Where Is The Best Location?

[Helilog56]

If u really really really.......should consider to become a Helicopter Pilot......find urself a school which actually has instructor who know how to fly......stay away from those brain washers in the Valley.....they turn out students who think with a hundered hours they know it all and r gods gift.....they brainwash them into believing they walk straught into a flying job......not

 

Uh, B.D......you would have to "have a brain", in order to have it "washed". I see you are a resident expert on the flying schools in the "valley". As I know many, and I mean many of the flight instuctors at many of those schools, they show a lot of integrity and "accurate" info regarding jobs and opportunities within the industry. But of course it is your opinion and are certainly free to voice it, but facts usually help backup innuendo (opinion?).... :down:

[Rotorboy2]

Popaloops,

 

I have an article I wrote on my website, www.rotorboy.com, for people thinking about becoming a helicopter pilot.

 

Click Here for the article.

 

Best of luck!

[ktownsensation]

hey man dont let the other guys change ya mind about goin to flight school, when I was tryin to make the decision to get into the industry i herd the same stuff. One thing to be sure of is your commitment to what you wanna do, the road ahead of ya isnt gonna be easy. There will be alot of perverbial ***** work and sweepin floors ahead of ya. One piece of advise i can give ya is to go to a flight school who is part of a company and that actually hires a few students from the class every year. I had just completed my trainin this spring and was lucky enough to get hired right out of school. I believe that they company hired a record amount of 6 guys from the school. All are doin well and are PPC up already and gettin in some flyin. Try to find a school like Great slave heli, Custom or any company that actually hires students.

 

If ya want more help drop me a line

[beltdrive]

sorry chanded my mind arguing on the internet.........tztztzttztz :down:

and to jesse how many languages u speak????? r we a little intolerant talk to me when u speak more then 2 languages?????

[Guest jesse]

Spare us all the secret bullcrap who is the company that hired 6 lowtimers?

 

Beltdrive

so put ur mouth where ur words are

you got the expression wrong , time to break out that english language dictionary i think.

[Helilog56]

Okay B.D.....CAC hired 7 pilots in April.....2 are experienced high timers, 4 have modest experience (2 with no vertical reference, 1 is female), and 1 is a lowtimer. Three had to be given endorsements, and all were PPC,d by Transport Canada. Would you like to do the math and calculate the cost, as the a/c doc is about $4,000.00(us) per hour . Gee....does that (as you put it), "put my mouth, were my words were"...???? Does this make you feel better now?

[Guest jesse]

Sorry beltdrive your right i am intolerant i just cant stand incompetence I guess, but i do have the guts to stand by my posts rather than rushing to edit them hoping the people i challenged wouldn’t notice.

[Skidz]

Let me add some concrete numbers to the discussion:

 

The commercial helicopter fleet in Canada is approximately 1200 machines (this includes piston machines used for training and many corporate ships that are registered as commercial more for tax purposes than anything else).

 

Flight schools turn out about 250 new commercial helicopter piots every year. Let's assume the helicopter pilot workforce is about 1.5 pilots for every machine (I know; a pipe dream, but wait...). This would put us at a workforce of about 1800 pilots coast to coast. To keep pace, about 15% of working pilots would have to leave the work force every year to make room for the new grads...

 

As said by many: There are jobs out there for lowtimers, but they are few and far between. I've logged more than 30,000km in the past four months looking for work. As so many CPs and Ops Mgrs have told me: "You gotta be at the right place at the right time". Most operators have been screwed by low-timers before, and so they're very selective. They don't want to invest in your training just to see you bugger off at the first opportunity. On the other hand, beware of operators promising you work if you'll pay for your training. A lot of low-timers have been screwed by unscrupulouos operators promising them the moon.

 

Keep in mind I'm not complaining here. Does everyone who gets an engineering degree end up getting work as an engineer ? Does every cadet who graduates from the RCMP's academy in Regina make it as a Mountie ? Of course not. Many realise it's just not for them and go on to do something else. Aviation is like that. A lot of people want to fly, but most aren't prepared to make the sacrifices necessary beyond the financial investment...

 

Bottom line: You really gotta want it if you're gonna make it. Think about it long and hard before jumping in. Do your research diligently. Make an informed choice.

 

As a side note: Doing the rounds, most operators refer to schools who train pilots but don't do any commercial charter ops as "puppy mills". Most don't give a rats *** where you trained, and others have their personal preferences (good and bad). I had one guy from an operator in Langley (who do both flight training and charter work) tell me "You trained out east so I wouldn't let you scrub my toilets. Go back east where you belong...". If rejection like this is likely to get to you, do something easier, like becoming an actuary...

[Guest jesse]

You trained out east so I wouldn't let you scrub my toilets

I talked to a guy who had a similar attitude as well, funny enough a few minutes later the same guy was bitching about how he had been screwed by lowtimers once they had enough hours to get on at another place they left. I guess he didnt find any connection between his attitude and people leaving.

[Helilog56]

Sigh....Unfortunately Jesse there are embarassments out there with those kinds of attitudes within the industry. The holier than thou mentality rears it's ugly head on occasion. Skidz, that operator that you speak of is considered, at best, a joke anyways by the a lot of others that are familiar with their small minded direction in life. Remember, there are a higher percentage of good people out there that will judge you by the real essentials.....Confidence, sincerety, honesty and common sense are the foundation to be built on....