Any helicopter pilots on here?

Sprocker101

Well-Known Member
I'm looking into training and have a few meetings coming up, but does anyone have a PPL or Commercial licence on here willing to give me an honest opinion if you make it your living or hobby.

Cheers
 
Sprocker,

I got my PPL(H) back in '99. Sadly I am colour blind so was never able to get my Commercial (CPL) but have spent a lot of time amongst struggling pilots on their way to a career. I had to let my licence lapse when I set up a new business back in 2009 and didn't have the time (or finances) to fly enough to stay safe and a couple of engine failures (one in particular) brought that home to me in rather dramatic style. I walked away with bruised ego and a bent chassis but otherwise I. One piece so a successful landing!

I loved every moment that I flew and would love to go back to it. There is nothing that I have ever done before or since that comes close to it.

As as a career choice, it is tough. Get your PPL, build hours, get your instructor rating, become an instructor to keep building hours and eke out a small living while you try and pay for your CPL. Charter work, (taxi driver) and teaching while you work towards your instrument rating. Now you become employable. Not sure what that costs today but it was the wrong side of £100k 15 years ago.

Jobs bs are fought over and so don't pay particularly well, right now with the oil sector cutting back, it has to be even tougher.

However, it is one hell of a way to spend your day. Honing your skills handling an incredibly complex piece of kit. Flying like fixed wing pilots never can and probably having one of the coolest jobs out there!

few can afford it, but they find a way. Everybody moans while they are getting there, I don't know of anyone who would willingly give it up as a career!

hedge
 
Hi Hedge,

Sounds pretty similar to most I have spoken too. I'm in a very lucky position where I can afford to train myself up fully, should I be competent enough of course....

I'm torn between property buying and letting and working in a job I don't enjoy, or taking a gamble on myself and making it work one way or another in a job I would enjoy doing, and hopefully prosper financial from in the long term..

Cheers
 
I don't know much about this, very little actually, but I do know that my brother who's an airline pilot says the bottom is dropping out of flying. Too many graduates being enticed into it for the glory instead of the money.
New pilots on a quarter of what he earns. That's not good if you're going up against that mentality.
 
Hi Hedge,

Sounds pretty similar to most I have spoken too. I'm in a very lucky position where I can afford to train myself up fully, should I be competent enough of course....

I'm torn between property buying and letting and working in a job I don't enjoy, or taking a gamble on myself and making it work one way or another in a job I would enjoy doing, and hopefully prosper financial from in the long term..

Cheers

I was never a heli pilot although I spent a lot of time as "crew" as a CAA & FAA Licenced Helicopter and Fixed Wing A & C Engineer for 20+ years, followed by 15 years in the oil & gas industry, so I have a foot in both camps. Life does not always have to be all or nothing, so why not split it? Buy and let some property which will always be worthwhile and just as important will be there if you don't make the grade. Having established yourself in property don't go for the job you think won't enjoy but for the flight training instead. If financially constrained it may take longer, and you won't ever make a fortune in driving or operating helicopters, however if you want to make money stick with property and fly (other people's, DON'T be tempted to buy your own) helicopters recreationally. As pointed out above the North Sea oil sector is shrinking, there are very few other opportunities if you are in Europe and lots of home grown competition elsewhere.
 
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Sprocker, I a, sure you have heard it said before. "If you want to make a small fortune, take a large one and invest it in an aviation business".

There are one or two successful charter businesses, but very very few people make any money in this space.

However, changes in the last budget are going to make buying and letting a very tough business also, tax on gross income without deduction for financing is going to have a huge impact on yields and potentially the market in general.

If if you can afford it, get your PPL(H), you won't regret it. Then decide whether you want to pursue it further. You will also meet lots of people in the industry as you get your ticket, that will help you form a view. At the least, you will have learned a new skill and had an extraordinary amount of fun. You can also use your helicopter to visit your properties around the country!
 
Sorry to disagree with several other replies but, in my opinion, flying for a living is a tedious (and now very underpaid) job that satisfies only certain peoples ego's.

100 people in a room - which one is the pilot? Easy, because he / she will tell you soon enough.

Paying near £100k in full cpl training fees to be paid £16k a year for First Officer with Ryanair (and others) does not make sense. Also, if they can fly war planes from behind a desk in Texas then how long will an on-board pilot be required?

The best flying I have had from a variety of aircraft is mountain / hill flying in a glider (sailplane to some). Flying from A to B to C then D with self loading cargo is no better than being a cabbie - but you do get nice epaulettes?

Also, after you have frightened yourself or crashed an aircraft you realise how flippant you have become with your life at a time when possibly your family needs you most.

Property will increase in value, a CPL will not. Buy property, live on the rent and do something you really enjoy. I found the buzz of flying very short term.
 
Hi Hedge,

Sounds pretty similar to most I have spoken too. I'm in a very lucky position where I can afford to train myself up fully, should I be competent enough of course....


Cheers
Whilst you are fortunate enough to be able to afford to train yourself to be 'qualified', you could never afford to become as experienced as the competition you will face. Imagine the amount of ex military rotary wing pilots that are out there with literally thousands of hours experience as well as low level night flying and instrument ratings backed with vast experience. Then consider that most of the senior employers in these companies are of similar background and would rather employ known quantities (especially if they know them personally as is often the case!) and you will realise that it is a very hard industry to get in to. The rig helicopters are taking big cuts as Fracking produces more energy resources. Police helicopters are taking cuts. I started flying helicopters quite late in my military career and quite simply didn't have enough hours or experience to compete with others leaving at a much younger age.
Have you considered a career in the military? You may as well get paid to do it rather than pay out!!;)
MS
 
I don't know much about this, very little actually, but I do know that my brother who's an airline pilot says the bottom is dropping out of flying. Too many graduates being enticed into it for the glory instead of the money.
New pilots on a quarter of what he earns. That's not good if you're going up against that mentality.

+1. I was a fixed wing instructor at a commercial flight school in the Midlands up until a few years ago. When I started flying in the mid eighties it was relatively easy to get a flying job, not so now. In the fixed wing world you can expect to pay for all your training including multi crew co-operation/jet orientation and then £28k for a type rating and then there's no guarantee. At a guess I'd say about 50% of the self-funded students that we had pass through between 2007 and 2012 are now flying with airlines.
If you're totally committed and have a few bob then perhaps, but it's a big risk.
CH
 
Thanks to everyone who has replied. It seems to be a big risk and the further I look into it, the more difficult it would seem to get into to make it financially worthwhile. However, my main aim is to give myself a career I will enjoy for the duration, obviously taking home some much needed money after the initial £££££ investment would be ideal.

I'm looking at all options including training abroad etc etc, but there seems to be a pattern here.

Cheers
 
Sorry to disagree with several other replies but, in my opinion, flying for a living is a tedious (and now very underpaid) job that satisfies only certain peoples ego's.

100 people in a room - which one is the pilot? Easy, because he / she will tell you soon enough.

Paying near £100k in full cpl training fees to be paid £16k a year for First Officer with Ryanair (and others) does not make sense. Also, if they can fly war planes from behind a desk in Texas then how long will an on-board pilot be required?

The best flying I have had from a variety of aircraft is mountain / hill flying in a glider (sailplane to some). Flying from A to B to C then D with self loading cargo is no better than being a cabbie - but you do get nice epaulettes?

Also, after you have frightened yourself or crashed an aircraft you realise how flippant you have become with your life at a time when possibly your family needs you most.

Property will increase in value, a CPL will not. Buy property, live on the rent and do something you really enjoy. I found the buzz of flying very short term.

Hi eyefore.
A First Officer can earn as little as £16k per year? :eek: That's £300 a Week! The Lass handing the Nuts and Beer out to the Punters will be earning that. I am shocked.

Yorkie.
 
Hi eyefore.
A First Officer can earn as little as £16k per year? :eek: That's £300 a Week! The Lass handing the Nuts and Beer out to the Punters will be earning that. I am shocked.

Yorkie.


Yes, but she doesn't get to walk through the airport with a cap and gold epaulettes on, that's what appeals nowadays ............ apparently.
 
That's £300 a Week! The Lass handing the Nuts and Beer out to the Punters will be earning that.

Yorkie.

If said lass is working for a cabin crew supply agency contracted to supply cabin crew to a lowco, and is based in say Lithuania, she probably needs to punt a fair amount of "tea, coffee, drinks, snacks?" to get that!
 
Another aspect to consider is the difference between flying for fun and for a living. Whether it's photography, gardening, driving or even deer stalking the romance of it generally dies to be replaced with an 'it's a job' attitude. To be a professional pilot of either rotary or fixed wing means high standards of skill, aptitude, regular testing, earlies, lates, and long days, and all in often crap weather day in day out. There's no 'don't want to do the Forties field run today / don't want to do the Nice today cos the weather's poor thanks boss'. There's a big, big difference between flying as a PPL(H)/PPL(A) and a CPL/ATPL(H)/(A). The required training is hugely costly and you do really need some aptitude to get to the point where you are comfortable and competent doing an imc approach at night to a rig in a snowstorm or a Cat3 approach to scandinavian airport at night in a snowstorm.

It goes without saying that enthusiam is a prerequisite but before you commit you need to research the jobs market thoroughly. As you know the North Sea business is slack so there probably aren't many jobs up for grabs and aviation generally is tight at the moment. You wouldn't be the first to invest everything and get nowhere so do your research first. Fixed wing is probably the way to go for the best chance of a career but sounds like it's not what you want. I have thousands of hours in both rotary and fixed wing as both a past military pilot and a recently retired airline pilot. Rotary is more hands on, though I only did a little bit of civil freelance on Jet Rangers prior to an airline job so can't comment really on the current commercial rotary world, but fixed wing airline stuff offers a better career I suspect in terms of salary and prospects. At the moment lots of pilots/few jobs equals low starting salaries and pay for uniforms etc but these things are cyclic - when business picks up so do salaries and conditions and after all you'll be in this for a career not for five minutes so will end up well up the salary scales.

Professional flying is not 'tedious' at all, but can be routine and hard work (yes really!!). After all, rolling inverted at 35000' and pulling through to a steep dive doesn't really help the nervous punter in the back (although fun!) and is frowned upon really. If you want all your flying to be fun you'll probably need to pay for it yourself.
 
If said lass is working for a cabin crew supply agency contracted to supply cabin crew to a lowco, and is based in say Lithuania, she probably needs to punt a fair amount of "tea, coffee, drinks, snacks?" to get that!

Only point I was really trying to make is that £16k is pretty bad for what would seem to be a highly skilled job with a lot of responsibility. I was very surprised.
Have you seen them trying to land in a cross wind at Leeds Bradford Airport? :D

Yorkie.
 
Another aspect to consider is the difference between flying for fun and for a living. Whether it's photography, gardening, driving or even deer stalking the romance of it generally dies to be replaced with an 'it's a job' attitude. To be a professional pilot of either rotary or fixed wing means high standards of skill, aptitude, regular testing, earlies, lates, and long days, and all in often crap weather day in day out. There's no 'don't want to do the Forties field run today / don't want to do the Nice today cos the weather's poor thanks boss'. There's a big, big difference between flying as a PPL(H)/PPL(A) and a CPL/ATPL(H)/(A). The required training is hugely costly and you do really need some aptitude to get to the point where you are comfortable and competent doing an imc approach at night to a rig in a snowstorm or a Cat3 approach to scandinavian airport at night in a snowstorm.

It goes without saying that enthusiam is a prerequisite but before you commit you need to research the jobs market thoroughly. As you know the North Sea business is slack so there probably aren't many jobs up for grabs and aviation generally is tight at the moment. You wouldn't be the first to invest everything and get nowhere so do your research first. Fixed wing is probably the way to go for the best chance of a career but sounds like it's not what you want. I have thousands of hours in both rotary and fixed wing as both a past military pilot and a recently retired airline pilot. Rotary is more hands on, though I only did a little bit of civil freelance on Jet Rangers prior to an airline job so can't comment really on the current commercial rotary world, but fixed wing airline stuff offers a better career I suspect in terms of salary and prospects. At the moment lots of pilots/few jobs equals low starting salaries and pay for uniforms etc but these things are cyclic - when business picks up so do salaries and conditions and after all you'll be in this for a career not for five minutes so will end up well up the salary scales.

Professional flying is not 'tedious' at all, but can be routine and hard work (yes really!!). After all, rolling inverted at 35000' and pulling through to a steep dive doesn't really help the nervous punter in the back (although fun!) and is frowned upon really. If you want all your flying to be fun you'll probably need to pay for it yourself.

I rather wish I hadn't seen this thread as I was convinced you guys lead a far more fulfilling and cabin fever-like life in the clouds!
9127cc41-0d7e-4328-9b61-8a0e08be5d7a_zpszrzz5uza.jpg

K
 
Oh yes forgot to mention that - there is a lot of fun too and some perks .........................allegedly;)
 
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