caribcopter Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 I am new here and love the website so far. So I am very interested in flying helicopters. My plan is to go to ERAU-Prescott for 4 years (I am in HS right now), and then become an instructor there (they usually hire past students there). I was thinking of going there, and I am aware of the cost, and then save to start a business eventually for tours around the Caribbean, or work there if I could finda job. I think the only thing stopping me is something that will make up my mind. I understand that if I go to ERAU, I AM going to be flying helicopters. If anybody has something to say that will make my mind, please share wether it is and experience of your first flight, why you like flying, etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r22butters Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Don't base your entire plan on them hiring you after graduation. I believe ERAU uses Universal Helicopters, and even if they hire you, that doesn't mean there will be any students there for you to teach(I met someone in that situation, he eventually had to seek work elswhere). Other than that, ERAU is a nice campus, although there were only three girls there when I attended. Get a 'useful' degree while you're there, you'll probably need it to help pay the bills for a long time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggbeater Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 (edited) I am new here and love the website so far. So I am very interested in flying helicopters. My plan is to go to ERAU-Prescott for 4 years (I am in HS right now), and then become an instructor there (they usually hire past students there). I was thinking of going there, and I am aware of the cost, and then save to start a business eventually for tours around the Caribbean, or work there if I could finda job. I think the only thing stopping me is something that will make up my mind. I understand that if I go to ERAU, I AM going to be flying helicopters. If anybody has something to say that will make my mind, please share wether it is and experience of your first flight, why you like flying, etc... I hope you inherited a lot of money because going to ERAU AND flying helicopters is going to set you back quite a bit. ERAU Costs With four years at ERAU running $160,000, now you have to figure out how to pay for flight training. Most flight programs up there average $80,000 to $100,000 for Private, Comm, Instrument, CFI and CFII. Scholarships are limited, and there is obviously no guarantee of getting a job after. I am a "Riddiot" Alumni, and if I had to do it over, I would not go that route. Now I can't speak as to your financial or scholarship situation, but I'm not sure where graduating with up to $260,000 in loans is going to allow you to buy an aircraft for a tour company. I'm not trying to discourage you, but there are much cheaper ways to get to where you want to be. Unless you have a full ride or ROTC scholarship, I would steer clear of ERAU. Edited March 23, 2011 by Eggbeater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribcopter Posted March 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Anything that will make me want to fly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodoz Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Anything that will make me want to fly?It's tough making it in any rewarding career. If you think a career in flying helicopters is too hard to pursue, many professional careers will be beyond your reach. Even if you have all the spirit and determination in the world, you should also have a plan B, otherwise you're just taking a gamble. (they usually hire past students there)Just to clarify this...it probably means "they only hire past students". ERAU and most every other school produce more flight instructors than they need. Find a school that has lots of private pilot students or one that has established networks to place the flight instructors they can't hire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBuzzkill Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 (edited) If anybody has something to say that will make my mind, please share wether it is and experience of your first flight, why you like flying, etc... Since you haven't gotten an answer to this yet I will give you my experiences. My first flight was in a Cessna 172. I had grown up loving anything that flies and always knew I would become a pilot. When I was 18 I found an Ad in the paper for an introductory flight out at the local airfield. I talked my mom into paying for it and off I went. It was a great flight and the flying concepts came easy to me, especially because I had played a lot of MS Flight Simulator so I was familiar with all the instruments and stuff. Anyways, I spent the next few years trying to earn my private license. My parents funding of my flight training stopped at my intro flight so I was on my own. I literally ran out of money at the end of the summer 2008 and in Washington if you're not done training by fall you run out of weather to fly VFR until next spring. So I mulled things over. I had been considering flying for the military for a few years but didn't know about the Army WOFT program. I hated college so when I found out I could go fly for the Army without a degree you bet your ass I was researching everything there was to know about how to get in. Anyways, got accepted and figured I should take a least one helicopter flight before heading to basic training. That way I knew what I had to look forward to. I went down to the local helicopter school and signed up for an R-22 intro flight. It was awesome. We took off out of Boeing Field in Seattle right from the taxiway (something I was not used to doing in a fixed wing) then we hovered over I5. I was inching back in my seat as I watched the airspeed drop off - 50kts...40kts...30kts...20kts...0kts :0 !! We got back up to speed and he gave me the controls. The little thing was way touchier than the Cessnas I was used to flying! I really felt like I was in control of the thing though which is the difference between a heli and an airplane. Airplanes are stable and if you trim them they fly themselves, you are basically just controlling them like a 3 dimensional boat. A helicopter wants to flip on its side and spin around and fall out of the sky, so you have to tell the little f*cker what to do. LoL! We did a loop around the Space Needle, cruised over the Ballard Locks, and then shot an approach right back to the same taxi way I took off from. Then he let me try to hover and I was clueless. I'd do one thing and the opposite would happen. I had no idea what was going on. Then we touched down and I added my half hour of R-22 time to my logbook. It's been almost 5 years since I first got in a 172, and I'm still a student. It hasn't all been fun and surely not easy but I wouldn't have it any other way. I have really enjoyed the past 5 years flying and working in aviation and I look forward to the rest of my career. And my advice to you is don't spend the money on ERAU or any of that crap. Do it as cheaply as you can - go to community college, take advantage of any scholarships you can find for flight training and school, go work out at the airport and try to build connections. I got lots of free flight time just by working out at the airport as a line guy and by being friendly and giving it 110%. Edited March 24, 2011 by SBuzzkill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r22butters Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 ...I AM going to be flying helicopters. If anybody has something to say that will make my mind, please share wether it is and experience of your first flight, why you like flying, etc... I like flying because of the view(especially at night), the freedom to go almost anywhere, and the ability to get away from everyone. I chose helicopters because they're as close to a flying car(a childhood dream)as I'll ever get, and flying airplanes made me nauseous. A few seconds into my intro flight he picked us up into a hover, and even at only two feet above the ground, I looked around and said to myself, "This is awesome!". I never said(or felt)that,in an airplane! I only decided to TRY an make a career out of it because I thought it might be a cool job? However, if I could find a job(doing anything else)that allowed me to fly even just once a month, I'd take it, and say "To Hell with Commercial Aviation!". Good Luck Dude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADRidge Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Why did I start flying? Short answer: I took a heli tour and it was friggin awesome! Long answer: I bleed 100LL. My paternal grandfather was a P-51 fighter pilot in ww2. My other grandfather was army air corps, later career Air Force and flew as a hobby. My grandmother, my uncles, my aunts, my mom.... all either have a rating or some stick time under their belt. It was just the natural order that I go and do this helicopter thing. It can be incredibly challenging, both mentally and emotionally. There will be times you'll never want to see a helicopter again, and you'll wish you could forget you even heard the word. There will be times where you're amazed you know how to tie your own shoes, you'll feel so clueless. And yes, there will be times when you'll be afraid, but not many. If you're the kind of person who loves doing five things at once while carrying on a conversation, listening to the radio AND thinking five minutes out (okay so really 8 things at once) then this is for you. Helicopters are all about ordered chaos at times, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Learning to be a pilot will be one of the top ten most difficult things you will do in your life, and it never gets easier. You get your Private license, and you think to yourself (or say it out loud) "Man, I have this flying thing figured out!" Then you go to Instrument and Commercial, and it's a whole 'nother ball game. You get through that and you think to yourself (or say out loud) "Man, I have this flying thing figured out!" Then you go through CFI/CFII... you get the idea. Don't get me wrong, I love this flying thing. I may never figure it out completely, and I really hope I never do. It's a blast, and even the worst day I've had flying was still a mighty fine day. That is why I fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBuzzkill Posted March 25, 2011 Report Share Posted March 25, 2011 Then you think you've got it down and you're an expert and BAM you get the crap scared out of you by something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.