Helicopter pilot schooling may be in the somewhat near future

[Jumpkix]

I am still active duty and my contract doesn't end till November next year. However, the military is down sizing and offering a decent check to get out. For me being an E6 with 11 years in I may be able to get a 45k check. My wife can work while I go to school full time. From what I'm seeing I can get my private license, commercial rating and CFI (cert. flight instructor) within 8-10 months. It won't take me much to sell off some toys/tools and cook up another 10-15k. I may even be able to pay cash for the whole school.

I have also been thinking of getting my private license out of the way before I get out. I make a lot more than my wife can so I can easily pay cash for my private cert which will run about 12k.

The GI Bill won't pay for the private cert but I can use it for the commercial cert. the good thing about using the GI Bill once I'm out is that it will not only pay for my school but it will also give me an additional ~$1500 per month to help pay for housing.

Once I'm done with school I will definitely need to get my hours up so I can get experience and be able to fly bigger aircraft and make more mulah. It seems like that's the harder part because not a lot of companies hire rookie pilots due to insurance reasons. There are companies out there that will pay 20-30 bucks an hour for a rookie pilot though for small jobs. That's not a bad way to log hours. I can also use some of my time as a flight instructor to log hours and it will help reduce the cost of me getting flight time.

I would definitely pay cash for your private cert if you can. Personally, I hate borrowing money unless it's for a house. But this also gives you flexibility to change course again if you want to. Given all your flight experience in the military, I think you're pretty set on what you want to do and you're not like majority of people who say they want to spend a pile of money to go do something they might like, and then decide afterwards that it's not for them. Again, I know that's not you, but it's always nice to have options, and not have debt or payments.

Just make sure that getting out is the right decision for you. If it is, make sure you have a well thought out backup plan. Be very diligent about setting aside some money in retirement every month. (I'm not trying to come across as condescending at all, but it's scary how little people invest in retirement.) Again, you're a smart dude and I don't think that will be an issue you will encounter. I think the biggest challenge will just be hustling and working your butt off to get certified and start logging hours. However, if there's huge demand for heli pilots in your area, then you should be a slam dunk candidate with your resume and experience, assuming you don't wear a tuxedo to the interview...

PS-As far as the PNW goes, I know they are always hiring pilots like crazy. I work next to the Hillsboro airport, and there are tons of students training there constantly in the Robinson R22s. Seems like job placement is excellent, but you would have to do your own research on that.

 

[jrob]

I initially moved to Houston to go to flight school in 2007. At that time there was a tremendous demand for helicopter pilots and there was a company called silver state that was taking advantage of that. That ended up being a saga that I dodged a bullet on ad it were.
The cost was around 80,000 for a commercial licence I believe at which you have the FAA minimum requirement of 200 hours. To be emoloyable/trainable on turbine aircraft you need 1,000 hours as you probably know. And yea what most people do is become flight instructors, as that pays you for your time rather than having to pay for it. At the time I had an extremely hard time finding student loans or any type of reasonable loan that would allow me pay for school since there was no degree attached to the program. I recently went on a ski trip with two guys that were just finishing up their 1000 hours as flight instructors, one of whom just got a job flying tours in the grand canyon. They were telling me a lot of flight schools are attaching themselves to colleges so their program can include a degree in aviation, thus making it easier for financial aid and loans. Another good friend of mine is attending helicopter flight school in salt lake, and will come out with a degree in aviation of some sort. He qualified for a grant of sorts since he was the first of his family to attend college. The degree aspect made that possible, so it appears to be getting a little easier these days.
may not have told you anything you don't already know, sorry, but that's what I know on the subject.
Still kinda wish I would have found a way to go through with it, but I love my current job anyway.

 

[SV_Dude]

So the flight schools here in Colorado are quite a bit more expensive than the one I have been looking at in Washington. After taking some serious looks at the finances and time frames, I think I can still go to Washington and finish the whole school without taking out a single student loan and still going to school full time. That means that I can still focus 100% on school and get done with school asap and start building hours.

Basically, this means that operation GTFO of the army is in full force. Hopefully I can be out in about 6 months and start the next chapter of my life. I'll miss some parts of the army but I'm more looking forward to the freedom of being a civilian and building a new life.

 

[bofa]

Good luck man - I'm looking forward to hearing updates.

 

[Ed Rooney]

Just remember, since the Army is downsizing, you will be competing with high-time former Army Warrants for jobs.

 

[MyHigh]

I was told by a pilot (private sector) that the military pilots only are allowed to record flight hours when in a active duty assignment. So basically years of flight time during no war would be non eligible for logging time in the flight book,
Is this true?

Seems kinda jacked up if you ask me

 

[Ed Rooney]

I was told by a pilot (private sector) that the military pilots only are allowed to record flight hours when in a active duty assignment. So basically years of flight time during no war would be non eligible for logging time in the flight book,
Is this true?

Seems kinda jacked up if you ask me

Not true. They log time just like anyone else.

 

[BrianSD_42]

olbond just curious but why not pilot school? Professional helicopter pilots can fly planes.

My friend's brother flys Cobras and in his personal time rents planes for personal flights.

As far as demands for helicopter pilots as a paying career, well wouldn't traditional pilot school be the way to go.

Pilots are definitely in demand. But are helicopter pilots? I wouldn't imagine they let the new H-pilots fly tourists. Where is the job market?