Counting hours ?
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: somedays in a helicopter, other days in a fixed-wing....
Posts: 163
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Counting hours ?
i'm interested in obtaining information regarding CPL(H) hours. . for example:
If you had both ATPL(H) & ATPL(A) with all the right the endorsements, and obtained the hours required for an Airline (Eg: 2000TT) but majority are helicopter hours. . would you still be able to get right hand seat for the airlines.... or are they chasing pure fixed wing hours ? any help greatly appreciated.
JF
If you had both ATPL(H) & ATPL(A) with all the right the endorsements, and obtained the hours required for an Airline (Eg: 2000TT) but majority are helicopter hours. . would you still be able to get right hand seat for the airlines.... or are they chasing pure fixed wing hours ? any help greatly appreciated.
JF
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: UK
Posts: 2,584
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Depends entirely on the airline and the policy (read; common sense) of the person who sets the criteria.
Sadly there are still a lot of f/w people who don't understand helos and will ignore helo hours (Some of these twits even say BAe146 time is not "real Jet" time) so you can see what you may be dealing with.
To some extent it depends on what your helo hours are. If they are N Sea he'd be daft not to take them into consideration, ditto military. If charter he'd be silly not to, tho if mostly instructing in robbos I'm not so sure. But if there is no understanding of what is required, and what is developed in the various helo fields then your interviewer is not doing a good job for his company.
But that said, the application may tell you something about prevailing attitudes. Does it ask for TT, or Total FW time? Don't be shy to sell your best if they ask for total P1! And if they've had good experiences with helo drivers before your way may already be paved, if not try to pave it yourself for the next guy! You have a W FW licence that says you're as capable a pilot as the next applicant. The company should really be interested in your ability to make decisions, to read operational situations and act on them, and to posess as much captaincy as possible. You're probably a head and a half in front of that race, but you may need to point it out in the right way!
It's a bit of a lottery I'm afraid, but good luck. Your helo time will always provide you with a broader experience base and a slightly different mindset to the pure f/w boys, and you'll learn Airline skills as quickly as anyone else, so all else being equal I'd say you've got a better potential.
Bon Chance!
Sadly there are still a lot of f/w people who don't understand helos and will ignore helo hours (Some of these twits even say BAe146 time is not "real Jet" time) so you can see what you may be dealing with.
To some extent it depends on what your helo hours are. If they are N Sea he'd be daft not to take them into consideration, ditto military. If charter he'd be silly not to, tho if mostly instructing in robbos I'm not so sure. But if there is no understanding of what is required, and what is developed in the various helo fields then your interviewer is not doing a good job for his company.
But that said, the application may tell you something about prevailing attitudes. Does it ask for TT, or Total FW time? Don't be shy to sell your best if they ask for total P1! And if they've had good experiences with helo drivers before your way may already be paved, if not try to pave it yourself for the next guy! You have a W FW licence that says you're as capable a pilot as the next applicant. The company should really be interested in your ability to make decisions, to read operational situations and act on them, and to posess as much captaincy as possible. You're probably a head and a half in front of that race, but you may need to point it out in the right way!
It's a bit of a lottery I'm afraid, but good luck. Your helo time will always provide you with a broader experience base and a slightly different mindset to the pure f/w boys, and you'll learn Airline skills as quickly as anyone else, so all else being equal I'd say you've got a better potential.
Bon Chance!
Last edited by Agaricus bisporus; 25th Apr 2006 at 14:27.
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Orlando, Florida
Age: 69
Posts: 2,586
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I once did a flight test on a Cessna 150 that belonged to an area Chief Pilot of a major UK charter airline.
Chatting to the owner afterwards, the conversation swung to the airline recruiting - during which he said, "If a [civilian] fixed wing ATPL holder came to me for a job, at the same time an an ex-military helicopter pilot who had no fixed wing experience (other than the initial training for the helicopter) - I would hire the helicopter man and put him through a conversion course."
He also said that it cost the airline NOTHING to type train a pilot - as they got all their costs back in government tax refunds, grants, whatever - so having a self sponsored type rating was of no value to the airline.
This was many years ago.
Chatting to the owner afterwards, the conversation swung to the airline recruiting - during which he said, "If a [civilian] fixed wing ATPL holder came to me for a job, at the same time an an ex-military helicopter pilot who had no fixed wing experience (other than the initial training for the helicopter) - I would hire the helicopter man and put him through a conversion course."
He also said that it cost the airline NOTHING to type train a pilot - as they got all their costs back in government tax refunds, grants, whatever - so having a self sponsored type rating was of no value to the airline.
This was many years ago.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: somedays in a helicopter, other days in a fixed-wing....
Posts: 163
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for the information... it's all very valid and interesting... think i'll stick with racking up the helo hours. . then over time if an airline job happens to arise then i'll snap it up. I suppose then if you have 2-3000 hours flying twin helo's. . co-pilot or Capt. that would be acceptable. . thanks for the help..anyone who has any other comments...please go ahead...
Cheers,
JF
Cheers,
JF
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: phoenix, AZ, USA
Posts: 245
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Things are not quite the same in the States but when I was flying for a commuter (regional) in turboprops we had a number of ex army helo drivers who were picking up some fixed wing time because most US majors would not accept r/w hours. Stupid not to because it takes a great deal of skill to fly a helo.
I would call a prospective employer directly and find out what they accept as valid flight time. No sense making a life altering decision without pursuing all the facts.
I would call a prospective employer directly and find out what they accept as valid flight time. No sense making a life altering decision without pursuing all the facts.
