Helicopter Pilot

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

They are both good companies, but very hard to get on with PHI or AirLog without a lot of flight time in a helo.

Again the military is your best option as you simply cannot get experience like that elsewhere.

Think 1500 hours minimum just to get an interview...and her competition will have more flight time, often in a similar aircraft like a Kiowa Warrior.

There are a lot of retired guys like me who also fly part time on a contractor basis (I don't have the desire but I might if I lived on the Redneck Riviera) who can stack 4000/5000 hours of flying on their resume and don't care about medical or 401's.

An earlier poster had some great advice: get her in the air and see if she is comfortable in flight...some are, some are not.

My bet is that she is

[rouxroux]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

They are both good companies, but very hard to get on with PHI or AirLog without a lot of flight time in a helo.

Again the military is your best option as you simply cannot get experience like that elsewhere.

Of course...I was referring to a "post-military gig"...PHI also operates MANY air-am services as well.

[gt350mike]

Seahawk, Do you know how many pilots (either wo or officers) the Army trains each year? The reason I ask is the number of aviator slots may be fixed while the Army increases the number of commissioned officers, which would make getting branched aviation more difficult.

I have been told by an ROTC instructor that the Army plans to commission about 5k Lieutenants in 2013. With that many O-1's running around, I think it will be extremely competitive for anyone to get into flight school. My son is will be on a 4-year scholarship this fall (in addition to a wrestling scholarship) and I told him that if he had any aspirations of flying in the Army, he better be the best (or one of the best) cadets in the program. In the past a good rule of thumb at each college ROTC program has been one or two cadets are branched aviation......a lot of variables come into play (school size and the quality of cadets that are commission at that school).

I don't know much about the current WO program but I think it may be easier for Tom's granddaughter to pursue the WO avenue.....she should be able to determine within a relatively short time period if the Army will accept her into the program vs. going the commissioned route.

Getting into the program is the first difficult step, the other two will be surviving WOC (Warrant Officer Candidate) school then finishing flight school. Based on Tom's comments on his granddaughter, I think she would make a fine flying WO or Lieutenant!

Just like someone mentioned earlier......going the military route to fly is great but it does have its downfall; some people like to shoot at our A/C!

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

If she really wants to do it right. go Military. Its training that no one can afford and experience that you get no where else in the world.

+1.

Flight training (especially rotor-wing) is very expensive, and the civilian job (time building) ladder is a long, low-paying road. If she chooses to go the civi route, the best way to do it IMO is get your private ticket in fixed wing, then add the heli rating afterwards.

Even then, the rotor-wing ticket can be difficult. Some people just don't have the coordination to fly helicopters, or it take them a lot more than the minimum required hours to master. With the going hourly rates (even in an R-22), it can get expensive, really fast. Not to mention it gets crazy-expensive if/when she wants to start building turbine time.

Also, she needs to realize that a lot of heli jobs start where the road ends. Meaning, she might have to travel to the ends of the Earth to find good work. However, once she pays her dues and builds enough time, the corporate/vendor/air-ambulance jobs are out there.

As mentioned, the first step would be to head down to your local heli FBO and sign her up for an introductory flight (or two). Usually less than $100 in an R-22.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by gt350mike

Seahawk, Do you know how many pilots (either wo or officers) the Army trains each year? The reason I ask is the number of aviator slots may be fixed while the Army increases the number of commissioned officers, which would make getting branched aviation more difficult.

I have been told by an ROTC instructor that the Army plans to commission about 5k Lieutenants in 2013. With that many O-1's running around, I think it will be extremely competitive for anyone to get into flight school. My son is will be on a 4-year scholarship this fall (in addition to a wrestling scholarship) and I told him that if he had any aspirations of flying in the Army, he better be the best (or one of the best) cadets in the program. In the past a good rule of thumb at each college ROTC program has been one or two cadets are branched aviation......a lot of variables come into play (school size and the quality of cadets that are commission at that school).

I don't know much about the current WO program but I think it may be easier for Tom's granddaughter to pursue the WO avenue.....she should be able to determine within a relatively short time period if the Army will accept her into the program vs. going the commissioned route.

Getting into the program is the first difficult step, the other two will be surviving WOC (Warrant Officer Candidate) school then finishing flight school. Based on Tom's comments on his granddaughter, I think she would make a fine flying WO or Lieutenant!

Just like someone mentioned earlier......going the military route to fly is great but it does have its downfall; some people like to shoot at our A/C!

I agree wrt WO...Army helo pilots are simply terrific.

Concerning numbers, I don't (I'll go googling) but I can share a story about a friend of mine: Son is a junior at the Naval Academy in their aero program. Very bright kid and he wants to fly navy.

But there are quotas and selection is based on class standing. He is in the top 1/3 of his class but may not get a flight school slot based on numbers of available flight school positions and the folks ahead of him that also want to fly.

Tom should also know that the college GPA cut off for Aviation Officer Candidate school for navy folks averages around 3.7. It is a very competitive process, not for the feint of heart.

[59GS]

This is a pretty amazing resource. Thank you one and all for the time and advice given so willingly. I was also some what surprised by the lack of calls for pics. lol.

We are booked at Celeb Helicopters (referred by a friend in the film biz) for an introductory lesson. Will see her reaction to that and move forward.

Thank you, again, to all for all the love

[Superman]

My grandmother used to like to fly helicopters. And shoot rattlesnakes (she had jars of rattle snake rattles). She was the first licensed female pilot to solo off the Pocatello, Idaho airfield.

I only recently learned that helicopters can fly better than a stone in the event of an engine failure.

It would seem to me that SCUBA and aviation stuff would help clear up any recklessness problem she might have. In my experience, nobody is more careful and detail-oriented than a good pilot.

[Joeaksa]

Before you spend any real money or head off in ANY direction, get her an hour or two in a helo with a good instructor and see if she likes it. She may take to it like a duck to water, or absolutely hate it. Better to find out now...

[avi8torny]

Our civilian hires must have a minimum of 2000 hrs turbine helo just to get an interview. Former military new hires can have less, they are not getting the flight time like they used to unless they were in the desert.

[gt350mike]

Minor update - I still do not have an idea of how many officers go through flight school but "back in the day" (mid to late 80's) they would have about 120 students every two weeks. That figure includes everyone; Army officers and WOCs (Warrant Officer Candidates) and foreign nationals. I'm guessing that the figure is half now.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by 59GS

Looking for some feedback and guidance ... my 18 year old granddaughter whom I have (or used to have) guardianship of is seriously thinking she needs to be a helicopter pilot. She's very bright, level headed but adventuress - advance open water scuba and wreck diver, ate up a couple of driving courses, etc.

military versus commercial schools, best commercial schools and training, job prognosis, state of the state of things helicopterish are some of the topics I need to explore.

Thanks for any and all help.

Tom

My sister was a US Army Blackhawk pilot. She's all screwed up now (permanently) from the anthrax vaccination.

[chrispilot]

Tom, I am a active EMS helicopter pilot. After reading your intro, it sounds like your 18 year old grand daughter has accomplished many things and probably will continue to do so. If this is another fun thing to do, it can be done but at great expense and for what I am not sure. Is she looking for a career in aviation or something fun like scuba or driving cars. Flying takes a great deal of dedication, desire, time and money. This reads like your grand daughter has all of that but at 18 I guess one should ask if she wants this as a career or a hobby. I went to college and then joined the Marines. The previous posts about unrivalled training in teh military are true but this is a way of life, not a hobby. I am still flying, am a dual rated ATP and enjoy what I do but as I said, it is a way of life. You can certainly pm me or write chrispilot@yahoo.com for my humble opinion. Regards, Chris

[kimlangley7]

You want to fly helos???

Military ...... the only way to go.. they have the best training.... be it Army, Navy Air Force or Coast Guard...

Everything else is second class....


Not really knocking "everything else". but that's the way it is... helo training is soooo expensive... that the strictly civilian side can't begin to cover the emergency procedures that can be experienced in the real world..