Another option
 

It’s so sad to read the stories of fellow rotor-heads who have been hung out to dry. Let me share a positive story.

After several decades and 10,000 hours of driving helicopters around the skies a proverbial bucket emptied over my head. For most of my career I’d chosen to specialize in film work from the air… and then along came the invasion of the drones.

I threw my shoes at the TV each time a drone shot appeared (and got through a lot of shoes that way!) until one day the sentence “If you can’t beat them …” popped into my head. The journey I’ve since been on has been magical. Instead of competing with teenagers wearing baseball caps backwards (I REALLY didn’t want to do that) I found that at least 80% of my skills were transferable, and that my experience was respected. Theory of flight, met, airspace regs, radio licence, respect for other aviators sharing the same sky and a plethora of other inherent capabilities came with me across the divide.

At around the time that I was, in any case, getting to the age when the medical was going to be harder to pass I suddenly found that I had a fresh sheet of paper to write on. It was a revelation. I no longer had to put my a**e at risk on a daily basis, practicing the craft cost absolutely zero $$ per hour, I could afford to own a flying machine, and I could look forward to a career that’s unhindered by age.

For sure I had some new things to learn, but we’re all used to a bit of that, right? Now I find myself teaching others, working for myself, flying incredibly sophisticated machinery and creating useful visual product that has my clients exclaim “Wow” every time. I’m loving every minute of it. The biggest single revelation has been how broad the market is for professional aviators who bring with them the disciplines and work ethics that we’ve all had drummed into us.

Up to now I’ve solely been running one-day online courses for people who’ve gained their drone license and want to get into 3D mapping from drones, usually around six people maximum per course. But it’s lately come to mind that there may be a need for something aimed specifically towards professional aviators who want or need to make the jump to a new career and have no idea of how to go about it nor what diverse opportunities are out there. If that resonates with you then PM me and let’s see if we can get something positive going.

I promise you the water is warm!

Well done, jerry G

But do I really want to 'work' again, or just go for a bike ride? :p

We all know the answer to that John, but for us mere mortals it's needs-must!

Great post Jerry. I really enjoyed reading that.

I can also echo the spirit of that. I was made redundant in 2017 from one of the big Blue/Red/White operators in Australia whom I had transferred to from Aberdeen. Market forces and such is life so whilst I was sad and disappointed I went looking to find other avenues of work. I did pick up two years of work flying offshore but am back unemployed again so making headway into the unmanned arena. For me having flown models helicopters since I was 12 unmanned aircraft was an easy transition and I am now teaching the RePL syllabus in Perth WA to a variable audience and loving it. I am also VERY lucky to have done two very interesting jobs flying aircraft from ships, one a tourist dive vessel and the other an offshore supply ship. The breadth of applications I am coming across is astounding and we are really only limited by technology and our imaginations.

I would very much like to return to flying manned helicopters again as that is my true passion but for now unmanned is proving a very interesting challenge. I HIGHLY recommend people look into it if nothing more than a sideline and for $h1ts and giggles. I don't believe unmanned aircraft will eliminate manned in my life time but one day in the future perhaps, they need to make sure automated cars don't run over cyclists first.

Stay safe, healthy and if you are still flying, fly safe.

Merry Christmas

Si