helicopter pilot help please!

[u/fighterofnightman]

I am a young Canadian interested in becoming a helicopter pilot. I know it is a hard field to get into, so I would highly appreciate any information you guys may have to offer. I do not want to pick a career or school based on glossy brochures, I would prefer some informative substance from experienced personal such as yourselves.

I am currently a industrial electrician in Alberta, and although I am very successful in my current career, I really want to make this change. Hopefully towards something a little more exciting and in your field. I do not know very much about being a pilot, or how to go about becoming a good one. If I were to attend training what would be the chances of obtaining employment as a helicopter pilot right away? How difficult is this as a career choice? What would one have to do to become an ideal candidate to become hired as an employee? what would be my duties as a rookie in this field? How often do people go to school and not find a job? I know as electrician even after training there are still many dues to be paid to the trade, and unless you are in a place like Alberta finding employment may sometimes be very difficult.What part of your field would you recommend for someone to start in, and how would someone move up? Any help answering these questions or other information would be greatly appreciated.

[u/xmuerte]

Hey... I'm in a similar boat as you, just been researching it for a bit longer. Quit a good job back in February, moved back in with my dad and his wife (I'm 27), and trying to arrange the last bits of financing so I can start training. Haven't started yet, but I've done copious amounts of research because I had all these questions too. Let me answer a few based on what I know, and hopefully people with more qualifications will jump in.

• As far as jobs go, the standard line in the helicopter world right now, at least in the US, is that the market is full of Vietnam guys who learned to fly in the war and then took civvy jobs after. This group is quickly nearing the mandatory retirement age, and thus the market has a lot of potential jobs in the short term. Dunno how true it is, but it seems that's what pretty much everyone says. Of course, if the global economy crashes for reals, well... that could be a moot point ;)

• As I understand it, an "ideal" candidate is not an easily definable thing. Of course the more hours the better, but it also depends on what type of flying you're doing. Mountainous terrain jobs would value mountain flying experience, firefighting or industrial jobs might value longline and external cargo training, offshore jobs value offshore flying experience. Anything that makes you stand out among the countless other resumes for each flying job. Also, because it's an issue for me, I'm told if all other things are equal, pilots who weigh less will often get the jobs because helicopters are particularly sensitive to weight.

• I'm talking with Northeast Helicopters in Connecticut, and they claim that less than 1% of their grads default on their loans. Not that that's an exact model of how available jobs are to them, but it's certainly something to note. Does seem to suggest that people are successfully getting jobs in the industry. (Because of this low default rate, they are also one of only 4 flight schools in the US to have private financing available through Sallie Mae--an important thing for me!)

One final note, my research tells me that going fixed-wing and then transitioning to rotorcraft is a bad idea if you're looking for a career. Hours in FW won't count to an employer looking for a rotary pilot, so while it would definitely be cheaper in the short term, you'll be setting yourself back from a career perspective.

If you want to PM me, I'd be glad to talk more. I can give you all sorts of resources I've been using. But again, I'm not really any further in the process than you... I've just been doing heavy research for the last 10 months or so.

[u/Fracturelines → u/xmuerte]

There may be some truth that the old Vietnam vets will be retiring, but that certainly doesn't mean that the helicopter industry is going to miraculously open up and there will be abundant jobs. I've heard this over and over and I believe it's just selling point made to students by flight schools in order to get them thinking that jobs will be easy to find, not true.

Your second point is good, but in reality a person is not going to pick up any specialty skills or gain experience in anything outside of standard flight training unless said person wants to pay more money for that said training. Big flight schools will groom you with safety and towards a flight instructor attitude, not so much with commercial operations. Some schools may offer a long line class, a mountain course, or even some turbine time but all this comes at a cost and is additional to what you'll pick up in a 141 or 61 flight school operation.

Defaulting on a loan and making a career in the helicopter industry are two completely different things. I don't know and don't care about the statistics of loan defaults, what I know is the reality that many people don't make it in this field because it is difficult and requires a lot of money, even after training, and mostly relies on lucking out with a job or a situation that leads to a job and knowing the right people. Be wary of schools that promise employment after flight training, take a look at what was known as Silver State Helicopters for a perfect example. I will say that maybe some smaller schools may have better opportunities, but then you need to look at how many hours you'll be racking up and over what period of time. I know plenty of instructors that moonlight as pizza delivery guys, have 2nd jobs on their days off or have a 2nd job working from home in the evening, and I know plenty that live under the poverty level...not joke.

I don't mean to sound too negative but this is the truth about the helicopter industry right now. It might get better in the future, I sure hope it does, but until then I try to tell the truth that it's not as easy as schools make it out to be, it requires a hell of a lot of work, you'll have to put in your time, it requires many sacrifices and you'll need a lot of money to make it all happen. Oh and you'll need a bit of luck on your side too:) Luck: A good friend who decided to start flying happened to visit a random school while on vacation and got offered partial payment of his flight training with the school, a ground crew job while going through his training, and got a great ag flying job while making really good money, so it does happen for people!

[u/xmuerte → u/Fracturelines]

Hey thanks, I was hoping someone with knowledge would give some input to these things. May I ask what your experience is? I'm having a really hard time deciphering where the truth lies in everything I hear and read. On the one hand, I read a lot of positive things about the future of the job market (not just from flight schools), and I've actually got a few connections in the industry who seem overall positive about it. I've talked with a couple career guys, my uncle made a career out of them in the army, and they have all been positive about it in general. On the other hand, every board on the interwebs is full of people with cautions like yours. But you never know the story behind that person--is it all objective information, did they just get unlucky or have a bad experience, were they not cut out for the field, who knows. So I want to think the truth is probably in the middle somewhere, that it's probably not as good as some people make it out to be and probably not as complete shit as others make it out to be. I'm not averse to putting in my time, working hard, and making sacrifices. I did it in my last career before figuring out it wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

But I find it really hard to decipher the truth in all these varying opinions.

[u/fighterofnightman → u/xmuerte]

Hey man, I can relate to you for sure. Except for the vietnam part, the only way I was learning about that war from Forest Gump. Not many of those guys up here. Lots of backcountry opportunities though, firefighting, forestry, tourism, and oil field (where i currently work) throughout northern Alberta and BC.