How many hours is too many?

[heliduck]

After all of those years that most of us went through where we didn't have enough hours, then not enough turbine, sorry no night experience, no time on type, etc etc etc, I've noticed that it may be just as frustrating at the other end of the spectrum by having too many hours. I am not in this category, but years ago I worked with a bloke who couldn't get a start in a turbine as he had "too many piston hours", about 10000 of them in fact. Recently with the winter fast approaching in Canada there are some high time pilots advertising there availability & I have heard many comments to the effect that - "something is wrong if that person has to advertise. With that much experience he should have enough contacts in the industry to get a job without advertising". Bloody hell, we can't win!!!
I can imagine some operators could be uncomfortable employing someone with vastly more experience than themselves, as there would be a perceived risk that the more experienced employee wouldn't take direction from the less experienced employer.
What I'm looking for here is a flood of replies telling me that the people making these comments are full of it & high time pilots have no trouble getting work with companies with which they have no previous association. If this isn't the case, maybe I should aim to be in my "retirement job" before I reach a certain experience level. What is that level?

[EBCAU]

More hours than the incumbent chief pilot seems to be too many in my experience :E

[Camp Freddie]

I have heard the odd chief pilot complaining about applicants with "too many north sea hours" :confused:

apparently according to the CP's north sea pilots lose the ability to be flexible, and cant fly without a checklist :ugh:

all those hours flying complex twins in sometimes demanding instrument and night conditions must be annoying to a CP who wants to be the big fish in the small pond.

I agree with EBCAU

regards

CF

[darrenphughes]

(eg 40 degrees angle of bank with pax in the back!)

Go for 60, and make it a real fun charter flight!!:p

[ShyTorque]

150ft at night makes 'em squeal a bit, too.

[WhirlwindIII]

heliduck

You might be overthinking things (no demerits there!) but managing one's career is obviously a very personal thing, and done in light of objectives, both personal and professional, as they come to view. My 40 years of flying helos, military, then civil - half for operators, half for corporations, found only one slight bump when applying for a job. That was being identified as a "Northeast pilot", meaning, I guess, having worked in the NE US as a corporate pilot for 18 years. In one case it was a show-stopper on resume receipt - no discussion, no nothing! Some day I'll figure that one out but I really could care less. At another involving application to fly large helicopters having a balance of flying many different types, including @3000 piston, a lot of light turbines, and almost all the medium twins to date, in many environments, etc., led to the application being considered quite acceptable. I guess variety was valued.

When I view someone's resume I try to develop a sense of who the person is first, then consider their experience in light of the air sense they are likely to have developed, then look at what variety of background they have lived, where they have worked, and lastly the type helicopters they have flown. Half of any job is doing it, the other half living with it. If I think an applicant is likely to be rich in both he/she gets an interview based on the most likely candidate to succeed amongst the resumes in front of me.

If an employer devalues what they consider too much piston time I would say they are not looking at the air sense the individual may have cultivated, thus shorting themselves a potentially great employee.

BTW, pistons are great fun!

[bolkow]

Maybe its just heli pilot paranoia? Any actual employers care to comment?
If the piston turbine pilot has 4000 hours and it tee total, then that is surely corroboration of a socialising problem?

[timex]

Sorry but not sure what your post means?

[heliduck]

Interesting posts. Unbelievable as it sounds but other people have noticed as well so I'm not going mad. As the Vietnam era pilots give the flying away & younger, less experienced people take up the administrative reigns of companies this issue may even become more prevalent.

WhirlwindIII - I may well be overthinking the issue, & what you say makes sense to me so I hope you're the man reading the resumes when I'm looking to broaden my horizons.

From my experiences I have formed the opinion that if you spend the first 5000hrs in a particular section of the industry, eg utility, offshore, EMS, mustering, Ag etc then it is difficult to convince employers that you can "fit in" in another section.
As long as I'm happy in the section I've chosen then I suppose the rest of the BS is irrelevant!!

[Floater AAC]

Have you considered that the people searching for jobs are difficult to work with or have gained a reputation in their vast experience. I have heard of several peoples names scoffed at when their CV hits the table even though they have a lot of time.

I'm not saying this is the case with all of them but just a thought.

[WhirlwindIII]

heliduck

Very small industry, you never know!

WIII