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So, I have another post about becoming a pilot which was bombarded with neg comments...lol. But that is all good.

 

BUT, I am still pushing forward regardless of the info but the first step is losing weight. I have went from 287lbs to 260lbs so far.

 

My question is, while I am losing weight....is there anything I could be doing to better prepare myself? Maybe a book to read? something online to study? I dont know.......

 

Anyone have any legit suggestions?

 

Thanks!

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So, I have another post about becoming a pilot which was bombarded with neg comments...lol. But that is all good.

 

BUT, I am still pushing forward regardless of the info but the first step is losing weight. I have went from 287lbs to 260lbs so far.

 

My question is, while I am losing weight....is there anything I could be doing to better prepare myself? Maybe a book to read? something online to study? I dont know.......

 

Anyone have any legit suggestions?

 

Thanks!

Study material:

 

Student Pilot Guide

https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/media/student_pilot_guide.pdf

 

Helicopter Flying Handbook

https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/helicopter_flying_handbook/

 

Weight and Balance Handbook

https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/media/FAA-H-8083-1.pdf

 

Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge

https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/phak/media/pilot_handbook.pdf

 

Online Aviation Charts

https://skyvector.com/

 

Private Pilot Knowledge Test Prep

https://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/private-pilot-test-prep-asa.html

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My husband is the enthusiastic helicopter pilot in our family, but I enjoy learning about the helicopter industry since it is something he enjoys so much and I regularly visit this forum to help me better understand aspects of his career. That being said, I just read him your question, and he said that for starting out, www.mypilotstore.com has an ASA Private Pilot Helicopter Kit that would be beneficial. If you wanted to spend about $75 more, get the Deluxe Private Pilot Helicopter Kit with DVD. He also says to purchase a good Aviation weather book, such as the Aviation Weather: FAA Advisory Circular AC 00-6B. Study those books as much as possible on your own.

 

And as a side note, embarking on the path to become a career helicopter pilot (that earns a liveable wage) is a very long and tough road. I think a few people already talked to you about that in your previous post but I just wanted to share my two cents as well. My husband is now at the point he can earn a reasonable salary as a pilot, but we had to make many sacrifices along the way, including moving across the country to an area neither of us wanted to live, so he could get those coveted PIC hours. And it took about seven years to be able to be at this point. Some people might be able to get to a liveable-wage job more quickly than that, but this was our story. Perseverance was the key for my husband to get to where he is today.

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"My husband is now at the point he can earn a reasonable salary as a pilot, but we had to make many sacrifices along the way, including moving across the country to an area neither of us wanted to live,

 

Wife of a pilot, (nice photo, by the way), your husband always had a career in front of him as the king of England, but he chose to fly helicopters.

 

And moving to Buckinghuge Palace is a move that a lot of people would like to make, so stop complaining and be a good little princess. He will be king soon enough.

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Well, the first thing I would do would be to get married, and then adopt an odd, detached attitude about the industry and get your wife to make all future posts for you. You can claim that you're "too busy" to engage in silly activities like posting on social media. Pfft! Useless,I tell you. It's for amateurs and old, washed-up has-beens with nothing better to do. You know, like Avbug.

 

Ah, but seriously... The most important thing you can do right now is to immerse yourself in helicopters like that drowning baby chasing the dollar bill on the Nirvana album cover. Read everything you can about them. When I was a teenager we didn't have computers - I had to go to the damn library and take out a friggin' BOOK... a book like "Chickenhawk" which I intitially thought was about something else entirely. It turned my life around and got me interested in helicopters instead of...well...umm..."other" things if you know what I mean ;-) And maybe you don't, which is probably better.

 

Aviation magazines of the day were notoriously anti-rotary-wing. FLYING Magazine only wanted to do stories on big, manly IFR helicopters. They did not take little helicopters seriously. I had three little helicopter stories published in FLYING in the 1970's. So in the 1980's I pitched a story to the editors of FLYING about helicopters in support of the oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico. They rejected my version and suggested that maybe one of their editors could come down and fly with me and do a "proper" story. As if! I basically told them they could kiss my ass. That was the last contact I had with anyone at FLYING. Bastards. I write just as good as any of them hacks. Richard Collins...feh! And of course FLYING totally ignores helicopters to this day. But if you want to learn about airline and rich-guy corporate fixed-wing flying, FLYING is your place to go!

 

Then there was ROTOR&WING Magazine, but back in the 1970's it wasn't very good. Fortunately, helicopter magazines have come a long way since then. Now we have some pretty good ones. Of course there's a ton of useless crap you can learn online at sites like THIS one. And some of it might be true! There is also a "Rotorheads" section on a site called PPRUNE.org but it is populated by a bunch of smug, self-important foreigners with puffed-up egos and an anti-American attitude...and one or two from the U.S. (no names, please!) who like to stir the poop and "wind them up" as they say.

 

Very helpfully, Hand_Grenade_Pilot already posted the links of the pertinent pubs you should obtain and start reading. There really is a sh*t-ton to learn about these wacky machines and how they fly. They say that you never stop learning, and baby, it's true. Even after all these years (decades?) in the industry I'm still learning new stuff...or re-learning stuff I knew once upon a time...or un-learning some things that I thought I knew but was wrong about. In other words, if you want to be a professional helicopter pilot, it can't be a part-time or casual thing. You have to live it, and I mean LIVE IT...like a doctor studies medicine, also something that cannot be done part-time or on a "Gee, I think I'd like to do that some day!" basis.

 

You have to be conversant about things like how the R-22 rotor system is not a typical "teetering, underslung" two-blade rotor, and how it differs from a Bell 47 rotor. You have to be able to talk about the various anti-torque configurations: tail rotor, NOTAR and fenestron, and the advantages and disadvantaged of each. You should become familiar with esoteric terms like "ETL," "LTE," "VRS" and "SWP." I mean, there's so much junk to learn - it never ends! But learn it, you must if you want to call yourself a helicopter pilot in a bar someday. And if you ever do, expect the chick (some sassy, skinny little thang that looks like she needs a good...meal) to cock an eyebrow, size you up and say, "You? A helicopter pilot? Suuuure you are. What are you, 220...230? Yeah, right...what do you fly, CH-53K's?"

 

Women...so sarcastic these days...

 

And you'll go, "Damn, I knew I shouldn't have come into this pilot bar. I should've gone into that biker bar next door. But...hmm...come to think of it...that place had a whole lot of guys dressed in leather, but I didn't see any motorcycles parked outside! Meh- should've gone in there anyway. They were playing much better music than this dump."

 

So anyway, very simply that's what you need to do. Very simply.

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Hahahahaha!! I love your posts Nearly Retired. Lol. Always have me ccracking up! And thank you for the info.

 

Thanks everyone for the tips and i will get started. I tried finding some youtube videos of ground trainging/classroom type vids but really couldnt find any popular ones.

 

Wife, i am 40, single and no kids so the only possible problem i can see will of course be financial. I am able to move to wherever and do whatever it takes as far as changes go! :)

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So, I have another post about becoming a pilot which was bombarded with neg comments...lol. But that is all good.

 

BUT, I am still pushing forward regardless of the info but the first step is losing weight. I have went from 287lbs to 260lbs so far.

 

My question is, while I am losing weight....is there anything I could be doing to better prepare myself? Maybe a book to read? something online to study? I dont know.......

 

Anyone have any legit suggestions?

 

Thanks!

 

You actually have two problems…. As mentioned, one financial and the other is your weight. Your weight will directly affect your financial. That is, heavier students require training in more expensive helicopters. This is a fact. Based on your other posts, this means you’ll need to borrow a significant amount of money well beyond 80K. I’ll speculate upwards around 100K. I suggest you speak to your wife about going into debt for a substantial amount of money with ZERO guarantee of a job. Again, by your posts, you seem to have a great deal of interest. Therefore, if you can get to around 200lbs, this would making a decision about this endeavor a little easier. Also, go talk to working pilots, face-to-face, about what it takes before you jump in, ala, take what you read here with a huge grain of salt. No one here is a friend with your best interest in mind. Lastly, as a trucker, maybe look into driving for a helicopter company which required a fuel truck to follow the helicopter around. As such, you’ll get a gist of what of takes to succeed in this business.

 

Good luck.

Edited by Spike
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I will put my two cents into all of this, not that it's going to matter. I would look at it from how much debt you are in right now and how much debt you are going to take on! Spike is right on target here. You really need to look at not only what jobs are around but the jobs for 150 to 200-hour pilots. Then how are you going to service that debt? There are lots of 150 to 200-hour pilots chasing those jobs, so the pay is going to be poor. You are also 40 years old, and while I am not skinny I am a good 70 lbs lighter than you. It all comes down to money there is no getting around it, either you have the cash to drop or you borrow it that is pretty much how you are going to finance flight school. With the binge of borrowing that was done a decade ago and the lack of jobs, your real problem is not finding a job but a lender that will lend you the money. Right now they say there is a shortage of pilots, well I been hearing that chestnut for 44+ years now. I don't buy it but that is just me. I would suggest you see your doctor, and get a real good physical done, not do you hear thunder and see lightning kind of deal, blood work stress test, eyes checked. With your weight, I can think of a couple of things that might cause you some problems High Blood Pressure, and Adult onset diabetes. I am type 2 diabetic and I still can fly but I have been flying for over 30 years before being diagnosed. It's an issue. I am 64 years old so my flying is coming to a close it's just a question of time. I am in my 7th year with this issue and the kind of things I need to do in order to maintain my medical. I don't mean to discourage you in any way, just don't let the Idea of flying cloud your judgment! Also, you want to sit down with a good accountant to really go over the finance part of this whole thing. You don't want to get blindsided.

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Hahahahaha!! I love your posts Nearly Retired. Lol. Always have me ccracking up! And thank you for the info.

 

Thanks everyone for the tips and i will get started. I tried finding some youtube videos of ground trainging/classroom type vids but really couldnt find any popular ones.

 

Wife, i am 40, single and no kids so the only possible problem i can see will of course be financial. I am able to move to wherever and do whatever it takes as far as changes go! :)

Try this guys program, he also uses Enstroms, the helicopter a big guy like you should get to know.

 

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