Fixed-wing or Rotary career? (incl Changing licence to Rotary)
Join Date: Sep 2003
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If you are UK based I recommend you see any of the in-house NHS psychiatrists, they should be able to help you and they are free. You will need a referral from your General practitioner but if you explain what it is that you are trying to achieve (Fixed wing to rotary in todays market) I'm sure they will treat you as an urgent case.
Join Date: Mar 2006
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How are you planning on doing the training?
Presumably up to cpl level on something cheap then ir on a twin? Most schools that operate small training helis don't do ir.
Good luck with it!
Can I ask how much fw/Heli flying you've done so far and what job you hope to achieve? Comments above reflect complexity of what you are asking based on the limited information you've provided.
Presumably up to cpl level on something cheap then ir on a twin? Most schools that operate small training helis don't do ir.
Good luck with it!
Can I ask how much fw/Heli flying you've done so far and what job you hope to achieve? Comments above reflect complexity of what you are asking based on the limited information you've provided.
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Italy
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ok, I'll be more specific.
EASA ATPL, 2000 TT mostly IR experience in jet and t/p float rated. My first love was helicopter but too expensive at the time.
Flew 3 hours on R22 absolutely loving it.
Plan is:
bridge course theoretical to get ATPL/IR credit.
Basic helicopter for flying part
Twin/Ir conversion, according to EASA I have a lot of credit about that.
Finding a school able to copy with it.
intention is to fly offshore/Executive or HEMS, all as copilot of course, I was told they are fields where my fixed wing experience could be little slightly added value.
Any clue or suggestion accepted.
Regards
EASA ATPL, 2000 TT mostly IR experience in jet and t/p float rated. My first love was helicopter but too expensive at the time.
Flew 3 hours on R22 absolutely loving it.
Plan is:
bridge course theoretical to get ATPL/IR credit.
Basic helicopter for flying part
Twin/Ir conversion, according to EASA I have a lot of credit about that.
Finding a school able to copy with it.
intention is to fly offshore/Executive or HEMS, all as copilot of course, I was told they are fields where my fixed wing experience could be little slightly added value.
Any clue or suggestion accepted.
Regards
liftman,
Do you have an approximate idea of how much money you need to spend for this?
I know plenty of people in Italy that have hours, type ratings, offshore, Hems and a lot of experience but still can't get a job...
I don't want to discourage you, I just want to help you make an informed decision.
My motto is: "If there is a will there is a way!" but it can be very hard and the rewards can be quite low
Do you have an approximate idea of how much money you need to spend for this?
I know plenty of people in Italy that have hours, type ratings, offshore, Hems and a lot of experience but still can't get a job...
I don't want to discourage you, I just want to help you make an informed decision.
My motto is: "If there is a will there is a way!" but it can be very hard and the rewards can be quite low
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: uk
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Best for family life and guaranteed work?
I posted this on the wannabes forum but not had any replies so thought it might be better placed here:
I am looking to transition from UK Military to commercial aviation and trying to weigh up many pros and cons of jumping to the civilian world. I am lucky that either FW or RW will cost about the same to achieve so this is not a factor in deciding. My biggest concern is family life. I will be 44 y.o. by the time I leave with 2 kids under 10 y.o. At present I am away a good 3-4 months of the year and that is fine because when I'm back I get almost all my weekends off and am often home late afternoon (I also get lots of leave to cover childcare during the holidays). This means I do get quality family time when I am in the UK.
Having read a few other threads they are pretty slating of work/family balance for FW pilots. They were, however, from quite a few years ago and so I'm not sure if anything has changed since EASA regs came into effect? One option I have seen pop up would be 75% contract. This would be ideal but as a junior F/O would this even be possible?
RW rosters seem better in that you are working a period of weeks on and then the same (ish) off so more likely to get guaranteed weekends regularly. The problem is jobs are not as plentiful and there would be greater risk in transiting. I do have an SH and SAR background (which should open up more RW opportunities).
Any feedback on work/family balance from those who are doing it and the likelihood of part-time jobs for starting out FW pilots would be appreciated.
I am looking to transition from UK Military to commercial aviation and trying to weigh up many pros and cons of jumping to the civilian world. I am lucky that either FW or RW will cost about the same to achieve so this is not a factor in deciding. My biggest concern is family life. I will be 44 y.o. by the time I leave with 2 kids under 10 y.o. At present I am away a good 3-4 months of the year and that is fine because when I'm back I get almost all my weekends off and am often home late afternoon (I also get lots of leave to cover childcare during the holidays). This means I do get quality family time when I am in the UK.
Having read a few other threads they are pretty slating of work/family balance for FW pilots. They were, however, from quite a few years ago and so I'm not sure if anything has changed since EASA regs came into effect? One option I have seen pop up would be 75% contract. This would be ideal but as a junior F/O would this even be possible?
RW rosters seem better in that you are working a period of weeks on and then the same (ish) off so more likely to get guaranteed weekends regularly. The problem is jobs are not as plentiful and there would be greater risk in transiting. I do have an SH and SAR background (which should open up more RW opportunities).
Any feedback on work/family balance from those who are doing it and the likelihood of part-time jobs for starting out FW pilots would be appreciated.
I posted this on the wannabes forum but not had any replies so thought it might be better placed here:
I am looking to transition from UK Military to commercial aviation and trying to weigh up many pros and cons of jumping to the civilian world. I am lucky that either FW or RW will cost about the same to achieve so this is not a factor in deciding. My biggest concern is family life. I will be 44 y.o. by the time I leave with 2 kids under 10 y.o. At present I am away a good 3-4 months of the year and that is fine because when I'm back I get almost all my weekends off and am often home late afternoon (I also get lots of leave to cover childcare during the holidays). This means I do get quality family time when I am in the UK.
Having read a few other threads they are pretty slating of work/family balance for FW pilots. They were, however, from quite a few years ago and so I'm not sure if anything has changed since EASA regs came into effect? One option I have seen pop up would be 75% contract. This would be ideal but as a junior F/O would this even be possible?
RW rosters seem better in that you are working a period of weeks on and then the same (ish) off so more likely to get guaranteed weekends regularly. The problem is jobs are not as plentiful and there would be greater risk in transiting. I do have an SH and SAR background (which should open up more RW opportunities).
Any feedback on work/family balance from those who are doing it and the likelihood of part-time jobs for starting out FW pilots would be appreciated.
I am looking to transition from UK Military to commercial aviation and trying to weigh up many pros and cons of jumping to the civilian world. I am lucky that either FW or RW will cost about the same to achieve so this is not a factor in deciding. My biggest concern is family life. I will be 44 y.o. by the time I leave with 2 kids under 10 y.o. At present I am away a good 3-4 months of the year and that is fine because when I'm back I get almost all my weekends off and am often home late afternoon (I also get lots of leave to cover childcare during the holidays). This means I do get quality family time when I am in the UK.
Having read a few other threads they are pretty slating of work/family balance for FW pilots. They were, however, from quite a few years ago and so I'm not sure if anything has changed since EASA regs came into effect? One option I have seen pop up would be 75% contract. This would be ideal but as a junior F/O would this even be possible?
RW rosters seem better in that you are working a period of weeks on and then the same (ish) off so more likely to get guaranteed weekends regularly. The problem is jobs are not as plentiful and there would be greater risk in transiting. I do have an SH and SAR background (which should open up more RW opportunities).
Any feedback on work/family balance from those who are doing it and the likelihood of part-time jobs for starting out FW pilots would be appreciated.
I do have an SH and SAR background (which should open up more RW opportunities).
You will need many in the US.
At this point in time, you are more likely to make a career out of FW flying. RW flying (particularly the offshore sector that you seem to be aiming for) is still struggling to recover from a historically long period of low oil & gas prices. For most UK offshore flying, you will also have limited places that you could reasonably live.
So how much FW and FW PIC? The reason I ask is that you’re all set if you want to go rotary, but to go FW you’ll need 200 FW hours. You can credit 100 helicopter hours but ONLY you have an EASA CPL(H) - so you might find you end up getting both like me. Either way, you’ll need 70 hours FW PIC to get a multi crew type rating.
Join Date: Jun 2005
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At this point in time, you are more likely to make a career out of FW flying. RW flying (particularly the offshore sector that you seem to be aiming for) is still struggling to recover from a historically long period of low oil & gas prices. For most UK offshore flying, you will also have limited places that you could reasonably live.
FW only about 70 hours of which maybe 5 or 6 PIC. Having done some enquiring it seems an ATPL(H)/IR or CPL(A)/IR will cost about the same, c.£25,000 once I have used my military learning and resettlement credits.
That was what I thought, hence looking at the FW route. Only concern is poor roster patterns.
FW only about 70 hours of which maybe 5 or 6 PIC. Having done some enquiring it seems an ATPL(H)/IR or CPL(A)/IR will cost about the same, c.£25,000 once I have used my military learning and resettlement credits.
FW only about 70 hours of which maybe 5 or 6 PIC. Having done some enquiring it seems an ATPL(H)/IR or CPL(A)/IR will cost about the same, c.£25,000 once I have used my military learning and resettlement credits.
The helicopter world you can probably get a decent job right off the bat.
That being said in the FW world the pilot shortage is real and will be chronic in the next 5-10 years.
Join Date: May 2007
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Hi folks, my son's currently doing his helicopter cpl & to be honest, I'm seriously worried about his prospects for when he gets it all done. There seem to be a lot of well qualified folks out there chasing v few jobs. A mate who's a FW captain has suggested I push him towards FW, saying there are many more opportunities out there for someone starting from the bottom of the pile.
Any thoughts?
Any thoughts?
Join Date: Jun 2012
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faarn- I have a very similar background to you. I left mil RW 3 yrs ago and was lucky enough to walk straight into a RW civ job. 20/20 hindsight I probably should have sat on my hands and gone FW. The RW world is a rocky ride at the moment, redundancies quite common and more pilots than jobs. FW is far more stable. You would take an initial pay cut with FW but eventually the pay ceiling is far higher than RW. Job security would be assured as well once you have some FW time under your belt. As for work/life balance.. RW possibly better, but I’d rather have a few more nights away and have job security.
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I agree with the above post. However.... of all the ex mil RW guys I know.. all have gone FW in the last year. Admittedly I only know a small percentage of those leaving but it must be a sign of the times.
A job in one of the above RW worlds would probably be achievable but it's not a pick and choose list, it's apply for all and you'd probably get one of them. HEMS most likely.
Also if you look at pay (not the be all and end all but for some it might be ). The only comparable pay to FW is O&G and SAR which roughly follows narrow body short haul pay. O&G is a fickle beast ( and if you're going to fly in straight lines why not do it where someone brings you a coffee at the push of a button!? ) and SAR is probably a long shot seeing as 100+ RW pilots were hoovered up only 3-4 yrs ago.
A job in one of the above RW worlds would probably be achievable but it's not a pick and choose list, it's apply for all and you'd probably get one of them. HEMS most likely.
Also if you look at pay (not the be all and end all but for some it might be ). The only comparable pay to FW is O&G and SAR which roughly follows narrow body short haul pay. O&G is a fickle beast ( and if you're going to fly in straight lines why not do it where someone brings you a coffee at the push of a button!? ) and SAR is probably a long shot seeing as 100+ RW pilots were hoovered up only 3-4 yrs ago.
Join Date: Jun 2004
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UK career
Hiya.
My advice would be to go Fixed Wing and do Rotary on the side if you can.
I’ve managed 5000 hours over 16 years, all through civilian system, and been involved with corporate, training, charter, filming.
However, whilst it’s paid my mortgage, I haven’t got a pension or any sort of plan as to what to do when I retire to support myself.
RW has been awesome; I mean an absolute blast; but I look at some friends who went FW and they’re financially comfortable, and still do a bit of copetering on the side. Whereas I live from month to month in my bank account.
It worked when I was single; it worries me most days now I have kids.
Ref FW atleast initially; get some early years and decent wages behind you, then if your happy on the home financial point of view, then go rotary.
My advice would be to go Fixed Wing and do Rotary on the side if you can.
I’ve managed 5000 hours over 16 years, all through civilian system, and been involved with corporate, training, charter, filming.
However, whilst it’s paid my mortgage, I haven’t got a pension or any sort of plan as to what to do when I retire to support myself.
RW has been awesome; I mean an absolute blast; but I look at some friends who went FW and they’re financially comfortable, and still do a bit of copetering on the side. Whereas I live from month to month in my bank account.
It worked when I was single; it worries me most days now I have kids.
Ref FW atleast initially; get some early years and decent wages behind you, then if your happy on the home financial point of view, then go rotary.
Join Date: Dec 2016
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I would advise the FW route and do what ROTORVATION has said. I started my CPL-H in Canada and got about 50hrs in before I ran out of money and went back to working full time to save up the rest of the cash to finish training,
My bank account is almost at a level where I can go back to training and I've decided to switch to FW since it's definitely a pilots market right now in Canada. My goal is to work a few years and have a good QOL and finish my CPLH when I won't have stress of potentially not finding employment in the RW industry especially the way it is now, Just my $0.02
My bank account is almost at a level where I can go back to training and I've decided to switch to FW since it's definitely a pilots market right now in Canada. My goal is to work a few years and have a good QOL and finish my CPLH when I won't have stress of potentially not finding employment in the RW industry especially the way it is now, Just my $0.02