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Beaten to death question, unique situation.


Bazzard

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Hello all, new to the Helicopter forum world but not to the forum world. My question i'm sure has been beaten to death and i will hear about it in the "use the search function" comments however my situation is unique in my opinion. I am looking to build a career as a commercial helicopter pilot but i am finding very mixed reviews regarding employment opportunities from everything i read. Alot of posts are outdated and seriously biased.

 

A little background, I'm a 26 year old US resident and Australian Citizen that lives in SW Florida (been state side for roughly 15years making me eligible for US citizenship) Australia allows every citizen a certain amount of money towards education, after using a portion towards my bachelors in business management I still have more then enough to peruse a commercial pilots license. Currently I am the owner of of a 30yr established mechanical small business that i have successfully owned, operated and built for the past 5 years. Contrary to popular belief small businesses at least in my field are rarely more then buying your self a job, I am not complaining, it pays all the bills but not terribly much more, however allows a lot of freedom to peruse other avenues. With a wife and 2 kids the military is not an option for me any longer and i would like over the next 8years to be flying and making a reasonable salary from doing so. I have always loved aviation and had a great "feel" for things i operate, at a younger age i worked my way through the Civil Air Patrol ranks and gained plenty of hours in a fixed wing but i don't enjoy fixed wing and CAP doesn't enjoy helicopters.

So to wrap up I have the ability to have my $74k AUD education paid for, the option to leave my steady "day job" to fly whenever within reasonable range of home but I can go for my Masters and do something that doesn't thrill me, is there work readily available in the helo world?

Thank you Chris

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Is there work readily available? If you're in the right place at the right time, happen to bump into the right person, and he likes you,...maybe?

 

If I were you, I'd get my private license and just rent or buy an R22 to fly around for fun on the weekends. :)

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Is there work readily available? If you're in the right place at the right time, happen to bump into the right person, and he likes you,...maybe?

 

If I were you, I'd get my private license and just rent or buy an R22 to fly around for fun on the weekends. :)

 

Thank you for the input, Aussie will only cover the commercial/private license not just private but i could do my private here if i went that route. Im curious what is an actual realistic figure to rent a r22 for a afternoon? Any ideas on getting the US to recognize my Aussie license i assume some equivalency test?

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I don't know anything about license conversions, but if Bristow is still in Florida I believe they used to do that stuff?

 

As for renting, I pay $270 per hour which includes fuel. However I live in overpopulated and overpriced California, Florida is probably cheaper.

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  • 1 month later...

Bazzard, I'm in Naples also with an R44 at $550/hour and an R22 at $300/hour. We train all six ratings and can put together a program that gets you to a guaranteed job with us. All that train with us get a job when you meet the insurance requirements of 300 hours and Instructor. We have lower training rates ($250/hour) after you get your private rating as our costs become a lot cheaper. I can tailor a program to you and offer you bank financial aid or private financial aid (me). I started with R22's in 1986 over by Miami but have the entire state of Florida covered with R22's as I started this little boat photo business in 1981 and went to helicopters five years later. Some helo jobs pay very well and most helo pilots are following there passion which is rotor wing. Most rotor wing pilots are very happy and don't come to these forums anymore because of all the negativity. Google Heli Training Naples and you'll find my cell of 561-346-2816.

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