Helicopters

[Scott-300ex]

Ok, well I've always wanted to fly Helicopters.

But I got a plan now.

Step 1: Get my Helicopters license, test, physical, fly time $10,000

Step 2: Become an instructor to get 2000 hours of fly time

Step 3: Fly EMS, like fly patients from the street, 4 towns away, wherever they are to the hospital.

Wouldn't that be sweet, go to work to fly copters?

So all I need to do now is do it.

I LOVE hieghts so thats half the fun.

I'm pretty excited.

Just got my Explosives License a while ago, now I want to go for this so I guess its good I'm always workin for somethin.

Anybody here fly and got any info or tips on how to get a job or anything at all?

[Regular_Joe]

Any of the guys that I know that got into that don't last long. The accidents are the worse of the worse and it takes a pretty big emotional toll on you.

[firefighterjosh]

My dad had his Heli and plane license but 20 years ago got out of it. Not sure why.

[ugottabayou]

I have my fixed wing pilot's license. Mostly cessna's, but I got some time in a couple tailwheel aircraft. I think it would be pretty cool to fly copters. Just keep at it, it's gonna take LOTS of money! At first if you want to fly to build lots of hours, its gonna pay like crap. Many guys who want to fly bigtime start out at a very low paying flying job just as hour builders.

Good Luck!

[Quad18star]

I've looked into this A LOT .

I've always wanted to fly helicopters ever since I was a little kid but the market out there is TOUGH .

Not sure where you can get your helicopter license for $10 000 , but if you can , jump all over it . The cheapest I was able to find was $66 000 from an acredited flying school .

Here's the thing with helicopter pilots and flying . When you graduate from the school or get your license you're known as a "low time" pilot because the school will most likely just give you the minimum to meet FAA regualtions ( usually somewhere around 200 hours)

To get in with a Life Flight crew , you usually need around 5000 -7000 flying hours . Many ex-military pilots are the ones that fly with Life Flight .

Many low time pilots will find work taxiing helicopters from one location to another for a company and try to build up hours . If you can , try and get on with gas companies to hydro companies , or go out west to the mountains and fly the choppers with the heli-boarding companies to build up your hours .

Being a low time pilot is great if you're single and willing to work in many different areas within 1 year ... but if you're married , it's tough on a relationship ( unless you have many hours) because you're barely ever home and always on the move .

Just some advice for you . trust me , I've spent years looking into this and talking to guys in the industry ( My cousin's husband is a commercial fixed wing pilot) . It's a hard go because there's lots of guys with licenses and not enough job openings . It's something like a 10:1 ratio ... 10 pilots per 1 job.

The price of an extra hour on a turbine engine is usually about $500 ... so if you want to build up your hours on your own , it's expensive .

But if you have the determination and money to get through it , go for it . A top pilot can make well over $150 000 a year flying ... which is a job that I would KILL to have ... but I can't afford it. :macho

[Scro]

Originally posted by Quad18star
A top pilot can make well over $150 000 a year flying ... which is a job that I would KILL to have ... but I can't afford it. :macho

The rich always get richer:scary:

[armoks]

Cheapest way and a guarantee not to go over seas is the DC's air national guard they are there only to protect DC not go over seas and its a helicopter unit so you get training and tons of air time. I was going to do it but my back isn't up to par from my Quad wreck to get in.

[DF400ex]

join the Army or Air Force and they will pay you for it. I put in my Warrant Officer packet and was accepted. The school is only like 18 months for the Apache. I opted out to go to school instead... it's still an option though.

[Scott-300ex]

Yeh, I've already been threw the whole should I join the Military.

I was 80% ready to sign but I don't want to be in for 6 years, I would just want basic then like a year.

But Greg your pretty close to everything, its prolly just a little different cuz where you are and where I am, IL vs Canada, hell come down here and we'll both do it, you'll get it for cheap, unless it a US license wouldn't do anything for you in Canada, but I'd look around at other places even if they're far away just to see if there is a better deal.

Its 150 hours to fly and 100 with the instructor, so thats 50 solo hours and that'll be fun, LoL. And around here if you get 2000 hours then the EMS will like you.

I called the guy and made an appointment for the first class, 40 minute vid, go over the outside of the copter and then 1 hour flight for like $185 bucks, and if you ask me that is CHEAP for a flight, plus you'll get to learn everything, so I think thats a great deal, they might even let me fly it a little I don't know, but I'll let you know when I get back and I'm gonna take pictures with my phone if they let me.

So anymore comments welcome and thanks.

[wicked13]

Black helicopters follow me around....:huh

[Quad18star]

Originally posted by Scott-300ex
Yeh, I've already been threw the whole should I join the Military.

I was 80% ready to sign but I don't want to be in for 6 years, I would just want basic then like a year.

But Greg your pretty close to everything, its prolly just a little different cuz where you are and where I am, IL vs Canada, hell come down here and we'll both do it, you'll get it for cheap, unless it a US license wouldn't do anything for you in Canada, but I'd look around at other places even if they're far away just to see if there is a better deal.

Its 150 hours to fly and 100 with the instructor, so thats 50 solo hours and that'll be fun, LoL. And around here if you get 2000 hours then the EMS will like you.

I called the guy and made an appointment for the first class, 40 minute vid, go over the outside of the copter and then 1 hour flight for like $185 bucks, and if you ask me that is CHEAP for a flight, plus you'll get to learn everything, so I think thats a great deal, they might even let me fly it a little I don't know, but I'll let you know when I get back and I'm gonna take pictures with my phone if they let me.

So anymore comments welcome and thanks.

How long would it take you to get your license ?? Everywhere I was looking , it was an 8 month program .. Start in August and end in April . Some are 10 months.

Ya Into Flights are usually very well priced . An intro flight here is $150 ... which includes 1 hour of flying and the whole video and walk around thing. It's definatly worth it ... because I've seen guys that wanted to be pilots and that weren't afraid of heights completly turn green .

If and when you sign up , ask what the program has to offer . Ask if it'll include your helmet and flight suit , maps and any other courses . Things like winter or outdoor survival ... temporary and permanent heli-pad construction , chainsaw certificates ... all those kinds of things.

It would be awesome to be able to fly the helicopter on your intro flight , but I doubt they'll let you . It's a bit more complicated than flying a fixed wing .

If your set on doing it , giver ... I don't think you would regret it .

Here's the college that I want to go to , to get my license .

http://www.canadorec.on.ca/ProgramInfo/FullTime/Aviation/030202.cfm

It's offered by this company . http://www.gatewayhelicopters.com/

[KTM265]

Sounds like you have changed your mind on a few carreer choices in the past, first you should sit down and decide if you are really going to commit to this. If you're feeding yourself dreams of being a Life Flight pilot, then you best join the military and to fly, you need to have a college education because only officers are pilots in the military. A friend of mine fly's Chinooks for the Army National Guard, he took me up last week (I'm in the Guard too) and we burned 600 gals of fuel in 2 hours of flight...you do the math, these are expensive machines to fly...even the smallest ones are rated and $100's per hour. I'm not saying it's impossible to make it as a civilian pilot but its like winning the lotto if you do. If you are very serious about this, go talk to a recruiter, get yourself into college...National Guard is a great place to start, they'll pay for your college education with the GI bill and other programs they have right now. Get in with their ROTC program and get your commission when you graduate...head off to flight school and start earning those flight hours...

[Ace Sixx]

I see you're in St. Louie. I hope you're not taking your lessons from Charlie Duchek at Midwest Helicopters.

There was a video on YouTube recently HERE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqA5YpgRZPc) which showed him preparing to take a group for a ride. Long story short, he failed to check rotor clearance and hit an open hangar door and crashed. The dip**** tried to blame it on a passenger hitting the cyclic causing the aircraft to drift into the door, but the video clearly showed that there was no drift. The jerk-off screwed up and tried to blame it on a kid instead of owning up to HIS mistake. Read an NTSB summary HERE (http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20040825X01288&key=1)

Edited to add: Found a video HERE (http://www.guzer.com/videos/helicopter_hanger.php)

[Quad18star]

That could have been an ugly ordeal . What a dummy ..... always check clearance !!!!!!!!

[Scott-300ex]

Damn, I don't know if I should go there now, now you got me thinkin.