101BOY
I'd say you've undercooked the Captain pay by 10k there, given the burden of responsibility will be with him and not through an operator.
No - I think a realistic salary given that most on-shore captains dont get the same salary that their off-shore equivalent gets. With the the on-shore corporate market currently getting squeezed, (corporate jets & helicopters are not flavour of the month with shareholders), and the charter market shrinking as well, there are some well qualified & experienced pilots out there that would happily settle for that amount. Don't get me wrong - pilots should get as much as they can for their services - but not price themselves out of a job.
PHIL77
I know how you get instrument rated, but following your argument, how do you suggest a low timer should get experienced in multi-crew IFR operations?
Or is it safe enough to have the 250 hour guy (or the inexperienced recent VFR guy) assist in carrying 12 roughnecks, but not safe enough for the CEO - and all that with much less workload in a fancy SPIFR EC155 rather than a dual pilot S-76A or AS332L1?
All North Sea pilots are required to be instrument rated - there are no VFR guys carrying 12 roughnecks in Europe. What I was suggesting was that a relatively inexperienced co-pilot (1200-1500 hrs/2-3 years North Sea) in the left seat would be advantageous over a purely VFR co-pilot. Understanding 2-crew IFR proceedures when the weather is cr*p and the s**t is hitting the fan, must be helpful to the captain.
Bertie Thruster
To buy the 155 and not equip it with the IR pilot is akin to buying the Bentley and hiring a marginally-trained chauffeur or curry-delivery driver to drive it around.
I totally agree with the intent of this quote but it does rather suggest that the UK's force of non IR'ed EC 135/MD902 police and air ambulance pilots are marginally trained !
The police & AA pilots I know are all top blokes, who I have the utmost respect for, and are more than capable of holding IR's. PAS and direct employ police units dont want IR'd pilots as they would have to pay more or risk them going to better paid employment. However all of BAS, London HEMS (2-crew) and at least 1 of the NEAA (PDG) pilots are IR'd, as they believe it adds to the safety of the operation.