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Posted

Hey all,

 

Just want to say thanks for all the information and input eveyone puts on these boards. Newbie when it come to helicopters, trying to do as much research as possible before making a big decision. I've been told the best helo training I could get would be through the US Army, but in the translation from Solider to Civilian, how useful is that training? Would I be better off going to a Training School? Just trying to weight my opitions when it comes to training. US Army seems like a good choice, as it would be near impossible for me to get financed. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you

Posted

The US Army pays you to learn to fly... That is a good deal 7 days a week and twice on Sunday...

 

However, you do run the risk of playing in the sand box and coming home in a box, so that is a very personal decision.

 

If you cannot get financed on your own, it may be a moot point. I have plenty of people who come in my door who want to do this, but cannot pay for it. If you can't pay for it, then you can't do it.

 

Have you looked into UVSC? The cost is quite reasonable and getting loans for flight training with them is a lot easier than going direct (unless you've defaulted on a student loan in the past)

Posted

Do you have a 4-year college degree yet? If so you have 3 other military options: 1) Navy (don't get shot at much), 2) Marines (get shot at a lot more), or 3) Coast Guard (only shot at by drug runners). You get plenty of flight time for your first 9-15 years and training in a lot of other useful stuff like leadership and management.

 

As for the Army, the Army Reserve might be worth looking into. They still make the occasional trip to the sandbox but it would also allow you to pursue college or another job that will put food on the table.

Posted (edited)
Hey all,

 

Just want to say thanks for all the information and input eveyone puts on these boards. Newbie when it come to helicopters, trying to do as much research as possible before making a big decision. I've been told the best helo training I could get would be through the US Army, but in the translation from Solider to Civilian, how useful is that training? Would I be better off going to a Training School? Just trying to weight my opitions when it comes to training. US Army seems like a good choice, as it would be near impossible for me to get financed. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you

 

"translation from Solider to Civilian, how useful is that training?" The only issues I've observed in the transition from the military to civilian helicopter world is the fact that single pilot is the rule in the civilian world. One gets accustomed to that pretty quickly.

 

"Would I be better off going to a Training School?" If you can pay for it, the civilian route will get you your certificate (license), whereas getting a military flight school slot is very competitive. The apparent advantage to going civilian flips after completing schools- the military pilot competed for the slot, has his ticket, and a job to repay the training debt; the civilian has the ticket and has to find a way to get some work...

Nothing worth having is free. Going the military route gets your flight school paid for. Even more important, gets you paid as you build experience, and you'll build that experience flying with other pilots as part of a crew, which allows even more training. You'll have to qualify even to compete for the flight school slot, and then give up a big chunk of your life (at least) serving your country. In exchange, you'll have something personal that no amount of money can buy. I thought it was worthwhile, but that's personal. I don't think it could be justified in the business sense- a well trained pilot is a well trained pilot, no matter how that came to be. The years of your life that you give your country have a value...

Edited by Wally
Posted

Fenix, have you thought at all about the Guard or Reserves? Its part-time for the most part (excluding deployments) and its not unusual to fly in the Guard and also fly in a civilian position after you've finished flight school.

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