Heli 'Grunt' Related Jobs...?

[Heli_Girl]

Well, i am currently 18 and have been wanting to fly Helicopters for many years now. I have been looking into loans, schools, and everything else i can for the past 3 years. Still no luck. Since i am only 18 i do not yet have any credit so the loan companies don't even look at me. It looks like it will be a couple years before i can begin training, so i was wondering if looking for small grunt type work around Helis might be a good idea to help me get to know people, and maybe i can get a couple lessons that way.

 

Just wanted to see if anyone here has started out like that, or has any suggestions for me. Im in the Houston, Tx area and havn't been able to find any kinda jobs like this, but i will continue to look around. I would love doing any sort of job relating to these beautiful machines, and one day be able to fly them. If you have any suggestions or storys that may help me out i would love to hear them Or if you know anyone in the area looking for a cute little girl to come help out id appreciate it

 

Thanks

[67november]

Hey H_G, you seem to have the drive and the heart.

 

there are FBO's that do maintenance for the TV stations and police deparment helos.

they don't train but they might give you a part time job cleaning a/c. it never hurts to ask all they can say is no.

 

keep at it, you'll find a way.

[ascott20]

Aren't there some GOM companies like PHI and Airlog that have some ops out of houston? If so, try to see if you can land some kind of ground job working for them. The pay probably won't be good, but it'll get you into the industry and that's where the connections start.

 

Good luck and we'll see you on the other side.

[flingwing206]

If you want to travel, we need a line/desk worker for our helicopter & fixed-wing operation up here in beautiful sunny Minneapolis!

[Heli_Girl]

I know that there is PHI operating out of Galveston down here but that is about a 3 hour drive for me

 

I do have the heart and the drive...im just lacking the money lol. Right now im working as a cashier at WalMart and im looking for another job so that i can put some money to the side and save for training.

 

There is a small Helicopter flight school (Helicopter Services Inc.) out of Hook's Airport which is about 45mins from here. Im trying to get a small job there, but they don't seem to have any openings, and if they did they would have a student due the work There is also a new ....sorry to say it...Silver State Helicopter school that just went up at Hook's Airport also, and they are hireing for desk jobs or something like that, and i was going to look into it, but dont really want to have anything to due with that company

 

I would love to come help you out Fling, but there is no way that i would be able to come up there. I would love a little job like that. Just wish there was one available in my area.

[klas]

Well, i am currently 18 and have been wanting to fly Helicopters for many years now. I have been looking into loans, schools, and everything else i can for the past 3 years. Still no luck. Since i am only 18 i do not yet have any credit so the loan companies don't even look at me. ...Thanks

 

There is a thread here about university programs that offer aviation degrees with helo flying - since it is a college / university, I would think that you can get the usual student loans that other students get at other universities. Have you checked into that route ?

[gmsemel]

One hitch in the Uniformed Services will get you the GI Bill for flight training, one additional hitch will get you a bonus large enough to pay for the out of pocket expenses and you will be barely the grand age of 24. Or you could let the Army teach you to fly and not spend any money at all. Most of the so called grunt hanger ramp jobs are unskilled so the pay is going to be real poor. Even new helicopter pilots barely make enough considering the skill and training needed.

[mechanic]

Hey HeliGirl,

 

Its been awhile since I pm'd you. The National Guard has some good bonus options for non prior service enlisted. You will have to sign for 6 years though.

 

The Army has 20k sign on plus GI Bill 10692.00 and some MOS's have extra kickers (money). I noticed you like guns, so the Military Police might be an option for you, it has the 20k bonus now. Then you could go airborne law enforcement later, Home Land Secruity, Coast Guard, Customs, Border Partol, etc..? Ellington Field has AH-64's, Austin has H-60's, and Ft. Worth did have H-47's.

 

TX ARNG

 

The Air Force only has 15k sign on plus the GI Bill. The Air Force is big on education advancement. They have alot of options.

 

TX ANG

 

 

 

Just a thought,

 

Regards

[clay]

im in houston, the only GOM operations i know of close is houston helicopters down off 35 in manvel (but i dont think they fly much, most of there aircraft dont even have the rotors on them, anyone know the reason for that? out of business?) and then on 2004 down towards ...... i guess it would be dickinson? republic helicopters is building a new facility, hmmmmm. there is a texair at hobby, and i think a company called roen? or something like that. my flight instructor was talking about them... i live in port o connor half the week when im not in houston doing school, and i try and spend as much time around the GOM companys while im there. talking to people, meeting people, etc..

[Heli_Girl]

Thank you guys for the replies and suggestions. I am working on attempting one more time for a loan with my last option for a co-signer. Im keeping my fingers crossed. If it does go through i will be attending Helicopter Services Inc at Hook's airport in Spring, Tx. So far i havnt heard anything bad about them and they have been really nice and trying to help me.

 

If this does not work out then i will be looking into other options such as the services But i will fly one day, no matter what i have to go through.

[oldfathead]

Thank you guys for the replies and suggestions. I am working on attempting one more time for a loan with my last option for a co-signer. Im keeping my fingers crossed. If it does go through i will be attending Helicopter Services Inc at Hook's airport in Spring, Tx. So far i havnt heard anything bad about them and they have been really nice and trying to help me.

 

If this does not work out then i will be looking into other options such as the services But i will fly one day, no matter what i have to go through.

Heli-Girl,

I am currently attempting to get my private license and one thing suggested to me by other pilots is to get your A & P Mechanic license. Then you can trade work for airtime. An A & P Mechanic does work on aircraft so you can trade some side work for airtime later when you want to fly recreationally

[Eagle4]

Well, i am currently 18 and have been wanting to fly Helicopters for many years now. I have been looking into loans, schools, and everything else i can for the past 3 years. Still no luck. Since i am only 18 i do not yet have any credit so the loan companies don't even look at me. It looks like it will be a couple years before i can begin training, so i was wondering if looking for small grunt type work around Helis might be a good idea to help me get to know people, and maybe i can get a couple lessons that way.

 

Just wanted to see if anyone here has started out like that, or has any suggestions for me. Im in the Houston, Tx area and havn't been able to find any kinda jobs like this, but i will continue to look around. I would love doing any sort of job relating to these beautiful machines, and one day be able to fly them. If you have any suggestions or storys that may help me out i would love to hear them Or if you know anyone in the area looking for a cute little girl to come help out id appreciate it

 

Thanks

 

Hey there,

Just read you post and wanted to let you know that things are not always what you read. Flying has been something I have wanted to do all my life also. So this past December I heard Silver State's promo about their program and decided to try it out. I read all the neg's that have been posted on here and decided to call and check out the new school they opened in New Braunsfield...talked to a couple of students there and decided to take my chances. They are a young company and have encountered some areas that needed to be changed or fixed. What I have seen and experienced here in Dallas shows me that they are trying to improve their program and fix the problem areas that you have read about. This is a brand new program here in Dallas and in 3 months we have 4 helo's and another on the way... we get lots of opportunities to fly and all the CFI's attitudes are good. They all want you to be successful. The program is very tough and requires A LOT of outside studying. Average is about 3-4 hours of studying to each hour you are in class. They are very helpful and go out of their way to help you. They have been straight with us from the start and so far what they have said has been accurate. With a new location sometimes things are delayed but that really has not been a factor here. We were told that it probably would take 18 months to complete instead of 12. It all depends on how you do and what your schedule is as far as making time to fly. The majority of us work full time jobs during the day and do this on the side. So our other job interfers sometimes with the flight schedule. But, they have tried to work with us to find a time/times that work for us.

Just thought you might want to hear what I've encountered here. If it doesn't work out somewhere else you might want to just go and talk to them and see how it feels.

Good luck and don't give up.

[delorean]

Heli-Girl,

I am currently attempting to get my private license and one thing suggested to me by other pilots is to get your A & P Mechanic license. Then you can trade work for airtime. An A & P Mechanic does work on aircraft so you can trade some side work for airtime later when you want to fly recreationally

 

If you're trying to make money for flight training, DO NOT get your A&P. It takes a minimum of 2 years of 8hr classes 5 days a week OR 2.5 years of 8-hr a day "on the job" training. Once you get it, no one in their right mind is going to hire you to work on their personal aircraft unless you have factory training and/or previous experience on them. The best you'll do is work as a line mechanic in a repair station or other flight ops making $15-20/hr......IF you can get a job. Out of my class of about 10, only 2 got jobs after a year out of school. And we went to the most respected A&P school in the country--Parks College of Saint Louis University.

 

Continue working somewhere where you can make money RIGHT NOW.

 

I have my A&P/IA and I would probably be out of work or making 25% of my pilot pay if I actually had to use it. And I almost spend as much on the A&P as I did my helicopter training through CFI. ALL OF IT was worth every penny though!

 

You know some of these flight schools have college degree programs with government loans/grants. Employers like Wal-Mart and UPS have tuition assistance programs. As far as I know, you just have to be in a legit college to receive that.

[Etouffee]

Heli-Girl

 

First I want to say cool picks on the other thread. I'm a homer so this is the one I like the best.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e373/Hel...liExpo06129.jpg

 

A few things you might want to consider that I do not believe were mentioned above.

 

First is, I know at Air Log they have Tuition reimbersment. Not sure about any of the other GOM compnies but they may also. If you get on working ground crew or somthing of that nature and are on 7 and 7 then it will not only help pay for your schooling but you have a pretty good schedule to work with.

 

With you being in Victora you would be closer to Freeport or Rockport then you would Galveston and we have bases in both places.

 

I am in New Iberia, La at our main Base and I am told that there is a school moving to our airport (ARA) here. I was also told that our company and the school may be doing some working together.

 

Also there are some other support jobs you can look at besides ground support. A lot of bases use people to handle parts and there is also admin and im sure some other positons also that might also pay better then ground support.

 

My suggestion would be to contact any company that you might have intrest in and check if they have any entry level positons open and if they have a reimbersment program.

 

Hope this helps and it may give you somthing else to think about in your quest to become a pilot

 

BTW I am not a pilot but I will pick up a ride when ever possible!

[AndrewT]

If this does not work out then i will be looking into other options such as the services But i will fly one day, no matter what i have to go through.

 

You could always fly IN the service. With 60 college credit hours (which is about two years), you could apply for WOCS/WOFT (Warrant Officer FLight Training) in the active Army. Or you could get your full 4 year degree paid for by the Army if you do ROTC and I think the stipend is up to $400 a month, maybe even a little more. I think the latter option is better since you get a 4 year degree and have the option go guard or active duty.

 

Did you apply for line tech work at Hooks?

[West Coaster]

Could always try the oil fields of Northern Alberta. Starting wage is about CDN $50k a year and a grunt. With experience like that the helicopter operators up there would hire a pilot in a heart beat doing pipe line patrols. Work the fields on the ground for a year and pay off your heli training!