Overpitched is right. Plus you need to factor in transportation to/from U.S. and room and board. For as little time as it will take you to get your commercial license it will likely be less expensive to do it back home.

But you're always welcome in the U.S. and we'd enjoy having you. Just passing along my thoughts.

Hello HELOFAN,

Was your father a CFI in Australia ????

I am interested as we are putting together a history of Helicopter Flying in Australia and it would be good to have a list of all the Instructors that started us out in the industry.

Deeper.:ok:

Thank you for your advise.
Please if you have any opinions please contribute.
If anyone has done both or experienced multinational flying I would love to hear from you.

Its a difficult decision as I really dont mind where I live as long as I am flying and I can get to where I want in the industry.
I am just trying to decide what is the best location for a career pilot to work in and the pro's and cons of the options available.
The military is the best I think but I have missed my window there, and thats ok.

I want to make it my career and would like to end up flying for a Police service or an EMS service, or....... someone that owns their own Multi engine helicopter that wants me to fly it from their private yacht to the ski slopes/getaway destination & fly as much as I want ....yeah yeah dream on who doesn't LOL.

I know its a hard road and a lot of PPL dont make it even though they put all their energy as I was brought up in flying, living in and out of airports and towns and moving alot.
In fact I was being taken flying from before I could walk & I really do understand (for the majority of it) whats it like to be involved in the industry.

I have moved around alot as a child (not much has changed as I have grown (I wont say grown up because do we really ?) & growing up with a Dad who was passionate with flying helicopters and I have no disillusions about it.
Thats the the thing, I love it, all of it.
Either you love it or loath it..there really isnt a middle road I dont think..not that I am telling you guys anything new.
And I just love helicopters !!

Its the feeling, the sights & smells that I grew up with that made it what it is for me.

Yes Dad was a CFI in Australia & also the United States.

His name was Graham.J. Callow.
He had taught in NSW, WA & Los Angeles.
He began the ground work for the NSW Police Air Wing in the 80's.

I would like to offer more if like, just let me know but I would like to hear more from you guys/girls that are in the game.

Thank you.

Chris

Thanks again for the info ...is there anybody else that has any input?

More training required, But where?
 

Hi all,
I am sure similar questions have been asked here before, but however close the subject before if you can help me with my specific question then it will be greatly appreciated.
I have completed my CPL just over a year ago in NZ and have returned to blighty to try and get some money together for FI rating. I am looking at within the next year getting the money together and so I am looking into my options.
Obviously it would be quite simple to return to NZ for the training, however it will cost in the region of £23K as I only have 152Hrs, but the prospects of getting a job instructing after are relatively high.
What I would like to know is this:
I have always wanted to travel to as many countries as possible and as such relish the chance to see them from the air, so does anybody have any suggestions as to where I could get the FI rating at a cheaper (ha ha):{ price, and what the work prospects would be like.
I like the idea of Canada, South Africa or OZ, or even maybe USA.
Anybody with experience of training in these countries or any others for that matter if you could lend a hand with costs, conversion requirements etc would be really helpful.
I loved the NZ experience, the people, school and training environment were all top class and if its possible to top that then show me the way.:ok: :ok:

I think you've got too many hours to go the J1 visa route to the US - unless you can lose a couple... but you could try the M1

I do but how much will i get for one:D

Better than that how much for both:E

SERIOUSLY
Does nobody have any suggestions as to where would be the best place to go from here?
Just looking for advice, not an offer of a job!

Where do you live, how many hours do you have and where would you like to go?

i've got 152 hrs in h300c/cb/cbi
I have night, sling and mountain endorsments
I really fancy canada, but heard from a friend who i trained with that low hr pilots dont stand much of a chance out there, so is FI the way forward?

Or am i better off looking back to NZ/OZ?

Where to learn????
 

I'm just coming to the end of a three year Aviation Technology course, i've got my PPL(A) and have recently had a trial flight in an R22, from the moment we took off i knew exactly what i wanted to do for a living and that's to fly helicopters!

So can anyone recomend the best place to get a full license from? and any advice to go with it will be invaluable to me.

I've been looking at heli flight in new zeland, has anyone had any experiance with this school? so far i've had one guy from new zeland say they're great and i'll save a lot of money doing it out in new zeland, and another guy saying all southern hemisphere training is second to northern!!!!

Plus where's the best place to find out about job oppertunities, current news etc specifically to do with rotary wing?

Thanks in advance for any help you may give.

Chris :}

ps apologies if the above has been discuses before, and a link to the corresponding posts would be appreciated

Kris,

Many people have asked similar questions to the ones you raise. Try using the search facility to get a lot of benefit (hopefully) from previous answers.

Your question is directed to getting a professional rotary licence. I am sure that this is what consumes your interest. However, you need to decide what you want to do beyond that.

Once you have a shiny new licence, it can be very difficult to get work, especially initially. So you need to think about what you want to do. Your personal situation affects this a lot, of course. You may need to do more than just get a commercial licence. What makes a helicopter pilot attractive to an employer is the right sort and level of experience. It s tricky to get that without getting a job first!

Although perhaps they should be universally accepted, licences are not. Coming from the UK, you might want to work (either totally or ultimately) in the UK. Unfortunately, the UK CAA not only make training in the UK expensive. They also make it expensive (and difficult) to convert a "foreign" licence to one you can use in the UK.

The normal laws of sense and economics are distorted in helicopters. It can be a crazy way to try and earn a living. We all know at least partly why - we all love to fly helicopters and so there is a lot of competition. At the same time, helicopters are very expensive for users - this limits the amount of helicopter flying - especially in places and uses where they are not essential.

Be realistic.

Cheers for the reply helinut, points duly noted.

I’ve spent the last three hours looking through posts and have found a wide range of responses, and would still appreciate more feedback. Personal career paths, experiences gained, mistakes learnt. Anything you guys/girls can give will be absolutely priceless to me in making future decisions.

You’re correct, my question is directed at getting a professional heli license, and I will stop at nothing! After receiving my 'shinny' new license I will fly anything, anywhere, anytime, being paid for it will be a bonus, it being a helicopter is a must!

My dream would be search and rescue. So too would be off piste heli drops and or filming, as I’m currently heavily involved in an extreme sports magazine, which is evolving in leaps and bounds with the growth of the sports it covers.

From reading past posts I’m aware that it's difficult to get that infamous 'first job', that it's expensive, extremely difficult to make a living from and fiercely competitive. This all seems like a challenge to me, and whilst there are helicopters in the sky there's a chance for me.

Can you provide me with personal experience regarding license conversions and direct me toward more information regarding, please.

Any advice on how to get that first job? I will be looking at getting every qualification possible and relevant to the career path I want.

Apologies for the lack of knowledge i posses in the field!

thanks in advance for your replies

Kris

For what it's worth, when I was looking at schools, my research indicated that Wizzard helicopters in Wales were one of the cheaper schools around; of no use whatsoever to me, since I live a fair old way from Wales, but there you have it. I also have no idea what they're like, either.

There's always HAI in Florida, who do JAR licenses. But then, you wouldn't have much experience actually flying in UK conditions, and apparently the ATC in the USA is considerably less strict than here, due to there being much more space to go around (I'm open to correction here, as this is not based on personal experience).

A quick google should give you the relevant web addresses.

cheers pandalet,

i've had some experiance with the crowded uk airspace whilst getting my PPL(A).

i'll check out that welsh one, but i fear cheap doesn't always provide the best learning. one think i found from learning in the good olde UK is that you learn more about the weather than flying.

i'm willing to travel abroad too, so like mentioned above as far away as NZ is looking tempting, unless anyone can persuade me otherwise

Kris,

As mentioned before you need to look at the logistics and costs of converting a foreign licence into a UK JAA one if you plan to come beck here to work.

In general (very general!), the place where you want to work, is where you should get your licence.

Have you thought about joining up and having the Queen teach you to fly?

But you're right - cheapest is not necessarily best!

You need to consider on which aircraft you wish to learn as there is more than the R22 - each having their advantages and disadvantages.

The information is all on Rotorheads as I have used it as well. However, there are pages and pages! It is best if you do your own research as you know your ambition best!

Cheers

Whirls

Since you already have some fixed wing experience int he UK, I suggest you go to HAI in Florida to do the professional helicopter program JAA and FAA. That way you're prepared to get jobs everywhere in the world. There are numerous threads on getting the hours so I'm afraid I'm not going in to that right now. If you are absolutely sure you want to go for it, as you say, just do it and don't try to get guarantees. There are no guarantees what so ever.

I give frequent thought to the queen teaching me fly, each time i feel let down by the careers centres quoting from the information packs, and am losing faith in the services... unless someone has any personal experiance wrt the services they'd like to share and simultaneously convince me that that's the way to go... but thus far i'm of the opinion that if i go civil i start flying sooner.

Unfortunately i'm not sure where i want to work at the moment, it depends entirely on the job so i'd prefer a license that'll allow me to go to where the work is.

i realize that there are a number of different rotary wing available to learn in, thanks to a rather large book called jane, and i'd think you'd be the guys to ask about which is best/preffered, regarless of my personal preferences as i'm thinking that you're the guys with the experiance and knowledge in the field i'm wishing to enter.

i will keep trawling the rotorheads forum religously from now until forever no doubt.

cheers whirlygig

i'll check out HAI as there have been numerous posts regarding them, so if word of mouth is something to go by...

i guess that's what i'm after, to be prepared for jobs all over the world.

i don't put too much faith in guarantees, as soon as the words mentioned you begin to question it.

cheers hiller bee

so has anyone had any experiance with heliflight new zeland?

and i believe a change in post is in order.

Kris

You'll find answers and advice on all the questions you've raised in the various threads listed here:

Frequently Asked Training Questions


Heliport

Hawaii
 

Hi,

who has experience with training at Hawaii (Mauna Loa Helicopters)

Thanks!!

I would do some research and go where it looked like I would have the best chance of gaining experience after graduation, whether that is the U.S., Canada or elsewhere.

PPL NZ or Oz
 

Hi all,
I'm a Brit who is looking to gain his PPL in Nz or Oz hopefully this Christmas, help on the following would be useful:

Shortest time PPL realistically takes (as this would mean time off work)?

Is a conversion course needed for when i have to return home to blighty?

Can some one recomend some schools with contact details?

:confused:

Chrisallen
Check out what is required for foreign licence conversions on the UK CAA website under LASORS.

Regarding places to train, can't say much about Oz, but South Island NZ is certainly a challenging place to learn as there are some very solid mountains to avoid and the weather can actually be worse than the UK.

What do you want to do with your licence? If you want to get a CPL and make a "living" from it, then it's worth considering remaining in one country to get to know the industry. I'm not suggesting it's the best or only way (there are a million and one paths taken to date), but it's a good start.

If you want to leave it at a PPL (which 99% of CPL holders would suggest!), then get yourself down-under, have a great experience, and learn how to drink fizzy ****ty beer.

Try these schools for a start, Wanaka Helicopters, Nelson Aviation College. Good mountain flying, awesome scenery and scarey women.

You've got about 60-70 hours to do for a PPL, rough guide of 2 hours a day, 4-5 days a week allowing for weather if you're doing it full time.

Where to train?
 

Hi :) I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice or personal recommendations on schools to train at to get my CPL(H). I live in the UK but I am really not interested in training or working in the UK. I was thinking Canada or Alaska would be good places to train and work at, especially somewhere near the rockies. My reasons for these choices are that I would really love to go there in the first place, but also because there seems to be lots of work there. And mountain flying I feel would be good experience.
I understand that theres probably going to be a few people here who actually work at schools, and I would definatly be intested to hearing why I should choose you above others ;) but also some personal experience stories would be nice to hear :)

Canada And Mountains
 

YES, THATS MY DREAM TOO,IM JUST FINISHING MY PPLH HERE, WANT GET OUT QUICK AS I CAN....HERE SOME...OKANAGEN HELICOPTERS, HAVE A LOOK AT THE CANADIAN SCHOOLS AT THE WWW.THIRTYTHOUSANDFEET.COM
TRK HELICOPTERS LOOK GOOD TOO THERE IS BRIT INSTURUCTOR,I LOVE THIS BASEHELICOPTERS.COM BUT JET RANGERS ...LETS GO TOGETHER LET ME KNOW...LUXSTAR

"Now then, where did that 'Training FAQ' thread go, eh? We seem to have misplaced it again. But I'm sure that if I look for it, I might find it somewhere down the back of the sofa... :ugh:

Failing that, surely the 'Search' function can't be far away..." :ok:

did you forget that your capslock was still on?

Chinook in abbotsford, BC would be worth a look! using B47's ...
I have no experience with the company. But a friend went thru them for a conversion, and said they were first class in all respects...

170'

Chinook Helicopters in Abbotsford BC would be a good company to train with as the have very experienced (industry) instructors. They also have 2 Transport Canada examiners on staff so that makes things easier for getting flight tests booked etc. They also offer BC forestry approved mountain courses; I have always had great service from Chinook,

thecontroller that was going to lead me on to my next question but since you mentioned it I may as well bring it up here. I hear that many helicopters follow the work around the world from season to season, but how easy/hard is it to get a work permit? Its not something Ive ever had experience with.

smart replies...
 

bravo73,when you point your finger at somebody...do you know the other three fingers pointing at you.....threads are out of date the info people places are changing at alltimes....do any body know about point system in canada...read the book..live and work in usa and canada by adam lechmere and susan catto....most of all you got have personality, and talent....as for me sir, iam qualified nurse...emergency trained....and experence chef currently running a popular london restaurent....so if you have certain abilty take care of the people....you will survive anywhere....most of all ...majority of canadians from all over the world...and they dont have heli licence.....so boys....come out the high horses...loook the world in broader prospective...you might get there one day.....

Many thanks for the life-lesson, LUXSTAR. And many thanks particularly for not shouting for once. :ugh:

However, you've been around here long enough (since Sept 2005, if I can read correctly) to realise that there are certain unwritten rules about how one should act when using an internet forum. Let's refer to these rules as 'forum etiquette'.

One of the fundamentals of this etiquette is the use of the 'search function'. SIBUK is not the first to ask these questions (and certainly won't be the last) and this means that the various previous answers have all been saved which has led to PPRuNE becoming a huge resource of useful information.

As a new member, your first port of call should always be to see what others have asked and been answered before. Who knows, this might even answer your questions! Yes, some of the info might seem a little out of date, but the majority of the advice and experience still stands. After reading through the previous info, if you still have queries, please ask more specific, targeted questions. This in turn will add to the information resource. Hence, the 'Training FAQ' thread.

And, as Whirls has so succinctly summed it up in another recent thread over on the Private Forum, "However, whilst we [the Rotorheads] are a helpful bunch, we won't spoon-feed you so you'll have to do your own research as well."

And, for the record, (like it or not) reasonable grammar and spelling will stand you in a much better light on this forum. I suggest that your next point of call might be www.dictionary.com or even here.


Lesson over.

Guys,

Raise the bar a bit.
New people here need gently pointing in the right direction, not a verbal slapping.

This is a small industry and childish jabs at spelling help no one. No law against asking, no law says you HAVE to reply with nothing useful.

You were new here once B73 and as I recall full of questions. I presume you don't need reminding of some of your earliest posts :E

Certainly was new here once (July 2002, apparently) but I'm not so sure if I was so full of questions at the time. Here's the link to all of my previous posts. You might notice that there was over a year between me registering and then first posting. That's about how long it took me to read all the old posts and get a sense of how things operate here.

Oh, please do. The link is there, just above your quote. Not many skeletons in my closet, I'm afraid.

Now then, are you sure that you're not confusing me with another (slightly more infamous) BRAVO???? := :*


But, anyway, sorry for the thread drift. Please continue this via PM if you want.




BRAVO 99 (AJB) is the username that you're looking for! :ok:

advice
 

Hi, I'm after some advice about doing a CPL(H) here in the UK. To start with I'll give you my background - 21 years old, PPL(A) with 60 odd hours fixed wing, PPL(H) with around 95 hours heli time (including 25 jetranger), currently doing JAA ATPL(H) groundschool in Bournemouth with 10 out of the 13 passed. I sit the last exams in January so from then on it's going to be hour building and then the CPL(H).
Problem I'm having is deciding where to do the rest of my flying and for what licenses.
Current options:

1. Stay in the UK, hour build, do CPL, and hopefully find a job without an FIC or IR. Or get a job with someone like CHC in which case I could probably get loans out to cover an IR as long as the job was pretty much certain. Which all comes down to job prospects for a low hour rotary pilot in the UK.

2. Go to the US and get the JAA and FAA CPLs with HAI - then either come back looking for employment, or stay there on a J1 visa and try to find work for 2 years, after maybe doing an FAA IR, CFI and CFII. Which comes down to job prospects in the US...

3. Train and look for work in South Africa - though I want to get the JAA license since I've done the groundschool, and since I don't know of any places in SA that do the JAA CPL, that would still mean doing exams elsewhere

4. Any other option - or a combination of all of them. eg hour building in the states and JAA CPL here.


Any experiences or information that would be useful from anyone? What are the chances of getting work with CHC or perhaps Bristows for a low hour guy if perhaps I could pay for an IR? Especially if I was willing to be bonded to them for a few years?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Ioan

Which country for training?
 

Which country for training?

Has to be the States for sure. Live in the Uk and have been over 3 times. Better weather,cost, availability of aircraft and the list goes on...

No it doesn't for sure!

There are many factors which govern anyone's decision as to where to train, not least being, where to fly and work afterwards!

Plus there are other countries with the attributes you describe - have you flown in NZ? SA? And I'm sure there are other countries which don't have such complex visa regulations.

Cheers

Whirls

Get the hours to get to (JAR) CPL soonest.

Then consider conversion to non JAR, unless you plan to live away.

Hours are evrything.

[Groundschools in Bournmouth - narrows the list down :E The best]

h-r;)

Whirlygig

Yup i agree! Im heading down to SA soon to get my CPL(H) and CFI(H), so looking forward to that!
I enjoyed the states and would recommend it to anyone!! British instructors will try and poo-poo the states with saying standards arnt the same, weather blablabla. My PPL examinor was a test pilot at Robinson factory, probably the best of the best out there!
You flown in SA? Im heading to PE

Training - US or UK?
 

With the current exchange rate between Dollar/Sterling, what are the views on where to train (0 experience to CPL).

Is the US still a good bet, when taking account of relocating, purchase of car, flights, visas etc etc. Or perhaps at the moment it is best to go to a local school?