Helicopter Life

Mission 1: Career Guidance For Future Professional Pilots

NEWS

1. Introduction

Have you always dreamt about flying a helicopter?
In the beginning, there is a dream about flying a helicopter. Then your dream becomes a goal. Your goal is reached, when you are able to make a living flying helicopters.
In between, there are many crossroads leading into dead ends, with thousands of dollars of your money at stake. The path to your goal is probably clear at the beginning when you still have all the options (money) available. However, the closer you get to your goal, the narrower the path becomes. Unless you are able to cross the magic line - to make a living flying helicopters - you might have just wasted many years and thousands of dollars. The information below will show you how you can get on the right path from the very beginning onwards.

Are you ready to master the complexity of flying a helicopter?
The information below is intended to make you see beyond the fancy brochures and websites of a flight school. Most flight schools offer serious flight training which will meet the minimum FAA requirements for your commercial pilot certificates. If that is all you are looking for, you won’t need to read any further.
At any given time, there are flight schools which are shiny apples on the outside but rotten on the inside. Every helicopter company goes through up and down cycles - the nature of the helicopter business.
Flight schools may become rotten from one day to another. The school environment may change completely due to change of ownership, to financial troubles, to a competent chief flight instructor moving away, or to an accident. You might loose thousands of dollars in the aftermath of such a bad environment and that might result in the early termination of your pilot career.

Will the information below answer your questions?
The information below is not meant as a self-guide: In the contrary, the information provided below should raise more questions! (Unless you want to spend $80,000 for training and achieve only the minimum required the obtain your license). That is why we offer career guidance by active professional pilots.

2. Setting Your Goals
You have seen the fancy helicopters flying, but how did the pilots get into those seats?

a) What type of work do you want to?
Do you want to:
- Haul men and equipment to oil platforms
- Rescue people and transfer injured people to hospitals
- Be a bush pilot
- Fly VIP's to New York
- Bring skiers to the top of a mountain
- Manage your own company
- Be based on a private yacht
- Report breaking news
- Fight fires
- Longline air conditioners onto roof tops
- Fly a specific type of helicopter
- Meet Celebrities

Of course, that is be far not a complete list. At the same time, every type of work requires a different training approach. On top of that, each type of work is dominated by only a handful of helicopter companies, making it difficult to set foot into one of those companies, even after years of experience!
Please note: Helicopter jobs for Police, Coast Guard, National Guard, Border Patrol, DEA and other public entities have different requirements for applicants then civilian helicopter operators. Therefore, we won't cover public entities.

b) Where do you want to fly?
- Where you live
- Somewhere in the mountains
- In a remote area like Alaska
- A warm place like Hawaii
- Anywhere in the world

Where are those jobs? Some jobs, like fire fighting and logging, are specific to regions. Others, like air ambulance and powerline patrols, exist almost anywhere.

c) How much will you earn as a helicopter pilot
You will need the appropriate training and a few hundred hours flight experience (two to three years) before you will be able to move to a decent entry level job. The entry level is around $45,000 and quickly goes up to $60,000. That is all base pay, therefore overtime and flight time is on top of those numbers. The next goal is to step a level up, and specialize on something. It could be a rare helicopter type, a unique type of work, a base/chief pilot position. That will give you a competitive advantage and will increase your salary by a few thousands. If you finally make it to the top level as the one and only pilot, then you will earn between $100,000 - $200,000. At the same time, most of us earn somewhere between $60,000 and $90,000.

d) Will you reach your goal?
It will depend on many factors:

i) Money
Of course, it will take more time and money than you anticipate. Having previous loans or taking on loans to finance your training might decrease your flexibility.

ii) Your Age
It takes about 3 - 4 years to make a living. It will take another 5 - 10 years to financially advance.

iii) Flexibility
The most important factor. If it is in your personality to never change course, well, this is the wrong job for you. You will be working weekends, nights, on short notice. When you are all done flying, you might not even have a bed to sleep in. Be ready for anything.

iv) Your Obligations
If you have family, then it will be a lot tougher to reach your goals. Money will always be an issue. At the same time, a lot of jobs are two weeks on and two weeks off. Needless to say what that does to your family. If you settle in for a $60,000 - $90,000 job, you might actually get a life on the ground too.

v) Your Skills
Customers and company owners put their life in your hands, therefore you must gain their trust. To succeed, you will need exceptional flying skills and also exceptional people skills.

3. Choosing a Training Helicopter
One of the most important decisions is to choose your training helicopter for your initial training. That step comes before choosing a training program and a flight school. Most flight schools, either operate Robinsons or Schweizers. Robinson manufactures around 500 helicopters (R22s and R44s) per year, Schweizer about 50 helicopters. You do the math: On which type are you more likely to find an initial job?
Besides that, here a few pro's and con's:

Robinson R22
Pro's
- Affordable
- Majority of flight schools fly R22s
- Exceptional skills needed to fly it
- You will need an exceptional flight instructor to teach you
- Very reliable
- Low maintenance (spends more time in the air)

Con's
- Unsafe when flown by an average pilot
- An average flight instructor will put you into the danger zone
- You will need a factory training course to take passengers or instruct in it
- You need 200 flight hours before you are able to instruct in it
- Limited useful load (not a helicopter for heavy pilots)

Schweizer 300 (Hughes 269) Series
Pro's
- Rotor system is more forgiving when you do a mistake
- Generally, less time needed to accomplish your training steps
- You only need 150 flight hours before you are able to instruct in it
- Higher useful load (good for heavy pilots)

Con's
- More expensive
- Only a few flight schools fly them
- No jobs available on them except for flight training
- High maintenance (spends lots of time on the ground)

Robinson R44
Pro's
- Easy to fly
- Most popular helicopter, lots of initial jobs other than flight training

Con's
- A lot more expensive
- You will need a factory training course to take passengers or instruct in it
- You need 200 flight hours before you are able to instruct in it
- An average pilot can fly it easily

What is the difference between an average pilot and an exceptional pilot?
Under normal circumstances, an average pilot will handle the helicopter just fine, but he won't recognize when he puts himself in a dangerous situation. An exceptional pilot will recognize a dangerous situation ahead of time and act accordingly. As such, it takes longer in a Schweizer 300 and an R44 to maneuver oneself into a dangerous situation. That is a good thing. At the same time, it masks the importance to recognize a dangerous situation quickly. For example: In a Schweizer 300 and an R44 you will get away with an occasional bad landing (an average pilot), where as in an R22 you would roll over (crash) the helicopter. Nice to know isn't it? But guess what, regardless of what type helicopter, 50% of the helicopter accidents are a result of bad landings or takeoffs from the ground ...

4. Outlining Your Training Program
After you have decided on the type of helicopter it is time to choose your flight training program. When you look at brochures and websites of flight schools, you will notice that they offer a lot of packages in addition to your commercial pilot certificate:
- Instrument Training
- Flight Instructor Training
- External Load Training
- Transition Training into another Type of Helicopter
- Mountain Training
- Advanced Confined Areas and Pinnacles
- Night Vision Goggle Training

To obtain your commercial pilot certificate you need a minimum of 150 flight hours. Most of them must be in a helicopter. You could fly most of those flight hours by yourself at your airport. However, you should use that flight time to add some extras for "only a little more" money.

Most important add ons: Flight Instructor Certificate and Instrument Rating
No matter what your goals are and what type helicopter you fly, you will need to add your flight instructor and instrument rating. Your flight instructor certificate is needed for most initial jobs to build up flight time, and an instrument rating is required for most entry level jobs. Keep in mind, that on top of the 150 hours you will need an extra 50 hours of flight time to instruct in a Robinson. On a Schweizer, you will get away with 150 hours, but if you intend do some additional training like instruments and mountain training, it will be almost impossible to stay within the 150 hours.

What else to add?
Although not required for most jobs, mountain training will transform you into a "mature" pilot. You will fly in high winds, weather, and at high altitude where performance of a helicopter is limited. You will handle the helicopter smoother and with more respect, and that will reflect during an interview flight check.

How about a transition to another type of helicopter?
The commercial pilot certificate will allow you to fly any light and medium helicopter without any transition training! At the same time, the insurance and the helicopter companies won't allow that. Therefore, how much time you need in a particular helicopter depends on the insurance and the company policy. You will run into those issues for the rest of your career. The big exception to it all are Robinson helicopters. They require a certain amount of time in type before you carry passengers and before you may instruct in type. Some of the flight time in an R22 counts towards an R44 and the other way around. Most likely your initial job will be in a Robinson. Make sure you have enough time in an R44, otherwise you will end up paying extra for flight time later.

5. Selecting a Flight School
After you have chosen your training program, it is time to find a flight school offering the training you need, in the type of helicopter you want to fly in, at your preferred location, with a job offer:
- A flight school might not have the add-on training you are looking for
- Most flight schools utilize either Robinson or Schweizer, but not both
- A local flight school might not have the training program and type of helicopter you are looking for
- On paper, there might be huge price differences in training costs
- If you need financial aid you might need to select a Part 141 flight school

It gets really tricky here. In addition to offering you a training package, a flight school will most likely offer you an initial job as a flight instructor once you have completed your training. How can they offer you a job if they barely know you? Will they have enough students for you to instruct? Will the flight school be still in business once you have completed your training? Chances are, if you have completed your training at a flight school and you have no other flight experience besides your training, other flight schools will not employ you!
Running a flight school is a tough business, so don't be surprised that in the middle of your training the school closes its doors. How many years they have been in business, will say absolutely nothing about how long they will stay in business. Some events might change a flight school's outlook from one day to another:
- The helicopter owner might withdraw a helicopter
- The only full time flight instructor might leave
- The helicopter might need some major maintenance and they have no money to pay for it
- The flight school might crash a helicopter
Here is the number one rule:
Never give a flight school a deposit for a better deal on an hourly rate! Paying the extra money per hour is cheap compared with loosing thousands of dollars, should the flight school go out of business.

Is it worth to train locally or should I pack my bags and train somewhere else?
It depends on your goals, the training program you choose, and your financial situation. A combination of local and out-of-state training might be right for you.

Should I do all my training at the same flight school?
There is absolutely no reason to do all your training at one flight school. After all, you might need to use a different flight school to do your add-on training anywhere. While you are there, you might see that the flight school is better run and the potential for an initial job is higher. If you receive financial aid or if you are an international student, switching flight schools will be a lot more difficult.

Whether you choose a local or an out-of-state flight school, find two or three flight schools at your preferred location. Invest some time and money to visit them. After all, you are about to put your career in their hands. Call them ahead and setup a meeting around 10am or 2pm, Monday through Saturday. That should be a busy time at the flight school and therefore they need to make an effort to arrange a meeting. Very few people train Sundays (too many other things to do on the ground). Once you are there:
How will they treat you? Will they roll out the red carpet for you?
They should.
Will you meet with the owner/manager or with an instructor?
Most likely, the owner/manager will give you the sales pitch. But, at least they take you seriously. If you meet with some young instructor with a "Why me?" expression, well, then you most not be important. Best would be, they set up a meeting for you with the senior/chief instructor.

Some general questions you might want to ask:
a) Am I able to schedule flight lessons every day?
They should be open every day, anytime of the day. If not, sounds like they have no full time instructor, or the instructors are not flexible enough.
b) Will I fly with the same instructor every time?
Most likely not, but it would be good if you have an instructor assigned to you. That way someone is keeping track of your progress and flight hours. That is not your job.
c) Will I be able to rent a helicopter once I have my private pilot certificate?
Well, technically you are going for your commercial pilot certificate, and renting the helicopter for other than your training is not necessary. But taking up your friends after you obtain your private pilot certificate is great flight experience. You will have a great time impressing your friends, and you will totally forget how to fly the helicopter. You might even do some stupid things. That is why most flight schools won't allow rentals! So, be aware when the answer yes. If a yes, it is usually followed by a long list of extra requirements like flight hours, check outs, etc.
d) Will I be able to instruct at your flight school once I have my flight instructor certificate?
Most likely it will be a big yes, although the answer doesn't matter, but you should ask the question anyway.

What is your impression about the people that work at the flight school?
Helicopter flying is all about people. A flight school must have a genuine interest in you. It doesn't mean they will ask you a lot of questions, but even as they are giving you the sales pitch, they should show passion about what they do.

Have a look at their facilities and their helicopters:
Never mind the lobby, class room, bathrooms: Most helicopter flight schools have run down facilities. It is tough for them to pay the bills, and remodeling the facility is last on the list. HOWEVER, have a close look at the hangar. Most flight schools have their maintenance department in the hangar. It doesn't have to be like a hospital, but are there old parts lying around everywhere? How about unfinished aircraft projects? I.e. we once walked into a flight school hangar where they had a crashed training helicopter in the middle! A messy hangar with lots of old parts means they are unorganized and have no money to finish anything. Potentially, the helicopters could have some maintenance issues. I.e. one flight school used one set of rotor blades for two helicopters. Do you want find out in the air if the flight schools maintenance department did a good job? Are the helicopters clean? Just walk around the helicopter and look at the outside and the interior. Except for the rotor head on a three bladed rotor-system, if you think you could clean the dirt, oil and grease off easily, then why hasn't anyone done it yet? You won't believe how many helicopters are not taken care of. It basically means, a lot of instructors are flying that helicopter, and none of the instructor feels responsible for it. Most likely you will be treated the same.

Is it a big plus if a flight school flies a newer helicopter?
Yes, absolutely. Old helicopters mean the flight school does not have the money to replace them. Maintenance becomes a bigger issue on older helicopters. After all, you pay the same per flight hour! You may ask how old the helicopter is, but better is to just look at the helicopter yourself and determine the condition it is in. I.e. for most training helicopters, the exterior paint and the interior will tell the story. If you have done a preflight on a helicopter before, you will notice a lot of additional signs too, especially if a helicopter was abused during previous training.

Then visit the next flight school and compare your impressions.

Do I need to take my training at a flight school?
No, an independent instructor will also be able to do your entire training. There are no regulations that you have to take your training at a flight school. However, if you need financial aid, then you might need to take your training at a Part 141 flight school. Same as with training at a flight school, be prepared that your instructor might discontinue your training at anytime.
Usually, independent instructors are more expensive to hire but have a lot more experience then the average instructor at a flight school. Independent instructors might also be able to assist you much better with finding your inital job at a helicopter company as they might already know the instructor which makes for a great reference.

What defines a flight school?
An instructor and a helicopter. Facilities are not necessary. By FAA regulations, that is called a Part 61 flight school. Which doesn't mean anything, except that it means it isn't a Par 141 flight school.

What is a Part 141 flight school?
Part 141 flight schools are approved (certified) by the FAA. It means the flight school follows a specific training program, its facilities meet certain standards (i.e. it has a class room), and a chief instructor is in charge of flight operations. Generally, Part 141 flight schools may issue student visas (or working visas) to international students. Students seeking financial aid have to train at a Part 141 flight school, and military personnel with an education allowance must use a Part 141 flight school. A downside of a Part 141 school is, that it is very structured (helicopter flying is everything else then structured), and most of the training programs do not address the real world flying.

I found out that the flight school I am interested in had an accident with a helicopter. Should I train at a different school?
A lot of accidents are preventable, and therefore the flight school might have bad instructors, which means the flight school does not have control over their instructors. Flight training is dangerous, so some accidents might even happen at the best flight schools. Do some research on the accident and find out why it happened. What action has the school taken to prevent accidents in the future? Does the flight school have standards and safety procedures for the flight instructors? Ask around and investigate, bad flight schools have usually had several accidents and are known in the helicopter industry. Go through the NTSB (National Transport Safety Board) accident report database to find out which school had accidents. The reports usually name the flight schools. See Helpful Links for the NTSB website.

How about training at a brandnew flight school?
A new flight school might be out of business soon, but if not, it offers a great potential. At the beginning, owner and flight instructors are highly motivated and will roll the red carpet out for you. It will give you the opportunity to assist the flight school in various ways, so you receive a view "behind the scene". Don't tell them how you would do things better, just assist them with their own ideas. All of a sudden, you will be working for them.

6. Finding Your First Job
Before beginning your flight training, you already have to think about your first job. That makes no sense, as you most likely have no clue about the helicopter industry at that point. At the same time, if you train full time you might complete your training within 9 - 12 months. That won't leave you much time to prepare for and find your first job. In the USA, most initial jobs are flight instructor positions. Makes no sense either, as you just learned to fly yourself, and now you already have to teach others! Therefore two things: 1. You must obtain your flight instructor certificate otherwise you will loose 90% of the job opportunities. 2. Forget about the money you will make, giving instruction is a way to build up flight experience and as such an extension of your own flight training.

Most flight schools will offer you a "job" when you complete the training at their school. "Job" means if the flight school thinks you are a competent instructor, then stand in line and wait for students to show up. The senior instructors will do everything to scoop up all the students. You will most likely be left with doing the ground school. Some new flight instructors will give up at this point, but as long as the flight school has more students than instructors, be patient and wait for your turn. As soon as the senior instructors have a few hundred hours they will be looking for another job (to keep yourself informed, talk to the senior instructors during every possible occasion). The good news is, once you move up the ranks, your flight hours will build up fast.

It will be difficult to find a flight instructor job at a flight school you haven't trained with. Again, usually the deal is "you train with us, we will give you a job". However, you might find yourself in that situation when you are almost done with your flight training and you notice that students at your flight school are "drying up" or the flight school is about to shut down. That is very common: I.e. in 2007 half of the flight schools in the greater Boston area shut down. If you aren't prepared for that situation, you might loose a lot of time (it could be years) to get back on track!
Therefore, it is important to get the most out of your flight training by choosing the right flight training program, research the flight school and select the right helicopter. Also, you want to prepare yourself to be an instructor ahead of time. Monitor the activities at your flight school and be prepared to change to another flight school before things deteriorate.

One way to prepare yourself for your first job is to recruit your own students ahead of time. Remember, as an instructor you are allowed to give flight and ground instruction independently from a flight school.

7. Paying for your Flight Training
You should probably answer the question of "How do I pay for my flight training?" before anything else. However, we have listed at the end because by now you should have figured out, that by budgeting for the minimums, you will most likely not succeed. Your budget should include:
1. Flight Training including necessary additional packages
2. Living costs for two to three years (while you are instructing for close to nothing)
3. A reserve fund to transition to another type of helicopter

Everything adds up, so you will probably need close to US$100,000 to succeed. Most of us do not have US$100,000 lying around, that is why it usually takes a lot longer then two to three years to get passed instructing. It could mean several long breaks, going back to your old job, saving money, and then try to survive again.

That is why it is really tough if you start out with a loan. You might have already maxed out your loan by the time you complete your flight instructor certificate and now you have to make loan payments and work for close to nothing. At the same time, you really need a loan for $100,000 but you will most likely only get a loan for part of the flight training. At the same time, you will need to train at a Part 141 flight school if you are applying for a loan. A Part 141 flight school will assist you with getting a loan. The trade off is, that you are putting your career in their hands. You might end up with partially completed training and making loan payments already.

8. Prepare Yourself for Training
Who wants to study when one is ready to fly? You will save a lot of money by preparing yourself ahead of time by looking into those books. The books and ground school are usually the primary causes for delays regarding your solo flight and your tests. By regulation, there are many areas to cover thoroughly, that takes time. I.e. if you are looking at the flight programs for a private pilot certificate, you will notice that most flight schools list 35 hours of ground school. That doesn't include pre- and postflight briefings and time for test preparations. At the same time, most flight instructors do not like to give ground school (it doesn't build up flight hours), so do not expect high quality ground school. We recommend to go "next door" to the airplane flight school, and take a private pilot ground course there (even if that means at another airport) Airplane flight schools have more students and usually offer ground classes for small groups a few times a year. Most of the subjects covered apply to helicopters too. We also offer a three evening course Introduction to Helicopters at a small fee.

Are you fit to fly?
If you are unsure if you are fit to fly due to a medical condition: Why not take a medical exam well before you begin your training? Even if you have a medical condition, that won't necessarily stop you from flying. However, it usually takes some time (several months) for the paperwork to process should you have a medical condition. If you are fit, you will know right after your examination. Contact an Aviation Medical Examiners (AME) to schedule your appointment. Click here to access the FAA website and search for an AME. If you live in the Boston area, visit www.beverlyairdoc.com.

Use these books to prepare yourself:

Rotary Wing Flying Handbook
This is a pdf-file. To buy a hard copy, Google the title.

Schweizer Helicopter Manual
A real nice book based on the Schweizer 300. It combines the Rotary Wing Flying Handbook and the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. To buy, Google the title.

Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
This a website listing several pdf-files. To buy a hard copy, Google the title.

Private Pilot Written Test Preparation
This book and CD-Rom from ASA includes all private pilot written tests. You will "only" need to study the questions that apply to ALL categories and specific to Rotorcraft-Helicopter. I.e ballon questions do not apply. There are also other books and CD-Roms out there. Just Google the title.

Although the Rotary Wing Flying Handbook is more interesting, we recommend you start by studying for the written test. A lot of questions won't make sense without the proper back ground information, however, learn those questions by hard.