FAA or CAa: HELP...ADVICE NEEDED PLSE!!!!

[Rotorhead80]

Hey everyone, Hows you all doin???

I am in need of some much needed advice!!!:ugh:

I have just got my UK CPL(H) with a frozen ATPL(H) and am looking for my first break anywhere in the world. I have been hearing that things in the US are a lot more laid back and getting onto that first job ladder is bit easier........and cheaper. Ive a few questions for youse all if ya dont mind.

The questions are.....(1) can anyone give me some advice as to whether I am better getting an IR (as Ive also heard that thats the key to get your first job) in the US and is it more worldly recognised or getting it in the UK.

(2) Are there any kind of grants or anything that can contribute to the RIDICULOUS and EXTORTIONATE prices of getting that elusive UK IR??:mad:

(3) Has anyone any contacts for possible positions/ companies anywhere in the world that could be of use to me???:ok:

Appreciate any advice or info. Cheers in advance.

SAFE FLYING!!!

J:ok:

[Noiseboy]

As you will find if you do even the smallest bit of your own reserach, the two traditional routes to find work are as an FI, or try your luck with an IR.

There are no grants to get the IR, you either take the risk of investing in it yourself, or go down the FI route in the hope that one day you might find someone to pay for it for you, although by then you will most likely have to resit the exams.

you cannot use a FAA IR with a JAA CPL, you would have to convert it, which would still require a twin rating, thus making very little difference in terms of cost to doing the FAA first in your situation.

To work overseas you will need the right to live and work, making the US a no go unless you have that right, or you have to marry someone there. As well as visa issues for wherever you would like to work you would need to have the local qualifications, requiring further investment for the relevant conversions.

A CPL alone will not get you very far, and it surprises me that anyone could spend that much money apparently without looking into it seriously first.

[Senior Pilot]

Rotorhead80,

As Noiseboy says, there is a lot to be said for doing your own research: even your first thread back in April received a reply commenting that you should walk down the road in Aberdeen and knock on a few doors :hmm:

Have you read So you want to be a helicopter pilot, (http://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/253856-so-you-want-helicopter-pilot.html) which is a Sticky at the top of this forum?

Or FAQ Training & Employment prospects: please read before posting (http://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/122944-faq-training-employment-prospects-please-read-before-posting.html)?

Or even use the Search facility within PPRuNe :ugh:

[Rotorhead80]

Cheers Noiseboy and senior pilot for your comments BUT for your info I have done research into it and its a pretty hectic minefield to get through as you well know and was only looking for some HELPFUL and productive advice/ possible routes to take that I may not have come across.

I know about the whole Aberdeen scene and unless youve been there then you dont know how difficult it is to get into that scene!!! Very Frustrating as they dont even reply to your applications!!

Anyway cheers for your "comments" if anyone has any other suggestions and/or contacts then that would be grand, thanks.

[Whirlygig]

then you dont know how difficult and how much competition there is to get into that scene!!!
I suspect that they do know!

If your research lead you to the conclusion that it was a difficult area to enter, then why continue without further research or a plan B?

So, to answer your questions in order

1) an FAA IR is pretty much worthless in the UK and, unless you have the right to work in the US, I'm not sure why you'd go that route. A JAA IR may get you a job in the UK or it may not. As my very good friend Camp Freddie says, IR= high risk, high reward

2) No.

3) No.

Cheers

Whirls

[HillerBee]

Even if you had the right to work in the US, it's by no means easier to get your first commercial job. The route is just as over here to become a flight instructor, and in the States there is a lot more competition for that job as well. Since you're not trained in the US you would find it very hard to find a job even if you had the right visa.

There is a huge shortage (instructors) in South Africa and I would recommend you to go that route. You would have to do instructing but you could move to other work pretty fast once you've passed the 500 hour mark.

Bottomline however there is no way around instructing.........