How long did it take - First Job?

[helikiwi34]

I will be finishing my CPL H this year and curious to know how long it took for you fellow pprune'rs to land that first flying job, and what type of flying ie: tours, instructing etc...

[Canuck Guy]

Got my licence four years ago. Took me 8 months to get my first job as ground crew. Then 15 months later is was off and running, flying for the same company full time.

Now doing VIP, ambulance and charter flying.:ok:

[206dvr]

Took 5 years to save up and get the licence and then another 5 years of loading etc to get flying. The first 1000 hrs is always the hardest. Keep trying and don't give up.

[kneedwondean]

After I had completed my CPL(H(200hrs on R22's etc) I emailed every AOC holder in the UK and got nowhere. 2 years later I got my FI ticket, and before I'd even finished my course I had been offered 3 jobs. Was working within 2 weeks of getting my licence from the CAA.

[Captino]

I got my Cpl in Dec 2006 then I applied to every opening there was but no results. I started some roundtrips in the spring of 2007 with my former cplschool and had a nice summer. Than I had all the hours I needed to start my FI. Well I got mi FI licence a month ago and now I fly a little as an Instructor und fly roundtrips and also some cargo but just as an Freelancer.

Cheers Captino

[TunaSandwich]

Took three years to do all my training up to CFII/200 hours, started work the week after finishing and within fifteen months had 1000 hours, mostly instructing. During the three years of training I never did a rating/license/hour building in the same place and built as many contacts as I could, one of them kept there word and took me on.
Cheers TS
ps. hate the 300 hour thing for FI in Europe, FAA rocks...

[waqas]

Hey every1,

Can any1 tell me wat kind of ratin and how many hours do u need 2 get job in airlines after doing cpl

Thankx

[spinwing]

Mmmmmm ...


....Hey every1,

Can any1 tell me wat kind of ratin and how many hours do u need 2 get job in airlines after doing cpl

Thankx


Only after you learn to write (and read) in correct English? :E

[WOP]

5 years for the first proper one...

[ShyTorque]

Got the job first, the licence about 15 years later. :)

[BOOMER1]

4.5 years of sweeping floors, cleaning toilets, fuelling other peoples helicopters and general "hangar rat" duties before they threw me the keys to my first helicopter.

[Bertie Thruster]

What is it with the urge to fly?-----

Declined PhD offer at Liverpool Uni. Failed RAF officer selection. Joined the Army as a private soldier with the sole intention of getting on a pilots course.

5 long years later I finally talked my way onto the Army Pilots Course. I was told, after just 8 flying hours, that I had very little chance of passing the course!

[Helipilot1982]

After CPL nothing for 9 months, then did an IR and within 2 months of passing was on the North Sea!!

I was one of the fortunate ones though - never give up on your dream!!!!:)

[Le Singe]

The best method is to earn a few dollars doing short flights jobs after you get youre PPL to build up your hours. When you finally get youre CPL you will already have the experience and will probably walk into the first job you apply for.

[HillerBee]

The best method is to earn a few dollars doing short flights jobs after you get youre PPL to build up your hours. When you finally get youre CPL you will already have the experience and will probably walk into the first job you apply for

No, you don't. You are not allowed to get any dollars, pounds or euros) or any other currency) if you are a PPL holder. Second of all there are simply no 'low time' jobs anymore.

Took me 6 months of part-time instructing to land my first well paid job. But that's a good few years back. Don't think that applies in the current climate.

[GGR]

So what next BT?

[Camp Freddie]

hey hillerbee dont get excited about matey le singe, his MO is to kid you that he is an incompetent amateur :rolleyes:

to answer the question, took me 6 months to do some proper instructing after getting PPL instructor rating, took another 2 years to get the CPL (those darned study books were quite thick) did some charter straight away after that, but took another year to get north sea job, and thank god a proper salary, being brassic all the time for 3 years was v.dull :(

[chopjock]

The best method is to earn a few dollars doing short flights jobs after you get youre PPL to build up your hours. When you finally get youre CPL you will already have the experience and will probably walk into the first job you apply for.That's exactly what I am doing at the moment,(except the earning bit!) building hours as a PPL and gaining lots of experience. :ok:

[RotaryRat]

Got my first gig (casual basis) straight after gaining CPL ticket, but dare I say it was unpaid!

[floatsarmed]

Job......?

This is a JOB??

This isn't a job it's a lifestyle. :O

:ok:

Floats out.

[Power Up]

Been a couple of years since got ticket, no cash for FI, still looking for someone to take a chance on me.... Guys, please, no ABBA.

[ka26]

It is very difficult to get a job without a FI rating if you have only a CPL with 200 hours. I think the most boring period of time is the transition from 200 to 300 hours. Once you riched 300 hours you can become an instructor. Another possibility could be getting an Instrument Rating and hope to be employed somewhere as a copilot. But, since the result IR is too expensive, I preffer first to become a FI. Then, when you have some experience you can get a Turbine Rating on a AS350 for example. There are a lot of interesting jobs, especially in mountains (look Switzerland).

Good luck!!! Life is full of possibilities...

[dammyneckhurts]

In Canada you only need 100 hours for a Commercial Helicopter Licence (thats total time, not an add-on to a private, or plank conversion)

I was lucky...it took me 61 days to complete my training and i started work on day number 62. Managed about 250 revenue hours that summer and was at about 1,130 hours by 18 months.

Had some very lucky breaks in the first 3 years:O

[Amphibious]

^ I hate you ;)

3yrs and counting and still hunting my first PIC gig. this will be my last year giving 110%, working 14hr days and getting paid min wage for 8. so fingers are crossed.

[paulosaints]

Got my licence since April this year. It's CPL with IR and got logged about 190 hours.
Still with no job, and still searching. I have friends that got the job in after the exams and before get the licence!
I am from Portugal, and it's pretty hard to get a job, even with IR. There are only 3 main helicopter companies, Helisul, Helibravo and Heliportugal.

Helisul's main work is EMS. Right now they are working with only 2 Bell 412.

Helibravo has AS350, R22 ans 44's. This companie get's his money from the summer campains of fire.

And Heliportugal only works outside of Portugal in offshore. To be a co-pilot here you have to start with 1000 hours :(

So... God help me!

Happy new year!

[MartinCh]

Amphibious,
I'm just 1/4 way through my training with looong break now, gliding in the meantime, but had I lived in Australia or Canada, I wouldn't do hangar ratting/loading for free or less than min wage in total, just to show my commitment to flying. 3 years??? Working at least 30hrs per week for free for 3 years? What's the current min wage in Canada?

I call it exploiting (young and) keen future pilots. Different world, yes. Why do some consider it OK? You'd have saved some nice money having other, even min wage job, maybe in restaurant, with tips or whatever your career was before if you had one, and be able to spend it on some fun flying/hourbuilding in the meantime or once or twice a year in the USA, where the CAD/USD rate and rental rates work for you.

Breaking into heli industry is ever tougher around the world, but there should be limits.

[thekite]

Being a licenced maintenance engineer, and aeroplane cpl I had 3 job offers even during training. :ok:

Fine for me, I had been in the industry for a long time.

But now semi-retired I have found a way to assist those who are in a similar situation - trying to get into that first flying job. Without my personal background, and I hope that this will help some.

I am close to completing an Experimental helicopter a Mosquito XE. The kit can be purchased for about A$39000. It will make a great mustering helicopter, but my point here is that the new CPL with (what?) 200 hrs is hard pushed to appear better than any other with the same experience.

But if that pilot was to buy - better yet - build - a Mossie, heshe would be able to pick up (say) another 100 or so hours, just finessing the lessons already learned. :)

A vastly more appropriate background from another pilot who may have a PPL flying a 172 from and to nowhere in particular.

thekite

[Decredenza]

I managed to get my licence just as the economy tanked (back in the day).

After seven years and an AME endorsement I got my first job.

One of the good things about that was I got a lot of time to answer the question - "How bad do I want to do this?"

Be in the right place at the right time with the right qualifications and most of all the right attitude and the doors open up.