Upper Limit, Salt Lake City, UT

[Flying Pig]

A turbine job waiting for you, DPE didn't charge you! Damn! Hello Mr. 1%!...can I have your autograph?

Don't forget about the 10 years I had to push a black and white before anyone at the air unit even knew my name.

[pilot#476398]

Don't forget about the 10 years I had to push a black and white before anyone at the air unit even knew my name.

 

I'll think about it while I'm driving boxes around on monday.

[Flying Pig]

Its just one of the many avenues into this profession. Some people foot the big bill and go the CFI route, some people join the military, some people get into law enforcement and hope they get selected to the Air Unit. Fortunately my gamble worked. If it hadn't, Id probably still be pushing a sled. I paid my way through FW and RW ratings just hoping Id get selected and it worked.

 

On the other side of the coin, When I was a unit training officer, I failed a commercial rated helicopter pilot out of our observer program because being an observer (Tactical Flight Officer) has nothing to do with being a pilot, but if you aren't good at it, you'll never get tapped to be a pilot. So there was significant risk involved in the LE route as well. Just because you have your ratings and manage to get in doesn't mean you'll ever cross over to the pilot side.

 

And yes… I do have more than 200hrs TT.

Edited January 18, 2014 by Flying Pig

[CavGruntXIX]

My thoughts from an entry level stand point are this:

 

Every recruiting video sells the dream, no marketing tool is going to go into great detail on hard tough it'll be actually going through training and them searching for a job.

 

Trust me when I tell you that we veterans who plan on using our hard earned VA benefits at ULA, or any flight school for that matter, are quite aware that to achieve "the dream" takes overcoming challenge and difficulty. The Marine Corps recruiting videos I watched prior to enlisting did not go into detail about exactly how hard it would be to live the life of a Marine infantryman, no one would enlist if that were the case. Most of us are smart enough to look around, research, and then roll the dice hoping the VA does not cut our funding prior to graduation.

 

I look at it like attending a university (which I will simultaneously be doing) no one promises you a high paying job the day after graduation, however you will have some new tools with which to head out into the job market. Through the VA programs we'll also be graduating with an Associates or Bachelors degree in addition to our flight ratings.

 

Pie in the sky marketing? Sounds like it. Criminal? Shady? I really don't think so, no one at the school has promised me anything other than an education. Worst case scenario is I end up with Business degree and have to find a job outside the helicopter industry.

[WolftalonID]

 

And yes… I do have more than 200hrs TT.

Me too!!!! Pick me pick me!!!!!

[SgtRandom801]

The SLCC location has some major flaws, and yes that video is selling a false reality, but to say that the VA students are buying into that false reality is in itself false. I would hope that every potential pilot would put the energy and effort into researching what this career path is truly like, especially if operators are looking for that type of individual that will push and motivate themselves. The problem is they are the only school in the area that offers helicopter ratings that the VA will fund. ULA has lost its SLCC and its West Memphis contracts, they do have the Cedar City location and they are definitely putting in the work to keep it there.