100hr Wonders

[sirlandsalot]

Right on Htech, it's there for the taking, who ever wants it the most, just do what has to be done no matter what it is and do it well! sounds like we are at a simular point...happy landings!!

[Earthman]

Remember there is a HUGE difference between a "puppy mill" and a busy school. So far all I've seen here is that if a school is busy it's automatically a so called "puppy mill". But it's actually far from the truth. A "puppy mill" only cares about taking your money and getting you out the door and isn't concerned about helping you to get started in your career. A busy non "puppy mill" school is busy because of their reputation and for many years have provided well trained pilots. If you're not sure about a school, ask the companies in the industry that hire their students and you'll find who is legit and who is not. :up:

[Skids Up]

Hi, I got hired 3 months after i finished my training. i took 8 months to do my commercial training (basic training)....

 

All newbies take note. Nobody is looking for you, but they may be watching... :prop:

 

Thanks for sharing Htech. Very nice. :up:

[PedalJam]

We live in a society of entitlement

 

this is fuelled mostly by the younger generations and trancends

all workforces with little drive to succeed

 

you reep whatcha sow

[Quad18star]

My first reply on these forums ... but I have been reading on here for a little while now . I have a few questions .

 

I'm not a newbie , nor am I a vet pilot ... nor do I work in the aviation industry ... but I have always had an interest in helicopters and hope to one day get my license from a local school ( Gateway Helicopters possibly via Canadore College .

 

My first concern is whats the reputation of Canadore/Gateway ? Their program is 8 months through the college .... around 6 months or so through Gateway in Sudbury.

 

Now I don't want to sound like a whiner or a lazy worker , because that I'm not .... but what does pulling weeds , re-shingling a roof , mopping floors , etc have to do with " paying your dues" ?? I mean If I wanted to pull weeds I'd have taken gardening .... if I wanted to shingle I'd become a roofer ... if I wanted to mop the floors I'd be a janitor .

 

Why should someone that spends $65 000 in flight training have to " used and abused" as someone put it , in order to prove themself . Why should someone work unpaid overtime to " pay their dues". I hear people say " Well it's a $500 000 machine ... you have to sling chit before you get to operate it" . So mopping the floors shows your true work ethics? **** there's guys , fresh out of highschool , with a $2500 piece of paper that are in the mines working on MILLION dollar machines 2 weeks after getting in the mines and making $120 000 a year .

 

So I guess my true question is .... WHY should someone take a career as a helicopter pilot over a career as say a miner ?? Why take a job where you have to work a month straight of 16 hour shifts with maybe 1 day off , over a job where you work 10hrs shifts .. 4 on ,3 off . Why take a job where you just paid $65 000 and are mopping floors , over a job that you dished out $2500 and are working with machines that you went to school for?

 

I know I'll get the response .. " Well you'll be doing something you love ... you'll be around helicopters " ... but the fact of the matter is , being around something and not getting any stick time and not making 1/4 of the wage a pilot makes doesn't pay the bills where as being a miner would put you at the controls of million dollar pieces of equipment and making enough money to live a very good life.

 

Sell me ( someone who would be a " 100 hr Wonder" ) as to WHY I should become a Helicopter Pilot.

[Hueylover]

My first reply on these forums ... but I have been reading on here for a little while now . I have a few questions .

 

I'm not a newbie , nor am I a vet pilot ... nor do I work in the aviation industry ... but I have always had an interest in helicopters and hope to one day get my license from a local school ( Gateway Helicopters possibly via Canadore College .

 

My first concern is whats the reputation of Canadore/Gateway ? Their program is 8 months through the college .... around 6 months or so through Gateway in Sudbury.

 

Now I don't want to sound like a whiner or a lazy worker , because that I'm not .... but what does pulling weeds , re-shingling a roof , mopping floors , etc have to do with " paying your dues" ?? I mean If I wanted to pull weeds I'd have taken gardening .... if I wanted to shingle I'd become a roofer ... if I wanted to mop the floors I'd be a janitor .

 

Why should someone that spends $65 000 in flight training have to " used and abused" as someone put it , in order to prove themself . Why should someone work unpaid overtime to " pay their dues". I hear people say " Well it's a $500 000 machine ... you have to sling chit before you get to operate it" . So mopping the floors shows your true work ethics? **** there's guys , fresh out of highschool , with a $2500 piece of paper that are in the mines working on MILLION dollar machines 2 weeks after getting in the mines and making $120 000 a year .

 

So I guess my true question is .... WHY should someone take a career as a helicopter pilot over a career as say a miner ?? Why take a job where you have to work a month straight of 16 hour shifts with maybe 1 day off , over a job where you work 10hrs shifts .. 4 on ,3 off . Why take a job where you just paid $65 000 and are mopping floors , over a job that you dished out $2500 and are working with machines that you went to school for?

 

I know I'll get the response .. " Well you'll be doing something you love ... you'll be around helicopters " ... but the fact of the matter is , being around something and not getting any stick time and not making 1/4 of the wage a pilot makes doesn't pay the bills where as being a miner would put you at the controls of million dollar pieces of equipment and making enough money to live a very good life.

 

Sell me ( someone who would be a " 100 hr Wonder" ) as to WHY I should become a Helicopter Pilot.

 

 

Good luck in the mines my friend. We don't need to sell you s#*t!

[Quad18star]

Good luck in the mines my friend. We don't need to sell you s#*t!

 

 

Now that was helpful. :down:

 

If you were an instructor or owned a flight training school , how would you sell the job to prospective students ?? Legitimate question ( atleast I think) .

 

Tell me what the rewards are to spend $65 000 , be assigned jobs that have nothing to do with what you paid all that money for and still be nickel and diming at the end of the month to pay the bills .

 

The reason I ask , is because MOST of these flight schools are telling ,or atleast giving the impression that fresh out , you can make $90 000 + a year.

 

I didn't mean to come off sounding like I was bashing the Helicopter industry , but I just wanted a few answers.

 

JWRalph ..... A lack of " experience" in the mines could mean disaster just as with the helicopter industry . Many variables underground that affect your safety and the safety of those working around you ( blasting , rock burst , heavy equipment , etc).

 

 

 

Let's just say you were having to present your career at a schools career day and were trying to interest people into becoming a helicopter pilot ... how would you do it ?? How would you respond to some young kid that came up to you and said " Well my dad works 4 days a week ... 10 hr shifts .. has every second weekend off and makes bonus and $120 000 a year as a miner. Why should I become a pilot? "

[Bryan]

Now that was helpful. :down:

 

If you were an instructor or owned a flight training school , how would you sell the job to prospective students ?? Legitimate question ( atleast I think) .

 

Tell me what the rewards are to spend $65 000 , be assigned jobs that have nothing to do with what you paid all that money for and still be nickel and diming at the end of the month to pay the bills .

 

The reason I ask , is because MOST of these flight schools are telling ,or atleast giving the impression that fresh out , you can make $90 000 + a year.

 

I didn't mean to come off sounding like I was bashing the Helicopter industry , but I just wanted a few answers.

 

JWRalph ..... A lack of " experience" in the mines could mean disaster just as with the helicopter industry . Many variables underground that affect your safety and the safety of those working around you ( blasting , rock burst , heavy equipment , etc).

Let's just say you were having to present your career at a schools career day and were trying to interest people into becoming a helicopter pilot ... how would you do it ?? How would you respond to some young kid that came up to you and said " Well my dad works 4 days a week ... 10 hr shifts .. has every second weekend off and makes bonus and $120 000 a year as a miner. Why should I become a pilot? "

 

 

If you have to ask why you should be a pilot. I suggest you look into something else. I'm sure most pilots out there, never asked anyone why i should be a pilot. If you have to ask someone why you should do something, it just might not be right for you.

 

Maybe ask yourself, how long you're planning on working in a career, and what you would like to do? There can be many long days at any job, sure some pay more, some education costs less. But it all comes down to whats right for you. I've worked in jobs for the money for the last ten years, and i'm not going back.. I'm throwing away the six digit salary. I'm going to go to flight school this fall, and pull weeds, and paint the boss's house. I'd rather spend my days being happy, then spending my money trying to make me happy. I never asked, not even myself.. Why be a pilot.

 

b.

[407 too]

Quad18star

 

as with any education, when you get your piece of paper it is a licence to LEARN, IF you can find a job in your desired field. A neighbour of ours when I was a kid got his degree in zoology, but worked as a mailman until something came up. I worked at an electrical wholesalers until something flying came up.

 

If you have you a new pilots licence(to LEARN) and are lucky enough to get a job in the industry you may not get to fly your a** off for a while, you might get a ferry flight or two, or a low risk flight or two.

 

what are you going to do in the hangar in the meantime ?? sit on your butt or help out with what ever needs doing. You may go out as a swamper, where you can LEARN whats required for further flights. You can ask questions that pop into your mind about the operations, or how to do something.

 

as others have stated, you are not going to get a job slinging (or longlining)in the mountains and through the trees with 100 hours.

 

PAYING your DUES to me represents doing all the odd jobs, and being exposed to the operations where you can continue to learn, or get the chance to ride along on a more complicated mission where again you can learn.

 

IF you can show your muster power, more will come your way (you may even receive additional in-house training). If you just sit around waiting for a silver platter, you must be aware that those are few and far between.

 

are there people who will take advantage of you ?? SURE there are, but they will be there in any walk of life.

[Quad18star]

Frankly Quad

 

It seems to me you have already decided not to become a pilot, there are many obstacles that will stand in your way as well as many challenges, the only way to navigate these obstacles is with experience and making the right choices. It will be 10 years before you start making 120K per year. If you are measuring the experience or career based on monitary gain I would say go for the mines.

 

J

 

Thanks for your reply .

 

In all honesty , I haven't decided against a career as a pilot , and will most likely never work in the mines . My old man worked in the mines along with many familly members and friends .... it's not my kind of work . I was just using the mines as an example to spark a discussion as to why someone should become a helicopter pilot ( hoping the get all the PROs out , because I've read a lot of the CONs in this discussion).

 

I've done the college route for a couple of years and have a Civil Engineering paper but it's time for something different .

 

At 24, I was hoping to go back to school this fall ( or next fall) and attend Canadore College in North Bay . I was looking at the Rotary program that they offer and was also looking at the Aviation Maintenance program . I've gotten the info from Gateway about the Heli training .... $65 000 and am still waiting to visit the Campus to check out the Maintenance program ( approx $3000) .

 

I know you should always do something you love first and money should be 2nd , but is mopping floors and re-shingling ( examples given in this thread) doing something you love? I know there's dues to be paid ... I've done them with jobs I've held ... but they were always job related.

 

So I guess what I'm saying , is that I'm looking for the POSITIVE remarks to becoming a helicopter pilot ... because 99% of what's been posted has been negative ( divorce , no OT pay, excessive long hours , unrelated job tasks).