowing that a helicopter will not fly 24-7. It has to sit still sometimes. But I became a pilot, not an un-paid cleaner.
I don't expect that the world owes me a living, just because I bought a licence. No pilot should believe that! But I do believe that everyone needs to make the best of any given opportunity. That includes investing for the future. The future of aviation.
I never realised until now how much better our countries would be doing if the charity work done by low hour pilots for helicopter companies actually went to the needy!
