Phillips1 Posted October 22, 2011 Report Share Posted October 22, 2011 Hello All, Let me just start by saying that this forum is such a great source of information and that I've been stalking around here for a long time and finally decided to post. A little bit of background on myself. I'm 28 years old and live in central, MA. I was previously employed as a police officer for 6 years in a local city here. I had the opportunity to work with my father in the corporate world and I've been doing that for a couple months now. Its a great change from driving a car in circles for eight hours. Basically Ive always wanted to fly helicopters. Always loved em...yadda yada so I finally took my intro flight up in Nashua, NH and loved it. I have my next one scheduled for tomorrow at North Anodover and I'm pumped. I cant help but read all the horror stories on here about people getting through the hardest part of all this and having no work. It scares me to death but at the same time I feel like If i don't do this it will be the biggest what-if that will haunt me forever. Ive been throwing around all of the options...loans...pay as you go....army...marines....and I'm just having a very hard time deciding. I have my bachelors degree in crim justice which is pretty much useless except for quinn bill. I look to all of the knowledge in this forum to gather any and all info I can before pulling the trigger and doing this. Its not a matter of if, its a matter of when and how. Thanks in advance and Ill be talking to ya. Phillips . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred0311 Posted October 25, 2011 Report Share Posted October 25, 2011 Commission as an officer if you take the military route for school. Otherwise its a waste of your bachelors and the standard of living is so much better. But why not try to fly for the service? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary-mike Posted October 25, 2011 Report Share Posted October 25, 2011 Maybe seemes hard nosed, but why leave LE before pursueing this? People who have worked the streets seem to have the "leg up" on the competition for aviation units in LE. In case you didn't check my profile. " I am not and never claimed to be a proffessional pilot, all my knowledge comes from my own research and the awsome members of this forum" (or close to that). What ever the reason, never leave that part of your expirience out of your resume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Posted October 25, 2011 Report Share Posted October 25, 2011 (edited) Welcome to the forum. Long ago, I did a stint as a CFI at a company called BA Helicopters out of Nashua. To generate business, I’d head over to the collage across the street and place “Want a career as a professional helicopter pilot?” flyers on the car windows. Got a couple bites but it was real slow from what I was accustomed to. Especially for the hour-fifteen drive I had to do from Revere. Lessons learned…… In any case, I’d suggest keep your day corporate job and start out as a part-time student. What ever you do, DO NOT get a loan. This is a lose-lose proposition and the time is not right for this type of debt accumulation. Pay as you go and save when you can. If you have to, get another PT job to supplement your income. I know this sounds like a lot work, but if you’re not willing to commit to this extent, then you may want to reconsider. The military is a viable option for you since you have the degree. However, you must understand, if you choose this route, you will be a soldier first and a pilot second. If you have absolutely zero aspirations to become a soldier, then the civilian route is your only option. Having said that, I’ll always have the “haunt” you speak of when I decided not to join. Something to think about, long and hard…. Edited October 25, 2011 by Spike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillips1 Posted November 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Thanks for all the input i appreciate it. definitely alot of thinking ahead of me. but im leaning towards the more conservative take as many lessons as i can pay for every month approach so when im done in a few years i have 0 debt and can try and find work from there...we shall see! thanks again for the info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillips1 Posted November 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 to gary-mike: LE was great and I had alot of fun but I was definitely looking for a change as far as my day to day job went. i still have all the experience and I'm currently looking for part time LE work so i can keep my foot in the door. just going to have to buckle down these next few years and make this happen if i really want it, all there is to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Hughes Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Welcome, One of the members; Trans Lift, worked up in Mass for a while and he still lives there, although he didn't go to flight school there. Give him a shout, he might be able to give you some good info on schools in the area. If you're interested in looking further a field in the North East area, look at Northeast Helicopters in Ellington, CT. I have nothing to do with them, but I did work with quite a few guys that went and worked there. They all transitioned from instructing there to flying tours and charter in NYC. None of them had anything too bad to say about the place and considered it a good place to start their career. Definitely shop around when looking at schools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary-mike Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 to gary-mike: LE was great and I had alot of fun but I was definitely looking for a change as far as my day to day job went. i still have all the experience and I'm currently looking for part time LE work so i can keep my foot in the door. just going to have to buckle down these next few years and make this happen if i really want it, all there is to it. If you are interested in going towards a LE aviation unit, pm edspilot. He can mentor you through the process and help you out with questions and contacts. He is knowledgeable in not just LE as I used to think of it (highway patrol, big city police stations ect.) but also flying for the Federal government (Border patrol, DEA, FBI, ect.) I agree with Darren also. Trans Lift is a great guy, and I'm sure he would be happy to help out. I have not gone to visit Northeast helicopters, but I checked out thier site (looks like a fun group of people) I also talked with a nice gal from there while at Heli-success, she was happy with them, and had no complaints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trans Lift Posted November 18, 2011 Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 PM sent!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillips1 Posted November 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 Thanks for the info guys... As I mentioned to Trans I took one of my intro flights with Laura at North Andover and she was great...felt very comfortable and she let me fly the whole time doing alot of basic manuevering and such as well as about 15 minutes of hovering which was awesome once i got the feel of things....haha I will definitely look at NE Helicopters... thanks again everyone.. Phillips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillips1 Posted November 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 Commission as an officer if you take the military route for school. Otherwise its a waste of your bachelors and the standard of living is so much better. But why not try to fly for the service? Sorry I just saw this post now...lol Im giving it some serious thought trust me...just dont want to join for the wrong reasons ya know. I dont mind the idea of being a soldier first and hopefully getting my training out of it but giving up 4-6 years and dodging rpg's and such isn't really on my wish list ya know.... tough decisions for sure... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Posted November 18, 2011 Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 If you are interested in going towards a LE aviation unit, Not to butt in, but… With regards to the LE angle… The ALE sector is somewhat lacking in standards when it comes to pilot selection. How pilots are selected solely depends on the internal philosophy of a particular department. Simply put, each department does it slightly different. Therefore, if ALE is a goal, I always suggest gaining as much aviation experience possible prior to seeking, or entering into a LE gig. Furthermore, one should not become a Police Officer, Deputy, Trooper or Agent in order to facilitate a pilot career. If the goal is to fly helicopters for a living, then prepare for, and seek, a helicopter career….. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillips1 Posted November 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 im not sure that 6 years on a city PD would have much of an effect on a fed job anyhow but who knows...like you say, each department is different. Wont hurt to get the feelers out there and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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