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Attention: Old pilots, current pilots and ESPECIALLY new pilots. Something you might want to know about...


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Flying privately is the easiest form of flying there is, any bonehead can do it,...which is why I have been for fifteen years! Making it impossibly expensive to become one will not increase your pay!

 

,...but making it impossibly expensive to become a commercial pilot might.

 

You'd also have to convince the military to stop making pilots also, since that's where much of the surplus comes from.

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Prez Thump, you must have gone to a really bad school, because any private pilot I put my name to was able to aviate, navigate and communicate. They could fly to a consistent standard and not be a risk to anybody. As long as they kept current and kept learning.

 

Remember that 40 hrs is the minimum acceptable for a genius pilot, most will take a little longer, but if they pass a proper checkride, they are safe to fly. If any idiot gives them a licence when they are NOT safe to fly, that idiot belongs in the white house.

Completely disagree and Im sure many of us are on my side. I instructed for 1000+ hours of my career. No pilot is safe until theyre at 500 hours of flight time.

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Flying privately is the easiest form of flying there is, any bonehead can do it,...which is why I have been for fifteen years! Making it impossibly expensive to become one will not increase your pay!

 

,...but making it impossibly expensive to become a commercial pilot might.

 

You'd also have to convince the military to stop making pilots also, since that's where much of the surplus comes from.

Very good point. And yes... the standard for commercial pilot should be minimum 500 hours. Im just sick of this sh*t. Something needs to change and the FAA needs to face reality

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Im regretting it too. Its the worst choice Ive ever made for a long term career. I dont take back the experience and the beautiful places Ive flown. I just despise how pilots are treated. At least Maverick pays their pilots what they deserve when the work you to the bone. Thats the only company I know of other than some select off shore jobs or oversees contracts. But who wants to fly between RPGs and bullets wizzing by you? Anyone down to file a class action lawsuit against the FAA for allowing people to fly a helicopter at 40 hours? Its so unbelievably DANGEROUS, even passing their bs excuse for a checkride. If a 40 hour pilot that just passed his checkride had an actual engine failure, that would be the end of him and we all know it. So why not stand up and make a change !

Start a website that allows pilots to anonymously submit salary and benefit details from their company. I make X amount at Y company after Z years. Publicize it on the forums and in the helicopter community to make it the central info hub for pilot salary data. As pilots start to get specific data about what their colleagues make, it puts them in a better position to negotiate a higher salary. Not an original idea by any means, but very few helicopter pilots are posting on career websites like Glassdoor. A dedicated site to the helicopter industry could be more effective.

 

There are pay tables on this website, but they are outdated and are quickly losing usefulness; I believe the problem is that few pilots have access to their companys entire pay scale, nor know what the companys highest earning pilot is making. Thus, no one is submitting info. But allowing pilots to report their specific income (rather then every pay tier) allows more data to be collected and gradually build a complete table. As more and more pilots see that they are underpaid compared to a colleague or a competitor, it will drive them to negotiate raises. Over time, this gradually raises the bar across the industry.

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Greatly appreciated information. I think the only route at this point is to put pressure on the FAA about raising the hour requirement to achieve commercial helicopter pilot status. I believe when taking safety into consideration and what this is doing to our community, this shouldnt be a difficult decision to see some change take place. But then again, it is a government agency. Im going to speak to a lawyer tomorrow because Im fed up. I dont want any new pilot going thru what I had to go thru working my way up a slippery ladder. Its just not right and I have nothing to lose at this point. To all you corporate heads out there and to all you company owners, you should be ashamed of yourself for paying pilots our current wages and reaping the rewards at our sacrifice. Ill put something into motion and get back to all of you. Thank you for the support and ideas.

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You of all people should know that the only way to get people to notice something, is to tweet about it.

 

,...or you could have just mentioned it in the state of the union speech you were just giving,...? :o

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I instructed for 1000+ hours of my career. No pilot is safe until theyre at 500 hours of flight time.

Let me guess - you did your training, and instructor training, and were teaching others, while you had less than 1000 hrs?

 

THAT IS OUTRAGEOUS! PUT YOURSELF IN PRISON AND SUE THE FAA! YOU WERE DANGEROUS!

 

Or, you are just a troll like your avatar.

 

As for pay scales, 3 employers ago I was earning $720 per flight hour.

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As a pilot who is not a flight instructor who spent many, many, many years searching for work after getting my commercial with around 400 hours, I can tell you, that in my experience employers value CFI time far more than solo stick time gained as a private pilot.

 

If the requirement to become a commercial pilot was 500 hours then that new pilot would have a great deal of flight time that employers do not value,...trust me I know! Many employers view 500 hour non CFI's as "hot doggers with bad habbits" as one employer of 500 hour R44 ENG pilots told me once,...without having flown with me!

 

A 500 hour pilot with 300 hours of instruction given (and thus very little solo stick time) has a far better chance at landing a job, then a 500 hour pilot with 300 hours of solo stick time!

 

Seems that employers prefer pilots experienced in the "other" things involved with being a working pilot that a working CFI gets to do, but a non working time builder doesn't. One hundred percent solo stick time just doesn't seem all that high on their list.

 

,...in my experience.

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Very good point. And yes... the standard for commercial pilot should be minimum 500 hours. Im just sick of this sh*t. Something needs to change and the FAA needs to face reality

 

 

This putz is going on the ignore list, but I'll add a suggestion to ban his login and comments. Trolling is of no benefit.

Edited by avbug
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If you increase private pilot minimums to 500hrs you increase the cost of getting that license to around $125,000. Now a new pilot gets out of flight school with $250,000 in loans and gets the higher paying job you say is deserved only to discover they still have no money because they're in debt up to their neck.

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This place sure paints a grim picture of any potential future. I am a current student, and have been on here quite a bit researching through all of your insights. The only issue i have with this industry is the starting wages, i have a family, and starting out, i am not really sure that ill be able to support them, and manage my debt for school. I know i have to pay my dues, and I dont need to make tons of money, i just want a job that i can reflect on at the end of the day and be happy about and proud to have done it. Does anyone know if its possible to maintain two jobs while being an instructor? im sure its not the best idea to work two jobs and run yourself down, while trying to be fresh everyday to teach people not to kill you. I have no doubts of my abilities to make it being a pilot, but at the price of dragging my family out to the street to live while i build a career is terrifying! I typically take online opinions with a grain of salt, due to it mostly being complaints, however here seems to be almost only doom. Is there any light to gravitate towards, or do you just get to work with a bunch of bitter people everyday?? Advice and opinions welcome! Thank you Mr. Trump for your efforts at making a change.

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If you increase private pilot minimums to 500hrs you increase the cost of getting that license to around $125,000. Now a new pilot gets out of flight school with $250,000 in loans and gets the higher paying job you say is deserved only to discover they still have no money because they're in debt up to their neck.

Thats not going to happen though. No bank is going to give 250,000.00 to anyone for a trade school, especially a helicopter pilot. Lol. Think about it

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Thats exactly my point, the number of pilots will be reduced as it should be. But since we give out licenses like hot cakes at a dinner, all the pilots in the industry suffer. Its not safe and its not fair. If you want to be a pilot it should take 10 times the requirements that are currently set

With your plan every flight school in the country would close, because no one (not even VA benefit guys) would be able to afford it, leaving nothing but ex-military guys,...but they're all jumping ship for the airlines, so,...?

 

In ten years there are no more low timers left so ever 500 hour R44 tour company closes up, tour companies in the Grand Canyon, Alaska, Hawaii, and such go under because all their pilots have left for HEMS!

 

Twenty years goes by and the military finally switches to all drones, and commercial helicopter aviation ends because there's no new pilots anywhere to replace the retiring ones!

 

,...but you finally got that raise you sooooo deserve!

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With your plan every flight school in the country would close, because no one (not even VA benefit guys) would be able to afford it, leaving nothing but ex-military guys,...but they're all jumping ship for the airlines, so,...?

 

In ten years there are no more low timers left so ever 500 hour R44 tour company closes up, tour companies in the Grand Canyon, Alaska, Hawaii, and such go under because all their pilots have left for HEMS!

 

Twenty years goes by and the military finally switches to all drones, and commercial helicopter aviation ends because there's no new pilots anywhere to replace the retiring ones!

 

 

,...but you finally got that raise you sooooo deserve!

Interesting speculation, although I would respectfully disagree. People would be in school longer, it would be more expense, but the payout would be worth it. There would be far less accidents, far less people flying who shouldnt be flying today (we all know its true). The industry would definitely change. But its like the internet coming forth. We though it would take over everything but our world has adapted. As far as drones taking over pilot jobs, that will never happen in the helicopter industry. And if it did, there would be more drone pilot jobs available to people who can already fly. The battery technology is no where near where it has to be to cause any threat in the near foreseeable future. Instead of agreement with all the true stuff Im talking about, you can remain as part of the problem and get shafted your whole career. Flying an R22 or an R44 is a mom and pop shop operation. As far as the Grand Canyon tours go, the haulapai Indians control that. If they say no one can land there anymore, its over for everyone. Its a multi million dollar industry and there will never be a shortage of pilots to fly Grand Canyon tours. But if people had to pay more to train and train longer, that means less pilots and salaries and safety both go up.

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Thats exactly my point, the number of pilots will be reduced as it should be. But since we give out licenses like hot cakes at a dinner, all the pilots in the industry suffer. Its not safe and its not fair. If you want to be a pilot it should take 10 times the requirements that are currently set

Essentially your point is that only rich people should fly helicopters? They’re the only ones who will have the kind of money to pay for the training you think should be required. If they’re already rich enough to do that I doubt they will be leaving whatever job made them that money in the first place to be the new junior pilot somewhere.

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