Does fixed wing time mean anything?

[MadRabbit]

Forgive me, I'm sure this has been asked and answered a million times. Hopefully you'll give the newbie a break.

 

I'm a fixed wing guy, I fly for a living. About 4000 TT, 700 Turbine. Commercial ASEL, AMEL, Inst. Airplane, CFI/CFII.

 

I like flying airplanes, but I Love Helicopters. Always have. When I learned to fly I went the fixed wing route because of $$$ and location, but the beating of rotors has never left the back of my skull. I'm looking at adding on, and I'm trying to figure out a couple things:

 

1) Does any of my fixed wing time mean anything to potential employers? or do they view the guy with 100 hrs of rotorcraft, and a bunch of fixed wing time as just another no-time pilot? I realize there are insurance requirements and such, but I'm wondering if it'd be worth it for me to pursue a commercial add-on as well. I sure can't afford to rent a helicopter for 1000 hrs. just to get in the market.

 

2) If this does put me in the category of starting from scratch, at what point do you become employable? I'm honestly not looking for much more than the opportunity to stay current and build time. I'm most likely to continue earning my paycheck on the fixed wing side of life. But what's available for the new guy? Are there left seat jobs out there? I know the regionals hire fixed wing pilots with what I consider to be relatively low time, are there operators on the rotary side like that as well? Instructing, and scenic work are fine with me too, but I'm wondering if even the traditional entry level jobs are going to require more time than I can afford to pay for.

 

I just want to get a realistic view of what's down this road. I'm going to add on, that's already decided. But I won't be able to uproot and chase instructing jobs around the country either. Any hope for a guy like me, or will I be better off stopping after adding on the private and just trying to rent here and there when I can? Any input at all would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Jeff

[HAWKEYE]

Unfortunately you're not very employable until you've got at least 300 hrs helicopter and a CFI so you can teach and that's all you will do. That amount of time will also allow you to give rides and do photography under most small operator's insurance coverage. Once you get 1000 hrs and an instrument ticket you will have an advantage in that you've been in quite a bit of actual IMC that most helicopter pilots haven't seen.