Looking for a CFII, who can give me an FAA IR refresher, somewhere in EU-land.
Time and location needs to be set.

I'm aiming for someone who has done their two years of Titusville,
and coming back to europe in november or december this year...

Please use PM.

Thanks,

FTF

Bristow Academy
 

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to go to Bristow Academy early next year. After talking to a few pilots here in Aberdeen, Scotland that work for Bristows and other North Sea companies, they have recommended going to BA and doing the FAA Commercial program and then transferring license over here and doing ATPL here.

I'm planning on taking the family (wife, 4yr old and 2yr old). Does anyone know the best place to stay for families? We can cope with 2 bedrooms but preferably 3. Also looking for car, motorbike, furniture etc.

Does everyone buy their own headsets? If so, which ones are best?

Anyone else heading out next year?

I hope the exchange rate improves. :eek:

Hi Jock.

Are you sure the NS pilots advised that route? That won't work for you as there is no such thing as a conversion. Your path depends on what you want to do at the end. If you're a Brit the EASA course is a must as that is what you need to work in Europe. If you want to stay in the US for up to a year after your training you will have the option of completing the FAA courses but to be considered as an instructor you will need the FAA CPL, IR, CFI and CFII. Make sure you do your research as the Student Services at the Academy do pass off bum info.

If you want more info PM me.

LZ

The plan is to do the FAA Professional Program and hopefully stay on as a CFI for hour building. After that return to the UK and do the ATPL ground school at Bristol then IR somewhere. As far as I'm aware you can convert your license. There are topics on it on this forum. It seems to work out a bit cheaper than doing the EASA course. The other advantage is that there is no waiting list for FAA courses.

Jock,

You have a PM.

LZ

Hi everyone,

State of the industry aside, does anyone have an idea of the current cost of the combined FAA/EASA Professional Pilot Program? KrisRamJ in post #40 quoted $65k (for FAA training and living costs) but that was back in 2008 - I'm curious as to what it would be now!

Thanks,

Significantly more than that today if going for the combined EASA/FAA, especially with BA phasing out (or having phased out?) the R22s and the current push to do a significant amount of your training on the 44s (IR, CFII). Right now I think the norm for graduates is coming out with 40-70 hrs of 44 time. As far as I know they still offer instrument training in the 300, but due to its speed (or lack thereof :rolleyes:) it may not be the best choice.

Minimum times excluding CRs (estimates):
- 135 hours EASA with FAA PPL (300CBi)
- 10 hours for R44 transition
- 40 hours IR (R44)
- 20-25 hours CFI (300CBi)
- 5 hrs CFII (R44)

About 215 hours all in, 160 in 300CBi, 55 in R44, so total around 85-90k for just the flying, excluding CRs. A good chunk of money also goes to the UK CAA for 14 written exams. Good training and a good package, but it comes at a premium.

well over $100,000 plus accomodation

Think very hard about that kind of investment in the current job market...

fohnwind offers sound advice here. Nail on the head. This down turn is the new normal. With the fixed wing world expanding it's a no brainer.
Good luck with the avenue you chose to pursue. :ok:

good advice, unless you have money to burn, walk away

Yep. I agree with fohnwind and all that. Unless a new trainee can afford to throw away that amount of money with no hope of any return on investment, certainly not in the next 10 years, fixed wing is the no-brainer flying choice. If I had a family to support, and needed a job to support them, I wouldn't spend that money on any form of flying training. Period.

Thank you all very much for the replies.

I hope I didn't appear flippant by dismissing the state of the helicopter industry - I appreciate that things are a bit down the pan at the moment.

I am lucky to have a relatively well-paid job in a different branch of aviation. Realistically I wouldn't be looking at commercial training for another 5-10 years or so; my question was mostly out of curiosity with regards to how the costs have increased.

In the end it might be better just sticking with the PPL/flying for fun route... We'll see!

Thanks again all.

Bad times indeed. A real shame for people who have not been lucky with timing. I wonder what happened with jockmacstrap above as he would have likely come out the other end at just the wrong time. It can't be cheap keeping a ME/IR current on your tod. I reckon it will be another 4 years before things pick up again with oil & gas. That's the problem with helicopters, after spending £100k there are only really a handful of potential employers. Not so with fixed wing. Fohnwind makes a good point although the cost of CTC Wings and Easyjet type rating combined is closer to £140k!