What do North Sea pilots do?

[chopperchav]

If any of you guys are really bored I would be interested to hear about your daily routine eg. Number of flights a day, shifts available(any flexibility), highs and lows of job, life in Aberdeen etc. etc. ..only if you are really bored. Cheers.

[ROTORVATION]

Hi Guys & Gals....

I'll second the above question... what is it like on the North Sea? It would be great to hear your comments.

Anyone in Scotia, Bristow or B.O.H help to put an ambitious pilot in the know about the the routine, some of the glitches and downsides. Would love to hear about the non flying side as well such as what Aberdeen is like to live in?

Thanks

Rotorvation

p.s anybody have any remedies for a depressed pilot? If I don't find a flying job soon I'm going to have to go back to being a data imput clerk..... A**e!!!:ok:

[HOGE]

The fun wears off eventually (after 13 years), I took the option of reduced flying/money and no rubber suit and went to EMS instead.

The North Sea is great for hours building, but not much of a view out of the window. An appetite for bacon rolls, (UK side), or ham and cheese rolls (Dutch sector), would be an advantage!

[magbreak]

But HOGE, you still make those Ham and Cheese rolls for breakfast, and lunch and dinner and.......

It's all coming back......

[Gerhardt]

I'm hoping someone bites on this. Should be fun reading.

[Camp Freddie]

hey Rotorvation,

have you got an instructor rating? cos thats what you need to keep the hours increasing and the momentum going in order to become employable.

if all you have is a basic CPL(H) then no wonder you cant find work.

regards

CF

[Agaricus bisporus]

Ham and cheese rolls! Omigod!

Whatever happened to half kilo portions of North Sea Pig and half a gallon of icecream?

[NickLappos]

I have flown with pilots all over the world, and I must say that as a group there are none more professional than in the North Sea. The general atmosphere (let's admit, the culture is what counts - the way we regulate each other by what we establish as peer norms) is extremely professional.

The environment is absolutely unforgiving, the weather could not be worse, and the tasks are as difficult as anything in civil helicoptering, worldwide.

Those who master the North Sea routes are arguably ready for anything else civil helicopter flying can dish out.

The only mission/environment that is harder (IMHO) is US Army combat ops, where day flight is hardly practiced, and NVG operations in strange territory, at NOE altitudes, is the norm. And nobody does that in the civil world.

[Mikila1A]

Nick,

Have you ever heard of a placed called The Grand Banks:ok:

[Thomas coupling]

Nick I would disagree with you there. N Sea oil rig flying might be difficult to grasp initially, but with all those a/c systems (twin pilot IFR/ILS/GPS) and regulated airspace to monitor your progress, I would suggest the flights can be done alomost by the numbers!
I bet the pilots are almost robotic in their profession.

Day and night HEMS is a lot more demanding I would argue. Each flight offers different demands and the weather/route/site/performance changes daily.
NVIS helps but the captaincy required is greater than oil rig routes???

[diginagain]

Speaking as a frequent flyer with CHC Scotia out of ABZ (and former mil twin pilot), the routine must be soul-destroying. You must be doing it for the kudos.

If you guys are eating the same stuff that we get out of the galley, you have my deepest sympathy. - the only decent thing we get out here is muesli.:yuk:

[check]

I have to take Thomas Coupling to task here, I don't dispute that HEMS flying does not have its problems and that the captain has to make important decisions and at times gets it wrong. See other post regarding HEMS accidents, but the North Sea pilot also has to make big decisions. We all know about the weather, horizontal fog, high winds, turbulence, hot air over the deck (different to that coming out of the crew room), pressure from the client to take one extra passenger, underpowered helicopters, "Do you really need that fuel?", etc. etc. Once your out there you can't afford to get it wrong, get the weather wrong, pick the wrong alternate, rig fuel system fails, TAFS wrong (again). The list is almost endless.
Why do I do it? Without a challenge stagnation sets in and ambition becomes just a word. I've been there, done that, and got the tee-shirt and I still love it. I'm just pi$$ed off that I'm now an old fart.

[Rot8tor]

For heavens sake don't dramatise! North Sea has been going so long everything is already covered countless times in the OM Parts A-D, nothing new - you just have to have the balls to stand up and make the decision, if it really bothers you; the manuals will always back you up. If you just want an easy life, or just please the radio op then .....

Everyone is asked to take an extra passenger, fly an extra route; everyone has underpowered helicopters! everyone encounters differing weather. You should be extremely grateful that the North Sea actually gives progressive training for all this so it should be no surprise when murphy shows his face - candy-arsed I've heard some call it - but that is only to get you to bite!

Have a thought for all those who don't have oodles of juice for alternates which you can easily demand when consulting the TAF - it's more difficult for you to go wrong than someone less regulated.

Yours,

another potential old fart!

[check]

I thought I wrote my comments in English, but after reading Rot8ors reply I'm not so sure.
I seem to remember aiming my reply at the robotic state of North Sea flying. I agree there is nothing magic about it, but it does need the crews to be on top of it all the time because the support structure is not the best.
Ops Manuals vary in quality from poor to very good, (this is from my own experience), and if they were followed to the letter there would be more incidents. The manual is the minimum standard required, not the maximum and pilots discretion plays a part. The problem arises when the "customer is king" mentality overides logic.
Did we not read every second report in Winbasis sent from Sumburgh was regarding the unreliabilty of the TAFS. I always hope for a bad TAF, then I can have a decent fuel load, the problems occure with a good TAF but bad weather. Not an unusual occurance! Oodles of fuel! I wish,
My experience is no different I'm sure to many of my vintage, it has been gained operating in all corners of the world from below sea level to 19000 ft. The North Sea is just another theatre of operation, but it has a bigger bite than many other of the jobs I've been involved with and my own skill is sometimes not enough, I need help and often this help is lacking.

[NickLappos]

OK, now I admit my last was a bit of a troll!

I think when we do it right, at the true limits of practical safety, all missions are about equally difficult, each in its own way.

[donut king]

Lappos, you madman!

Look what you did...opened Pandora's Box!!!! Offshore guys say their world is more challenging then EMS and vice versa. I've heard this as long as I've flown both EMS and Offshore.

The battle is moot. I take that stuff with humour. You know....my dad is bigger than your dad!!!HAHAHA!!!

Challenges abound in ALL helicopter flying. Every helicopter landing is different....airplanes just move the runways from city to city.....from some fixed wing guy named LAPPOS!

Seriously, all you offshore and EMS dudes.....there are professionals in both realms AND there are weenies just the same, in both.

DK.

P.S. Now you fixed wing types( LAPPOS), that's another story!!!!!!!

[Heli-Ice]

This is a great peeing contest...

What about instructing in an R22? I bet those who are into that want to contribute to this bit...

[check]

Nick, someone with sense. I have to agree all flying requires skill, thought, support and in all aspects there are judgement calls to be made. We all like to think what we do is special, therefore that makes it all special. Long live helicopters.
Letting down to sea level, hover taxi to the rig and then climb up the leg to the helideck. Did we ever do that? No...oops another 2 inches on the nose.
Happily those days are long gone with a little help from the Regulators and once they sort out the weather I'll retire.
Sorry if I offended any HEMS drivers, it's one of the few jobs I have never done, but in mitigation my views were based on the fact that an old company in my past used the HEMS operation as command training operation before letting them loose offshore

[Droopystop]

Nick,

I think you forget that there are a number of countries where SAR is done by civillians, including in the North Sea. Anyway enough.

Back to the original thread.

I don't do it now, but this is what I thought of N Sea flying.

A regular roster averaging 4 days on 2 days off (this is about to change for an equal time roster at the expense of days annual leave.) A quick phone call/email the night before a duty to find out when to report. Turn up, plan the flight, pass the maximum payload, negoitate the payload with the client, replan the flight. Change into one of those elegant goon bags. Start up, pick up pax, depart from Aberdeen, usually on an IFR SID. Pick up your radial and plug your way out to the destination. On the way pick up the weather, plan the approach (possibly for a rig radar approach if viz is poor), get the return load, order food. Land on, oversee unloading, supervise fuelling, supervise loading, all on a helideck 200' above the sea (40' and moving if it is a small vessel or the Schieallion) little bigger than a tennis court. It always seems cold and windy (good for performance) or hot and turbulent (rig designers didn't always appreciate the effect of generator plumes on aircraft ops). Return home, completing the paper work and eating the food on the way. Repeat.

That is a good day. Often multiple stops, with multiple rig radar approaches, frequent bad weather, badly designed platforms leaving the final approach track very turbulent and frequent changes to plan. Oh and then there are the nights........night deck landings and those IF transitions into the black......happy memories!!! Also spells spent offshore 2 weeks on / off shuttling pax to and fro - lots of hands on flying but lots of time spent on a platform eating and sleeping.

I believe that if done for long enought it becomes routine although as one old bold pilot once told me, N Sea flying is 95% boredom, 5% sheer terror.

Generally for helicopter pilots it is very well paid with a reasonable life style (the only down side is weekends are a luxury and Christmas may or may not happen, but then again this is aviation). Aberdeen is a reasonable place to live, good night life, good restaurants in other words just like any other similarly sized city. Great scope for outdoor activities (skiing, walking, climbing, moutain biking etc). Make of it what you will - if you look hard enough, you will find something to endear you to the place. Be aware of the long winter nights and the summer haar.

I am sure that someone will have more to say, but that is my perspective of the short time I spent in the North Sea as a co pilot.

[bondu]

Routine and mundane. Never boring! The day it becomes boring is the day to leave.

Droopystop has it just about right.

As for the other part of this thread: I've flown both North Sea and HEMS. Both have their moments! It is wrong to compare HEMS with N.Sea ops as they have so little in common. The only really common aspect is that of captaincy: basically when to say NO.
Both jobs have outside pressure; from the client oil company or from the ambulance controller/paramedic. Ultimately it is up to you as the commander to make the right decision.

So all jobs are equally onerous.

bondu

[semirigid rotor]

Isn't it great to see TC leaping in with an unqualified opinion again :E

[HOGE]

Never boring?, sometimes it's long haul flying without the pleasure of arriving somewhere else at the end of the day. Shuttling was ok, but you can keep the night deck landings! I left because I didn't fancy driving the same route for the next 20 years, mind you the pay would have been useful!

I've never had outside pressure when HEMS flying. Had lots of "commercial pressure" on the North Sea.

[pitchlink]

Why does everyone think that all North Sea flying occurs out of Aberdeen. Most sensible people do their time up there and move south as quickly as possible. The flying is more varied, more interesting and you are surrounded by people you can understand!!!!!!

[bondu]

HOGE

If flying becomes boring, then it definately time to hang up the headset!

As for pressure on HEMS, I was a little unkind towards the control and paramedics. They do a fantastic job! The pressure was mainly self induced; You know what I mean: major RTA, child/children involved, weather crap, roads all snarled up with backed up traffic. Do you put that extra bit of effort in? Early on in a HEMS career you may well do so. After a few months, however, common sense prevails. Not to say that the decision to abort a mission is any easier, it isn't. In virtually all the cases when I turned back, it turned out that the incident wasn't as bad as first thought. I don't know how I would have felt if that had not been the case.

But I digress from the thread! North Sea ops are mundane. As someone has already said, 95% tedium with 5% terror! On a fine day, with everything going well, you can do the job standing on your head. But beware! As with all helicopter operations, something can go wrong at any time and, if your not awake, they will bite back hard! At least with onshore operations, you stand a chance of landing on terra firma. Offshore, your going for a swim!!

And pitchlink, you're spot on! The money is very good, and about to get better!!

bondu

[MK10]

my father flew the north sea from 1967 till 1983 and he certainly
saw some changes. at the start they did 2 flights per week!
to rigs opening up the forties field etc... all flown in shirt and tie
with a cap covered in scrambled egg. this was BEA helicopters later to become BA and then BIH.
The bird at the time was the S61N, and did a fine job by all accounts. MY father laterly flew the CHINOOK but by this time multiple flights per day and crap crew rotas were in place, along with ever increasing competition from other companys. British caledonian even had helis in the n.sea for a while.
my father is in his 70,s now and says he never misses it, he retired aged 47 so the north sea certainly helped his retirement fund.
mk10

[DeltaNg]

Offshore has a lot of good things going for it, at least you're home every night and sometimes in the afternoon, it's great for anyone with kids and just needing to earn a decent living. Okay so it's not mega exciting all the time but it has its moments. I now fly Southern North Sea (S76) and I must say that I am well enjoying the difference from Northern (abz) ops. Shorter legs, more landings, less power (eek) and of course Beer Gardens and a milder climate. Top notch I say !

[Gerhardt]

No, but it's probably the most important part. I'd like to think that loving what you do day-in/day-out is secondarily important. Or wait, maybe $ is second and enjoyment a close third. :O

[RotorSwede]

May I be so bold as to ask what the pay is for working in the North Sea? Both as pilot and co-pilot.

Would be good to know.

Thank you

RotorSwede

[Roofus]

I've done the North Sea....once you grasp the multi sector load sheets it ain't so bad! Met some great people....met some not so great people! But what is most definitely the most boring thing about the North Sea (& probably the helicopter world!!) is listening to North Sea Pilots telling you how hard their lot in life is!! B O R I N G!!

No matter where you fly you'll face challenges! I've flown the North Sea & quite frankly there are challenges.....but it doesn't measure up to some other jobs! I left for one reason only....it was tedious & was no longer offering a challenge!

The old saying 'How do you know ther's a pilot in the room? He tells you!' springs to mind!

;) :p

[magbreak]

Must be time to update your profile DeltaNG unless the oil compaines are squeezing their funding so hard they have R22's shuttling round the Leman and Indi fields!!

[DeltaNg]

Profile updated !!:E

[Seymour Belvoir]

As a current military pilot who just happened upon your discussion, I wonder if any one could answer a couple of questions:

Do job vacancies come up very often or is the market fairly stable?

Are new pilots expected to 'serve their time' flying from ABZ before they can apply for Southern North Sea jobs?

How far in advance are work schedules written? (ie how easy is it to plan your life?)_

As RotorSwede asks, what is the pay like?

[mrwellington]

look here for £ information regarding North Sea

http://www.pilotjobsnetwork.com/


Look under all factfiles, you'll see Bond, CHC and Bristows listed on the right side

[332mistress]

SB

There is some recruitment going on at the moment but it seems mainly contractors. The pay for them is about £400-450/day but you will need ATPL/CPL IR and the type rating. More permanent posts may be on the horizon but you would come in as a co-pilot and have to wait your turn for command (7yrs??) as everything on the N Sea is seniority led unless you can hatch a special deal!!

Most companies are also looking to persuade their pilots to work 'til 60 so this will limit both recruitment and command vacancies.

As far as doing time in Aberdeen before being allowed south it is not always a requirement but if positions are available down south then they are filled by volunteers from Aberdeen before an advert for outsiders is placed.

The pay scales are improving and the data in Mr W post is well out of date

332M

[Pandalet]

As a just-starting-out trainee pilot, I'm trying to get some sort of feel for where in industry I'd like to work. This is more about what I want, rather than what I'm likely to end up with - I need something to aim for.

I don't know terribly much about North Sea / offshore work, but the little I've heard seems appealing (to me, anyway). Therefore, I'd like to know more about exactly what working on the North Sea involves, what people enjoy / hate about it, etc. Feel free to PM or email me if you'd rather not post publicly.

I'm more interested in exactly what you do than what you're paid, although pay info would be interesting too (there already seem to be a fair few threads on money :rolleyes:).

Once I have slightly more flying ability (i.e. enough not to spend most of my time staring at stuff going 'woooow!'), I'm planning to get hold of Bristows et al to try to arrange a visit and see stuff first-hand, assuming off-shore is still the way I want to go. I know getting into the off-shore market depends heavily on the state of the industry at the time, but, as I said, this is really trying to get a feel for where I should be aiming.

Answers on a super-sized postcard...

[md902man]

Basically nothing. They sit on ever broadening backsides, looking forward to their 7 days off after a tough 7 days on. Go home, check their bank balances and make sure the alimony has been paid.
The flying side of things? They have everything planned for them and the a/c and f/o's do the flying while the capt sits and reads the latest copy of Scat for Loners.
tough old life at the top. Oh salaries? f/o to capt = £34k up to £100k +

[ASMUS]

I have some more questions.
How it looks from beginning?
The pilot wake up at ?
Then he is going to work like "accountant" or during his shift he lives close to landing place?
What for is he flying? Transport passengers or other stuff: "oil" maybe? :)
How many hours are he on-air?
How long from shore are the flights?
Are there one flight a day or few a day?
Did pilot came home at 18:00 to his familie or working in weekly shifts?
Where is he having lunch?
Silly questions? It's basic but still interesting for people out of this business.
Is here a chance for some no malicious answers?
Regards
Tomasz

[talklimited]

Gees go easy. It very stressful being a North Sea Captain. :bored:
Having to put up with left seat plebs that won't do all the work and well, those early mornings, I mean really.

£100k ....have we had a pay cut??:eek: :eek:

[Staticdroop]

Gees go easy, it's very stressful being a North Sea FO.:zzz:
Having to put up with the right seat plebs that wont do any of the work, and those early mornings, all 5 or 6 a month...
Who's he kidding...;)

[Whirlygig]

Now c'mon Ivor, if you're really lucky you could live in Norfolk - Great Yarmouth is such a nice place and you'd be really close to the dog track! What more do you want eh?!

However, the question of the daily routine would be helpful. Do you stay overnight on the rigs or home each evening? Does that depend on where you're based?

I'm sure there's some North Denes/Norwich guys who'd help a fellow Norfolk-ite!

Cheers

Whirls

[chopperchav]

Begs question, where would you prefer to work, Aberdeen or Great Yarmouth? I flew into North Denes and went for lunch in Great Yarmouth. Felt like topping myself. Have not been to Aberdeen yet, doesn't look too bad on paper if you can deal with the cold.

[Whirlybird]

In a similar situation a few years back, with a freshly minted CPL(H), and before the North Sea companies stopped recruiting post 9/11, I got an invitation to go up to Aberdeen for a couple of days to see if I liked the life....

First day - up early (can't remember how early), go and check...whatever needed checking, and put on immersion suit for flight. Sit on jumpseat and wait for passengers, and even I can feel how much they just don't want to be there. Fly out to oil rig. Land on oil rig. Just about enough time for me to get photos of oil rig, and pilots to collect their food - the highlight of the day...how much cake are we getting is the main excitement. Fly back to Aberdeen.

Second day - ditto, with different pilots, and to another oil rig, though I wouldn't have known the difference, as it's all flying straight and level over grey sea beneath grey sky. Conversation goes like this...
Captain: You don't want to do this; you'll be bored.
Whirly: Really?
Captain: I'm bored. (To FO) Are you bored?
FO: Yep, I'm bored.

A few questions by Whirly, and what they mean is that one oil rig is much like another, and occasionally in bad weather it's too exciting, but mostly...it's boring.

Aberdeen is cold and depressing; I return home having enjoyed my few days break, but not at all sure I'd like to spend my life doing it. Didn't have to decide, as oil companies stopped recruiting about the next day!

Now, there must be some people around who know more than this!

[Blue Rotor Ronin]

Aberdeen, Norwich... Naaa. East Shetland basin is the place to be, good bunch of guys up in Scatsta (Shetland). Two weeks on, two weeks off, fed two or three times a day (free) and nothing much to do but read the papers and have a bit of a giggle. Sometimes, usually in bad weather, you might have to get your thumb out of your arse and engage your brain but that's not impossible once in a blue moon. Beats working for a living and two weeks off makes up for little life on Shetland.:ok:

[HOGE]

Like all things, it's ok in moderation. I gave up North Sea flying because I didn't want to spend the rest of my working life staring at the monochrome view, having to wear a lifejacket and goon suit at work, and get up at dark o'clock in the winter to fly 12 blokes who didn't want to be there out to the same platforms in return for the same old bacon rolls and lukewarm tea.
Apart from that it was great!
The best routine would have to be 2 weeks on 2 weeks off. You can put up with most sh*te when you know after a fortnight, you have a fortnight off.
Can't say I ever felt at home in Abz, but the social life was good.

[Jetboxer]

All this negativity!!!?

Aberdeen is a great place to start (or finish) your rotary career! Pandalet you'll have to see the place for yourself though.

Personally I'd rather be in Aberdeen than down South, thats a big endorsement being a Londoner! (although I can think of better places on the globe to posted.)

When I first got the job with a North Sea operator, I was asked where I'd rather be posted. I replied 'North Denes', having never been to Aberdeen and having heard grim reports about North East Scotland.

Thankfully, the operator, as they normally do, completely ignored me and sent me to Aberdeen. Thank God!

I have since had the pleasure(?) of flying out of North Denes..I don't want to upset anyone, but (I will!).... have you seen 'The League of Gentlemen'?. Also I think the band 'The Darkness' (Long hair / Leotars) are from nearby. Need I say more!

The flying in Aberdeen is routine, challenging at times, more importantly, breakfasts are good, I've even started eating Black Pudding!.

On a serious note, as a new start, the 2 crew, Multi, IR experience is invaluable and the hours quickly build, giving you the chance to move on if you so wish! (Flying the radials for 30 years will drive you a bit nuts.)

Once you've done a year or two flying out of Aberdeen, it becomes more about the lifestyle than the actual flying! But, hey, there's nothing wrong with a good lifestyle.

For example:
I clocked in at work at 6.15 this morning, airborne from Aberdeen 7.15, picked up a full Scottish Breakfast (2 sausages, bacon, beans, 2 eggs, some black pudding, 2 cakes, yes cakes at 8.30am) landed back at Aberdeen 10.45, out of the door by 11.00 and Skiing in Glenshee by 13.00 to work it off! No complaints! :ok:

Some guys'll get used to this routine / lifestyle and stick it, others like HOGE will look to pastures new for some variety!...And so the cycle continues!

[MightyGem]

full Scottish Breakfast (2 sausages, bacon, beans, 2 eggs, some black pudding, 2 cakes, yes cakes at 8.30am)
Hmmm...doing that for more than a year or two won't do you much good.

[DeltaFree]

In defence of the poor old North Sea, it pays well and gives you plenty of time off (If you are in the right job). Yeah the flying is repetitive, but generally straight forward. There are some interesting points (two lightning strikes last week) and the weather can conspire to stop you falling asleep. If I was starting out I don't think a career in Aberdeen, would fulfil my aspirations. I have been and done many interesting things and to be honest right now stability and predictability, with good money and time off are great. Who knows, in 2 yrs time itchy feet may make me move, but then what is the perfect aviation job?

[thejacket]

All the JAA students at HAI bang on about the North Sea as if its the holy grail of helicopter jobs. It just sounds bloody boring to me, back and forth in **** weather etc. If I wanted to earn a good wage I would go work in IT or something and save myself the 60 grand training costs. Then again, some students have no personality so flight instruction wouldn't suit them, it's best to ship 'em off to Aberdeen.

[Hippolite]

Whirls

Well, blast me, what are you loike?

Stay overnight on rigs...no way. Life of a Southern NS pilot is better than the life of the Aberdeen pilot in my opinion. The flying is short range, there is much more "hands on" take off and landing, no boring long sectors and periods of akward silence with someone you don't like, plenty of night shuttling and IFR work, more shutdowns and start ups, and so time for coffee and a fag and a pee during the day. It doesn't snow anything like as much, the Broads are a great place for having a boat and a good yachtie social life.

Waking up and driving from Wroxham to either Denes or Norwich has to be better than waking up in Aberdeen to 6 inches of snow. Norfolk also actually has a summer, unlike Aberdeen, which is great if you are a Jock and or love skiing.

[212man]

I concur with Hippolite (apart from the fags and the yacht!) though must confess I wasn't too keen on the 0400 wake up for the 0500 report at ND. :\

There was also (still?) some onshore charter work which rounded things off nicely.

It will get better still with the 155 arriving soon.

[Whirlygig]

Thanks Hippolite, I was told that there was no such thing as a stupid question! So.... do the Aberdeen chappies have to stay overnight or, God forbid, base themselves on a rig?

Look, I quite like Norfolk but seriously, can anyone put their hand on their heart and say Great Yarmouth is anything but a dump? This is the town that has a Wide=Screen TV in the Market Square! The only good thing is seeing the back end of Breydon Water as you drive towards the Acle Straight.

Cheers

Whirls

PS - I've been seconded to Gorleston at the moment so am feeling particularly bitter towards it; I want to go back to Cromer!

[i4iq]

I think the way to Great Yarmouth on a narrow boat, stopping off at the pubs could be considered a redeeming feature...

[212man]

Yep, Yarmouth is a dump: it makes Blackpool look posh!

To answer your question; the Aberdeen based pilots do not routinely night stop anywhere. They fly their trip or two then go home. Exceptions would be in the case of a diversion to another airport that takes the pilots out of duty hours or past the Aberdeen closing time, occasional detachments offshore (eg flare tip change or construction work) or to one of the islands etc but normaly rare and open to volunteers.

[Pandalet]

So if you work for an offshore company, having moved to Aberdeen (or wherever), does the company usually provide accomodation? If you're working a '2 weeks on, 2 weeks off' schedule, do you get to go 'home' for the time you're off, and is travel included in the package?

Can anyone suggest good people to contact about a visit or to find out more about off-shore work? I have the BHAB handbook somewhere, so I've got the company details, but who should I be speaking to in particular?

Ta for the info so far - keep it coming! :ok:

[Hummingfrog]

Pandalet

I suggest you search for the thread "CHC roster" which will answer alot of your questions.

Most Aberdeen based pilots live in or near Aberdeen so at the end of the day they go home. The companies provides no accommodation at Aberdeen and you work a normal roster with the usual FTL limits, i.e. a minimum of 12hrs off between day shifts.

There are few contracts that offer 15 days on 13 off and as one of those is about to finish there are experienced pilots looking for any spare places on other contracts so I would think that there will be very few vacancies in the future.

HF

[Pandalet]

The CHC Roster thread can be found here:

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=191298

[chopperchav]

Impression of Great Yarmouth from speaking to locals is that it is a dead seaside resort which has become a dumping ground for asylum seekers. Increased crime etc. has naturally followed.
Sounds like a nice place to work! Don't leave the keys in those s-76's!

[topendtorque]

wasting your time mate, they don't drink!

[i4iq]

TeT

No? But we did!:ooh:

[Whirlygig]

Topendtorque,

are you making a scurrilous suggestion that us good citizens of Norfolk don't drink? Well love, THIS is one Norfolk Broad who does! :p ;)

WE have Adnam's Broadside :ok:

Cheers

Whirls

[topendtorque]

good-on-yer-sport.

didn't think it would be a country full of wowsers just waiting for the odd aussie to show the way.

I bet he also treated the broads with less than boredom.

Isn't that country close to ireland where they do the cheap 'fuel supply interrupter instals'?

[Pandalet]

Hey, don't forget all the Saffies over here! Pretty much every bar I've ever been into in the UK employs at least a Saffie or an Ozzie (or a Zimbo), sometimes both!

Have to say, though, it is nice to live in a country that serves a good variety of decent beer. SAB :yuk:

[Whirlygig]

I bet he also treated the broads with less than boredom.
Eh? Who did?!

Isn't that country close to ireland where they do the cheap 'fuel supply interrupter instals'?

I suspect that Norfolk is the furthest England can get from Ireland. No doubt someone will prove me wrong but I can't be far out!

Anyway, we have digressed into childish and frivolous banter as to the merits (or otherwise) of living in the Flatlands compared with the Granite City! Pandalet, that usually means that the guys and gals on here probably don't have much more to add!

Cheers

Whirls

[Staticdroop]

When you've sat around in various hovels twiddling your thumbs - i said thumbs -:E then it is quite nice to go to work, get in the aircraft, nice complex one as well gear goes up and generally down, and go and fly. No sitting around waiting for the s@#t to hit the can so you can fire up, fly 10 mins, and go into the hover for 1 hour, or when not flying doing all the paperwork that goes with small company operations.
Horses for courses but we all go to work to earn our living, i do anyway.

[AndyJB32]

Pandalet, i'll try to give you a brief outline of how i find north sea flying.
I worked up in Aberdeen for about 5 and a half years, before moving to Humberside where i've been for the past 18 months. The other UK bases are Blackpool and North Deanes/Norwich.
Aberdeen fly the longer routes, which vary from about 45 mins each way, up to 2 hours each way roughly. They use pumas, and are introducing the Sikorski S92, both large helicopters which carry 19 passangers over the longer distances. The southern bases fly a mixture of Sikorski S76 and Duaphines, carrying up to 10 passangers over flights lasting between 10 mins and about 50 mins each way.
Flights out of Aberdeen usually involve 1 to 3 rig landings per trip, with the rest of time straight and level, doing routine cruise checks. The southern bases usually do a lot more sectors, with Blackpool having the most (up to about 20 odd decks per trip). Although the flying is slightly different between Aberdeen and the southern bases, if i were you, i'd just try and work out of a base where you'd like to live, rather than move there because of the flying enviroment. There's not that much difference between the work in the seperate bases. In a similar way, you'll find people will prefer one North Sea helicopter company over another, but i'd just go with whichever one offers you the first job. All the companies have their good and bad points, but overall they're probably more alike than not. I really enjoyed my time at Aberdeen, and would happily move back there in the future if the chance arose, but i'm settling in nicely to Humberside now. I suppose it's like most things, and as long as you don't aprroach the area with the expectation that you're not going to enjoy living there, then any of the bases would be ok to work and live.
Apart from a small number of pilots employed as offshore based pilots, working 2 weeks on 2 weeks off, and based either on the forties, in the northern north sea, or the Leman in the southern north sea, the shifts are basically either lates or earlies. Lates, starting around lunchtime, and ending when the day's flying finishes, with you then being on call at home until 10pm, and earlies starting at 6 am and finishing when the late crews take over. You get to go home each night. The different bases work there own shift pattern but they all work out with about 10 days off a month, then around 40 days leave a year, although we don't get any public holidays.
A lot of the replies mention the boredom, which is something i'd disagree with. I think it's more that it becomes routine flying. For a while i thought i'd like to go and try doing EMS or Police flying, but i figure that after the initial excitement of flying a different type, and flying in a different way had worn off, that job would become routine as well. Some days the weather makes it more interesting than others, but most days it's just a regular relaxed flight out and back.
I don't know if i'll carry on doing this forever, but after 7+ years i think the cons of the job (routineness being the primary one) are vastly overshadowed by the pros (good time off, with enough money to do the stuff that you really enjoy in the time away from work). If it got to the point when i disliked going to work, i guess i'd look for a change then, but most days it's reasonably enjoyable.
Hope that helps answer your question. All the best, Andy:ok:

[HOGE]

I would have to disagree that EMS becomes routine. I've been doing it for 5 years now, and I still enjoy going to work. Whereas North Sea flying was fairly well set in stone. e.g. 040degrees /2000'/ 20mins to the Leman, EMS is different everyday, and flight planning consists of looking in the direction you want to go, and making it up from there.

As a means of hours building, and instrument time, the North Sea is the place to go, but after 4000, 5000, 6000 hours whatever, how much more experience of flying in a straight line do you want?

When you are starting out, take the first job offered, and get the experience/types/instrument rating, after that you start looking for the job you want to really do.

[AndyJB32]

Fair enough, i've never flown EMS, so can't really comment specifically. Just my impression would be that after a while any job's going to become routine. That doesn't mean that the job stops being enjoyable or becomes boring, just that the initial excitement of doing something different will wear off.

On that basis i'd say you either change jobs every few years, or else use your job to allow you to have fun away from work.

I'd agree though that at the start just take any job you can get to gain experience.

[Nigerian Expat Outlaw]

Andy,

I agree with everything you've said in both your posts mate. It's worth considering every aspect, but these days you do need the experience (in an employer's eyes) first !! Maybe as we become more valuable (nobody trains pilots in quantity anymore) we'll be able to choose a bit easier ?

Cheers,

NEO

[Brilliant Stuff]

Andy,

you hit it on the nail, but you forgot to mention the excellent Nightshift in Blackpool. I also think I know you. Well I took the chance and have taken an onshore Job, which is seriously exciting.

[Camp Freddie]

it seems curious that so many posts mentioned the failings of great yarmouth !, whilst scotland is much much more than aberdeen, norfolk is much more than great yarmouth.

I dont think hardly any of the pilots live there anyway, the majority living norwich way.

this comparing EMS, police, corporate and offshore flying is all bogus, ALL helicopter flying gets dull if you do enough of it. you need to ask a few questions.

which role pays the most ?, which gives you most time off ?, which gives you least standby on base ?, which is the most interesting flying ? etc etc.

for me I get s**t loads of time off and have the financial situation to enjoy it.

an flight instructor generally will have a salary that starts with a 1 or 2
a police or air ambulance pilots salary may start with a 3 or 4
a corporate pilots salary may start with a 5
an offshore captains salary will start with a 6 or 7

the figures speak for themselves, doing interesting flying has a high opportunity cost.

and if offshore flying is so bad why are so may people applying to the 3 companies all the time, because belive me they are !

regards

CF