As a "dun the course, no job yet" (as are a fair few here) I'd just like to point out that ClearBlueWater is a little wrong in his age ranges. As far as I can tell, mid thirties is considered waaaaay toooooooooo old for a job. We (I have to admit, I'm no longer in my late thirties, though I was when I learnt this little nugget) are apparently totally incapable of learning anything new. This in spite of the fact that (if I may blow my own trumpet here) I averaged over 90% in my CAA CPL(H) AND ATPL(A) ground exams at the whoppingly-ancient age of 38.

It's not just personal pressures that are brought to bear on your availability for jobs, there seems to be a lot of "I was 19 when I started, I've got umpteen thousand hours, you obviously can't come up to my standard at my age, so I'm not employing you." Though of course, with a somewhat less jaundiced view of the world, it is actually very likely that there are a lot of younger bods out there that ARE more able to learn, are more flexible in location and, undoubtedly and probably most importantly, are cheap. :-)

In spite of my lack of success in persuading someone to pay for me to fly, I'm glad I did the course, and I've got the licence, so there's always that (faint) hope someone may find me worth the ever-escalating costs of employment. I'm just somewhat dismayed at the seemingly never-ending series of regulations that are making it more difficult for anyone to actually train and get a job here. Or even keep their licence and medical current.

WOW!!!!!!! Im Hooked
 

Well, hello, my first time on the Rotorheads section.

I was just about to start my Fixed Wing PPL, got my student package etc.. and today i was offered a flight on a Jet Ranger. My very first time in a helicopter. Up until then i had not like helicopters and didnt appear to want anything to do with them but after today i had one word.......WOW.

Im almost positive i wanna do rotary training now..... im hooked, big time.

Before you decide, please read as many threads here as you can. If you still feel that the helicopter lifestyle is the one for you, join the club.
If not, get a job with the airlines and fly helicopters for fun on your time off. But it sure is the best sort of flying I can think of (with tiltrotors being a possible exception).:cool:

Yep, helicopters are the most addictive thing there is. They should come with a health warning - or maybe I mean a wealth warning. Welcome.

The comparisons to a cocaine addiction are worth a thesis......:rolleyes:

(stands up, turns and faces the Rotorheads)


'Hi.... I'm Andy and....... and I'm a helicopter pilot'...:o

'I can handle it.... I could stop if I wanted to...'

S76,

Oooooo, tiltrotors sound like fun. Tell me about them!

PWP
You'll have to change your handle now!

Don't spread the word too much - we do want to stay a bit exclusive. But it can't be beat. After 5000+ rotary hours I still get a buzz out of simply seeing the ground get further away through the chin window when I gently ease up on the collective.

And the "facilities" may be primitive - but you can always stop and go behind a bush..........;)

Whirly, I'm afraid it's still wishful thinking on my part..:( But I'm young enough to hope to fly one commercially before I have to retire:D (and old enough to want to wait for the B-model..):rolleyes:

Whirly's right!

I'm going to place image tags on my sites that say:


WARNING: Prolonged viewing / flying of this Helicopter may cause
light-headedness, sweaty palms, increased blood pressure, eye watering and an uncrontrollable urge to fly (sic: spend lots-o-$$$$)

:D

Helicopter flying also contributes to alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct, marital infidelity, roids, curvature of the spine, bad posture, evil attitudes, sense of humor failures, skirt chasing, philandering, gambling, loss of self esteem, inflated egos, and premature baldness......that is my story and I am sticking to it! After all, we cannot all be farmer's sons!:rolleyes:

DUHHHHH - and the "down side" of this IS?

Welcome to the "land of rotor rubble"! It's a glorious life, and if you have/find the right kind of woman - it gets even better!

I'm on my third wife (20 years, this October) and I wouldn't trade one minute of what I do for any other kind of life that this world offers.

I've flown in places that no other person has ever flown, landed in places that have NEVER seen a "white man" before, and flown into winds that have NEVER carried the taint of Jet A - in history!

I was having a drink on "break" one day, and had a "Lear driver" do his routine about how fast, how high, how far he'd flown - I just looked over the rim of my glass and quitely said "I'm current in take off's and landings above 15,000' - how about you?"

"It ain't no good life, but it's MY life."

cr;)

Bingo Whirly! Silly business indeed, but couldn't imagine myself anywhere else.

now or never??????????
 

Hi all............having reached a point in my life whereby it would be possible from financial perspective to change career direction I would like to ask you guys on here if what I am being told is strictly true. I definitely want to undergo the full commercial route wrt to flying but it seems that most of the "independent"
people I speak to say the fixed wing is out for me at 36 yrs of age. For me the idea of flying helicopters excites me but with the
training costs verging on the astronomical and differing integrated courses going from in the region of 45-75K, would I be more employable if I did the full IR course and hope that this would allow me to jump the queue as it were wrt offshore work etc................. if not what are the minimum requirements before a
north sea off-shore company would consider a rookie??????

All replies greatly appreciated

Kevin

Hi there,

I started this goofy heli business at 40, and I've not really "worked" a day since. Mind you, I've had some ****-poor days, but they were all better than sitting in an office or standing in the rain doing something else! That said, check out the truck driving thread started by SASLESS. Now THAT sounds like a career!!

Be prepared to never get a job. Over here only 10-25% of those completing their CPL-Heli exams get work.

It takes time, a good car, and a thick wallet to drive around and around and around until someone takes pity and gives you a ground crew job for $1500 Cdn a month. A year or two later you might start flying an R22, and make $1800/month. And so on...

I don't know how it works in the old country... In Canada, a low-timer with IFR becomes "seat-meat", a "switch-b*tch", ballast. I know a guy with 600+hrs cojo who can't get a right-seat job cuz he doesn't have PIC time beyond his basic training. If you were here I'd say, "Use that IFR money for getting yer first job".

But that's just my opinion.

Best of luck!!

Hello ChanCha
What you ask is a very difficult question. The UK offshore helicopter industry is a very fickle market. Some years - late 80s to very early 90s you could get a job with no problem (59 joined my company in that time). I went for a look round on a Monday was offered a job that pm and started on Tues (I was ex-mil however). Companies were also sponsoring etc.
By 1992, however, things had changed and we only recruited 15 pilots from 1993-96 inc. We then had a big recruitment drive as pilots left for the airlines from 1997-98 1999 was quiet but 2000-01 was busy. It is very quiet now as we are fully manned nobody is leaving for the airlines and since we squeezed a semi-decent pay rise out of the company pilots who had left are trying to come back.

So what advice can I give you.
Firstly flying UK offshore helicopters is not glamouous. You will generally have to re-locate to Aberdeen, which is along way from anywhere!! You will have to be prepared to get up at 0430 to get into work for 0600. Work many weekends. Wear a rubber suit while flying long boring staight lines over never ending sea!! Make approaches to rigs in viz down to .75nm.
That said it can be a very rewarding job when you get the passengers to/from the rig in appalling weather and on time. You can not take your work home with you! so the boss is never on your back for that extra report etc. The pay is not to bad now and rostering is getting better.

Should you go for it? Well only you know that. It will be a very big risk. Offshore companies will generally choose a younger applicant as they will get more time out of him as well as being able to mould him into the company clone!! You are 36 now so you would be 38 before you were useful to the company. Would you like being a co-pilot for your whole career as we have lots of young co-pilots waiting to be Captains - which is seniority based.

To get a job up here. Your application would have to arrive at just the right time for your experience level to be of interest to the company and I can not forsee that happening in the near future. You would have to hope for an exodus of N Sea pilots to fixed wing (unlikely) a massive increase in drilling (needing extra flights) in the N Sea (Very unlikely after Brown's 10% tax increase on oil revenue)

So on balance unless you can afford to write off £75000 and then get your old job back I would spend your money on flying for pleasure.

HF
:(

Too many people with money
 

Well in Europe there are too many people with money or exmilitary guys, and this has saturated the market for newcomers, but if you are willing to live abroad in weird places for a couple of years, making not a whole lot of money, well there are plenty of opportunities elsewhere

If you initially get your european license, then go somewhere for a few years, then come back with a bunch of say, turbine high altitude, offshore, slingload, jungle flying, etc. flight time, companies will probably argue about who gets to keep you.

If you really wan´t to fly choppers there´s always room for one more determined and capable individual.

Good Luck

It seems that more people would become helicopter pilots if there were more positions available. More positions, is dependent on more helicopters, which in turn is dependent on more demand for transportation by helicopter.

This may be a weird question, but can someone say what the rough cost per seat-mile is for helicopter transportation versus that of a fixed-wing, a train, a bus etc. Just curious.

Dave J.

Off the top of my head a N Sea Helicopter would work out at £1 to £2 per pax/nm. depending on helicopter and contract. A light twin at about 50 pence/nm. A UK train in Scotland 10 pence/statute mile. My car 7 pence/statute mile in petrol and 33 pence per mile in depreciation!!

HF
:)

SASless:
Sooooo, does this kind of aviation affect female heli pilots the same way?? ;)