Not quite on the same subject, but it says to post questions like this in an existing thread, and this was as close as any.
I'm formulating my plan on how to get a CPL. I know you get eleventy million quesitons about this from all kinds of people, but I cannot find an answer to this question.
once I have my PPL, I've considered purchacing a helicopter and building hours in it myself. The advantage I see in this, is that I would be able to continue to fly on my own after I have my CPL without needing to take an instructors job which I may or may not be qualifed to do at that stage. Or maybe instruct, offering the added benifit of having my own bird to whatever school I go to work for.
My understanding of the costs would be something like : 10k / year for maintinance, 10k / year for insurance, + 60-70k for an appropriate helicopter. I have no idea what to expect for fuel costs. If its more than that, I suppose I could borrow.
If I owned my own helicopter, are there work oportunities available? If I forked out the extra cash for a larger helicopter like an r44, would I be albe to work once I got my cpl doing something other than instruct? If so, what kind of work could I do? Would I be able to find work with a smaller helicopter like an r22 if I only paid enough extra to get into that range?
Am I horribly off on my operating cost estimates? It crossed my mind, that there may be work available for anyone who owns their own helicopter. Is this the case?
A lot of questions from someone just starting, but I like to have a game plan before I get started. If this is in fact a good idea, and a good deal comes along, I'd like to be able to know weather or not I should jump on it.
Is all this a bad idea for some reason(s) that I have not considered?
Thank you for your time, and thoughts on this.