Interning

[eaw913]

I have recently started my freshman year in college and I plan to get my degree before I send in my WOFT packet for the Army. I need to start looking for a job so I can get my own place next semester, and I wanted to look into doing some type of internship in the helicopter industry if possible.

 

I am planning to visit the local airport near me soon and see what they have, but I am unsure of how to approach this. I wanted to post on here and see if anyone has any advice for how to start and what to look for that could help me.

 

I decided that since I need a job, I might as well look for something I will enjoy and will possibly give me networking opportunities.

 

If anyone has any advice, I would greatly appreciate it. My location is Atlanta, GA, so if anyone knows of local opportunities let me know!

 

Thanks,

Elliot

[r22butters]

I have inquired about internships several times, and as far as I have seen, they don't exist,...at least not for pilots!

 

Your best bet is to just go down to your local airport and ask various operators if they would hire you to fuel aircraft, answer phones,...or whatever.

 

Good luck.

[eaw913]

That is basically what I have heard. And if you think about it, that makes sense. It is a very distinct industry!

 

I will do just that. As far as talking to operators, where do you go for that? The main office of the airport or what? I also am not really looking for or expecting an internship when it comes to being a pilot, but more on the mechanics side of things. I would enjoy learning how to work on helicopters as well as fly them. I figure it would be great experience before I join the Army.

 

I figure I can talk to the airport about that either way.

 

Thanks r22butters

[Gomer Pylot]

'Operators' are the businesses who actually do the flying, or provide services to those who do. The airport often doesn't do much, but you might be able to get a job fueling aircraft from the airport, depending on the situation. Sometimes a private company provides fuel, sometimes the airport does. There are usually companies on the airport that offer commercial aviation services, and they're usually the employers. They're called FBO's, short for Fixed Base Operators, and provide basic services for transient and local aircraft, or they may just offer charter services, and be a customer of an FBO. There are lots of different ways of doing things, and it can be very different at different airports.

[RagMan]

Try to pick up a job as a hanger rat. That is what I did at the latter part of my senior year in high school right before I joined the Army as a flight mechanic. All they had me do was wash/clean the helicopters, cold and hot fueled the helicopters, washed/cleaned the fuel trucks, swept floors, assisted the mechanics with working on the birds, moved helicopters in and out of the hanger, did some landscape work for the facility, etc. It was actually a pretty cool job. I was around helicopters every day which I absolutely loved. Got to go up a few times, even got to ride along on a couple jobs. It was that job that sealed the deal on me wanting to become a helicopter pilot.

 

Definitely a great part time job.

Edited September 28, 2010 by RagMan

[SBuzzkill]

I worked flight line for a few years full time. Some days I hated it, most days I loved it. I still miss it sometimes, imagine that!