Helicopter night time building.
 

Im looking into sharing the cost of a 300cb helicopter. Done some research and come up with one offer at $270 / hr, which is $135 each. This will be in Florida. I want to do about 50 to 60 hrs. If anyone is, or knows a helicopter pilot who is interested is splitting the cost of 50 or so night hours, (to be done within a period between 12 to 15 days, as I am not in the US), Please pm/inbox me or reply to this post. I Would like to get this done this year. Anywhere in the US is also ok with me, as I can travel to any state where you would be available to fly.

Do you hold an FAA CFI certificate?

No, just an FAA CPL/IR

Could be hard finding someone.
CFIs will probably not jump in since they get paid for instructing night flight to ppl and cpl students, but mostly doing ifr work at night killing two birds with one stone.

With two pilots on board you get twice as far, but only the one manipulating the controls can log the time.
There will be no savings for you, unless you cook the books.:=

You can both log the time lagally, if one pilot is appointed safety pilot and the other pilot flies vfr under the hood, both are ( by FAR/AIM )required crew in the cockpit.

You are correct, however it is not quite as simple. The "safety pilot" has to be designated as PIC, and that is how he logs the time. He must also be able to legally fly as PIC. Should something go wrong, or violations get busted...this is the person the FAA will go after.

Good luck finding a school to rent a 300 to you under these conditions......it may be a violation of school policy. Also, fyi....."some", (all the ones I know), employers will not count that time when evaluating you for a job.......

It is a disaster waiting to happen......

Thank you Gordy. With all due respect, i am not here to ask if it can be done, as i said i did the research, i know it can be, i have the cash and contacted a few fsdo's. The whole point of doing this is in itself self explanatory, unlike stories you hear about cooking the books, i will do it legitimately. So if anyone is interested, please contact me. It seams the more i use pprune, the more i feel guys on here are just trying to act smarter...its not a pissing contest ppruners :ok:

True.

But we are playing "by the rules" here-as we all used to know people who "faked" their way into the business…..killing innocent people with the abilities they only had in their "faked books"..

Most rules are there for a reason (note that i wrote "most"-not "all")…

Gordy has probably been around flying for more years than you´re actually walking on this planet-and he knows the regs…..

:ugh:

Like Hueyracer said.... Tis a small industry.... I wish you luck and all the best...

As I said, I am doing this legally, as per the FAR/AIM and FSDO direct information and advise. Are you saying this is illegal now or somehow faking numbers into the book or not playing ''by the rules''?

Yes, it is a small industry!

Most employers look not just at the number of hours but the quality of those hours - even with high time applicants.
So just fulfilling a minimum number requirement may not (and should not) be enough.
A tough road with no short cuts - but worth it!

I need the night hours for the 100 hr requirement for the FAA ATP, I have a job already and have over 2500 hrs turbine.

"2500 hours turbine" yet still 50-60 hours short of the 100 hour requirement?
My comment about the quality of hours still stands I'm afraid.

Haha, you are a joke sandy, if only you knew, never presume to know everything, you might surprise yourself, as I said, ots a pissing competition in here. Just fyi, if you thought you knew much about the helicopter world (which by the sound of it, you "think" you do), you would have known that not many civillian helicopter jobs fly at night, hence the lack of night hours. I personaly know pilots with over 15 years of just day vfr flying. Im not here to ask for your permission or information. You must be a favourite at your company!

I'm sure you're well placed for that day VFR job then. Good luck and enjoy.

Some got it easy, some did not, some got lucky some did not. You seam to think you are on a higher skill level Sandy, personally, quality, quantity and skill all climb with time and effort, it seams you were born with it, hence easy and lucky. I did not, I work hard and pay thousands like many others do; to ask a fellow pilot to split the costs to time build is nothing new and nothing elligal about it. To insinuate that my experience in the industry is poor quality due to the fact that I lack some night time for my ATP is a poor quality attack from you with no relevance to the topic at hand. Personally, weather you have a fresh ppl or Me/Mc crm 10k hr military pilot, attitude is what gets you through it all....best of luck to you too.

The point being made by myself (and I think some of the others) was to be sure you weren't wasting your money.
Others questioned the legality aspect which you feel you have researched.
I questioned the value of these hours to a future employer. As a box ticking exercise for the ATP, fine.
To add value to your ability as a helicopter pilot, less so.
If you are pursuing a niche "Day VFR" career, that's ok. It can be rewarding and valuable.
However if you are hoping to break out into other fields, most employers will look at those hours as being exactly what they are, hour building - not experience.
In a similar way thousands of offshore flying may equate to lots of cruise hours with some intense arrivals and departures. Not what every employer is looking for.
If your eyes are wide open and these course of action fulfills your requirements, go for it.

As pointed out many times before cp1984....the moron/idiot content on this site is very high.....:ugh:

Exactly….
At least you got that right…


As mentioned before-this is a small industry….

Chopilot1984

You should have not asked any questions , gone and done the 60 odd hours in the states and left it at that.

The only advise I can offer is , make sure you can log it as PIC time.

The jobs that I have done that required night hours have requested total night and then required for example night winching or vessel landings which you will only get via a position in a company.

But if you just want to tick a box to get a ATP in the US go for it.

Out of interest your location states south hemisphere , why do you need a ATP ?