Is it just me?
 

Am I the only one who get`s a bit p****d off with airline pilots who decide they would like some real flying, so come and do some helicopter charter (on the cheap probably)

Therefore taking work away from full time helicopter pilots who are trying to make a living.

I didn't think airline pilots went anywhere near REAL flying machines

:)


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Its a big thing...when you look into it !

[This message has been edited by sprocket (edited 25 June 2000).]

I did meet a BA 747 pilot who was learning to fly helicopters for fun. Felt good to hear he only had 9 hours in Robbies, so I was more experienced at manouevring a helicopter than him !!

Part of his motivation ( as I remember it )was that a near neighbour of his owns his own 206 which is parked in his back garden . . .

FB, youre a right one, and thats for sure!

Has it ever occurred to you how those airline pilots ever got into the situation of doing a bit of "real flying on the cheap"????Perhaps we were real flyers on the cheap ( I mean Helicopter pilots)in the first place.

Do I detect a twinge of jealousy in someone who hasnt hacked the big aluminium death-tubes???

Some of us do get the best of both worlds though only through our own blood, sweat and tears, so stop bloody whingeing!

Why the hell shouldnt we?

Dork http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/frown.gif

I reckon it is just you !
In the real world there are clearly some helicopter companies which do not have the resources to employ as many full time pilots as they would like (you obviously have never come across such a company and I envy you for that) It seems to me that using airline pilots with a rotary licence is as good an alternative as any, indeed in my last company we employed a couple of airline pilots who contributed greatly at times of stretch, we also used a freelance pilot who is a farmer. They all added greatly to the operation not only in the way they approached the job but also by providing a variation on the theme. If you feel that there is nothing which you could learn from other pilots with a different background then you must be one hell of a guy, but then if I was your employer I would probably be happier with a humbler and cheaper EU national who is equally entitled to work in the UK.
So give freelance pilots from the airlines a break, they do a job for the helicopter operators on the cheap for sure but in many cases it would be prohibitive to employ a full time pilot to do them. (unless he was Portugese,Pole etc, in which case he could have your job too!)

Percy

PB. jealous I am not (being dual rated I chose to stick with helicopters)

Percy.
Bit unkind to class Poles and Portugese as cheap labour. Oh and by the way why do you think employers have to use airline pilots as freelancers. Surely it`s not because the (full time) helicopter freelancer has to find another way to make a living because he can`t compete with the relativey less expensive airline pilot.

I`m sure you`ll both be quick to reply that is unless your away on a long haul.

fastback - are you a part time employed helicopter pilot looking for a full time job or are you a full time employed helicopter pilot whingeing about part timers? If you are the former then perhaps we should be sympathetic but if you are the latter you should be grateful to get the time off. Some full time employed helicopter pilots are required to work all of the days that the system allows (although in reality there aren't that many over a year - although they do interrupt the social life because they never remember Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays!).

Fair point,
but.. why pick on airline pilots ? they must have something to contribute, and my point is that out of all the sources of freelance pilots why blame them for stealing the crusts off your plate.

your bruvver in aviation
Percy

With regard to airline pilots 'stealing the crust off our plates', that's exactly what they are doing. They earn more than the average freelance helicopter pilot, then undercut his rates because 'it's fun to fly a Helicopter.' We need to safeguard jobs in the industry, not steal them from each other.

Who is undercutting rates? Out him, stone him, flog him....
On the other hand, who the hell can make a living just doing freelance charter? Do you instruct aswell? Working for a charter company that now employs one of the largest pools of freelance pilots in the UK(is that right Paul?), including fulltime airline pilots, and that breed that has not been mentioned yet; the military, I cannot see how anybody can make a living on charter work alone. If you can, please tell me how you do it.
My fulltime employer has rules and regs for its pilots working freelance, one of them is that we cannot accept lower than the going rate!!!
I hope all the airline pilots fill in their FDRs correctly.............
Paul, get Fiona to book 5* HOTAC next time, please.
For the record, for what it's worth, I find flying the aluminium tubes far less challenging and rewarding than rotary, therefore dispelling some theories for motivation.

[This message has been edited by EESDL (edited 28 June 2000).]

This sounds like a lot of whingeing to me. If you're good enough to be on top of the heap and just fly helos for fun I'd suggest you've got the best of both worlds. You have to remember why helo pilots move to the big boys -for more money. If you're not good enough to do the same don't whinge about the ones who can.

Gentlemen, Gentlemen, lets not get too bitter and twisted about this!!!! I for one work in the Emergency services area, and we are subject to the same FTL limitations as the BIG boy's! But, the point here is surely that airline drivers ARE taking time from the hard pressed helicopter guys - if only to fill in time between roster periods. It would help if ALL concerned would be descent and honest enough to ask for the same pay, and not just see the job as a "jolly" between duties!! It's not the job it"s the attitude chaps!!!!!!!!!!!!

How anyone finds the time is beyond me, I flog my hydraulic dinosaur arond the sky all the days the regs allow me to work in a month. Even if I was qualified to fly the helicopter for hire and reward I still wouldnt be able to.
Still I get a great deal of satisfaction out of flying the mechanical palm tree just for fun.