Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted

Hello,

I have read through quite a few pages on these boards, and the seem to be filled with a helpful group of folks. I am a former Marine, (96-04) i served as a combat engineer. I was also our company HRST Master, PMI and close combat instructor. I always loved flying in Helos, and have dreamed of flying them for quite sometime. I had done a bit of research last year, but finishing a messy divorce and other personal things made me hold off on moving forward. Now that im done with all of that and ready to strap up my boots and continue to march, i have a few questions.

1. Are there any flight schools in Florida who accept the montgomery GI bill?

2. With the recent demise of Silver State Helicopters, and attached statements about the needs for Pilots (or lack there of), Is it really a wise decision to begin down that path now?

3. Im really not sure what my goal would be upon completion of training. What types of jobs are there other that Law enforcement applications that make full time employment possible?

 

I would love to have a full time career piloting helicopters. I work very well under high levels of stress, and would be up for even the most dangerous jobs. I am single with no children and up for just about anything. I am about to move to florida this week and begin rebuilding my life. I am a certified electrician, and will be able to cover any expenses not covered by the GI Bill. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thx in advance.

Posted
Hello,

I have read through quite a few pages on these boards, and the seem to be filled with a helpful group of folks. I am a former Marine, (96-04) i served as a combat engineer. I was also our company HRST Master, PMI and close combat instructor. I always loved flying in Helos, and have dreamed of flying them for quite sometime. I had done a bit of research last year, but finishing a messy divorce and other personal things made me hold off on moving forward. Now that im done with all of that and ready to strap up my boots and continue to march, i have a few questions.

1. Are there any flight schools in Florida who accept the montgomery GI bill?

2. With the recent demise of Silver State Helicopters, and attached statements about the needs for Pilots (or lack there of), Is it really a wise decision to begin down that path now?

3. Im really not sure what my goal would be upon completion of training. What types of jobs are there other that Law enforcement applications that make full time employment possible?

 

I would love to have a full time career piloting helicopters. I work very well under high levels of stress, and would be up for even the most dangerous jobs. I am single with no children and up for just about anything. I am about to move to florida this week and begin rebuilding my life. I am a certified electrician, and will be able to cover any expenses not covered by the GI Bill. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thx in advance.

 

You might want to check with Bristow Academy and Tomlison. Both are good schools with good reps. Plus I believe both are Part 141 schools. As for GI Bill, I don't know, you will have to talk with them directly. There is not a shortage of pilots. But there is beginning to be a shortage of EXPERIENCED pilots. There is a difference. It seems like today, everyone wants to go out and get that first turbine job. You have to pay your dues and learn your craft. Instructing is part of that process, like scenic tours and realty flights. Most police departments prefer to take officers off the streets and train them, over hiring pilots and making them police officers. The officers they take off the streets, know the streets and the people they will be working with. That is something that is difficult for an outsider to know. However there are many jobs out there that take skill and provide full time employment in this portion of the industry. New copters, utility work and so on.

Posted
Hello,

I have read through quite a few pages on these boards, and the seem to be filled with a helpful group of folks. I am a former Marine, (96-04) i served as a combat engineer. I was also our company HRST Master, PMI and close combat instructor. I always loved flying in Helos, and have dreamed of flying them for quite sometime. I had done a bit of research last year, but finishing a messy divorce and other personal things made me hold off on moving forward. Now that im done with all of that and ready to strap up my boots and continue to march, i have a few questions.

1. Are there any flight schools in Florida who accept the montgomery GI bill?

2. With the recent demise of Silver State Helicopters, and attached statements about the needs for Pilots (or lack there of), Is it really a wise decision to begin down that path now?

3. Im really not sure what my goal would be upon completion of training. What types of jobs are there other that Law enforcement applications that make full time employment possible?

 

I would love to have a full time career piloting helicopters. I work very well under high levels of stress, and would be up for even the most dangerous jobs. I am single with no children and up for just about anything. I am about to move to florida this week and begin rebuilding my life. I am a certified electrician, and will be able to cover any expenses not covered by the GI Bill. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thx in advance.

 

1. Bristow Academy, I'm pretty sure they accept GI bills.

2. I think it is a great time to become a helicopter pilot. If I didn't, I wouldn't be going to Idaho next week to buy a helicopter...

3. I'm not quite sure of the question. But there is ENG, EMS, fire, corporate, flight instruction, tours, oil rig support, utility work, they all offer full time employment.

 

Welcome to VR, and thank you for your military service.

Posted

Ramrod,

 

Found this little tool while I had a lot of free time to kill and nothing to do! Right off the VA website...http://inquiry.vba.va.gov/weamspub/buildSearchInstitutionCriteria.do

 

Just select Flight and click on the state you want to check. Wish it would link to the school's website instead of just giving the info, but it's a good start.

 

If you haven't done it yet, I'd HIGHLY recommend going and getting a demo flight. I'm Air Force myself and had always enjoyed all things aviation, but it wasn't until my Dad took me to Silver State in Colorado for a flight that I even considered flying as a career. Now I can't wait until my ETS this winter so I can start my training! Literally everyday since I took that flight on leave back in June I've been doing research and studying books or anything else I could get my hands on like picking some Army pilots' brains. This site is great and the people are VERY helpful and friendly. Run a search and I'm sure a lot of your questions will be answered.

 

Just a little heads up about the GI Bill...not all of your training will be covered. You mentioned you can handle that, which is awesome, but it may be more than you think. I was pretty surprised to find out that a grand total of $0 will be provided to you for your PPL. Ratings after that I BELIEVE (still looking into the details, see more threads on this) will cover UP TO 60% of your fees, but I believe there is a monthly limit so you would have to take your time flying to really take full advantage of that $$$...not something most people are going to be willing to do as you won't get much flying in waiting for that next check.

 

Just be glad you didn't get sucked into that Silver State mess! I feel bad for all the folks that went there and I have to admit I was hooked in when I visited their school. I'm sure if wasn't still on contract with good ol' Uncle Sugar I'd have signed up before I left the building that day and would be out 70k with jack to show for it!

 

Good luck to you!

Posted
Hello,

I have read through quite a few pages on these boards, and the seem to be filled with a helpful group of folks. I am a former Marine, (96-04) i served as a combat engineer. I was also our company HRST Master, PMI and close combat instructor. I always loved flying in Helos, and have dreamed of flying them for quite sometime. I had done a bit of research last year, but finishing a messy divorce and other personal things made me hold off on moving forward. Now that im done with all of that and ready to strap up my boots and continue to march, i have a few questions.

1. Are there any flight schools in Florida who accept the montgomery GI bill?

2. With the recent demise of Silver State Helicopters, and attached statements about the needs for Pilots (or lack there of), Is it really a wise decision to begin down that path now?

3. Im really not sure what my goal would be upon completion of training. What types of jobs are there other that Law enforcement applications that make full time employment possible?

 

I would love to have a full time career piloting helicopters. I work very well under high levels of stress, and would be up for even the most dangerous jobs. I am single with no children and up for just about anything. I am about to move to florida this week and begin rebuilding my life. I am a certified electrician, and will be able to cover any expenses not covered by the GI Bill. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thx in advance.

 

Ramrod,

 

Your first two questions got great answers. I thought I would add to little to your third one. The typical path for civilian pilots is:

 

Flight training: PVT-CFII (Private to Certified Flight Instructor Instrument)in about 200 hours of total flight time.

 

Work as a flight instructor building time to around 1,040 hours total time

 

Then you can apply/ be eligible for some of these jobs: Grand Canyon Tours, Alaska Tours(seasonal), off shore oil support in the Gulf of Mexico. There are a few other smaller companies you maybe able to get on with doing charters but those are far and few inbetween.

 

After some time in the Canyon, Gulf or Alaska(that is if you don't want to stay) you can get into ENG(News), EMS(Emergency Medical) and other charter companies. They tend to look for around 3,000 hours total time as a minimum.

 

A side note: If you are thinking about law enforcement then I would look at www.alea.org

Also many/most agencies require their pilots to be on the street for about a year or two before being able to move into the aviation unit.

 

If you go to the justhelicopters forum (the Alternate) you can ask about Law Enforcement flying there or search as there have been many posts and articals written on the topic

Posted

Bristow Academy is in fact a 141 program and will accept the GI bill for 60% of your commercial and beyond. There are some caveats, from what I've seen from my prior service peers. You will have to do Commercial before Instrument, which means alot more flying in circles and what essentially boils down to pointless flying. Generally, once a person gets their Private Pilot License, they'll go directly to Instrument to build the necessary Pilot In Command hours to make Commercial less lengthy. Not so with the VA program. And from what I hear, they hate to pay out.

 

I'm not prior service, but I am at Bristow Academy, New Iberia campus (formerly Vortex Helicopters) and know five or six people off the top of my head who are struggling with the VA syllabus. If you've got the cash saved up (I guess divorce pretty much nixes that) I think you'd be better off, time-wise, paying your own way through PPL and Instrument before you deal with VA.

 

There are people at Bristow who can fill you in better, but they DO honor the VA program (when it pays out) and can explain every single detail to you.

 

Best of luck, but be careful. This is the most addictive pursuit I've ever undertaken. You WILL develop a craving for low and slow flight.

Posted (edited)
You will have to do Commercial before Instrument, which means alot more flying in circles and what essentially boils down to pointless flying. Generally, once a person gets their Private Pilot License, they'll go directly to Instrument to build the necessary Pilot In Command hours to make Commercial less lengthy. Not so with the VA program.

 

I don't think that's necessarily true. I've trained some instrument training with VA guys who were doing their some of their commercial and instrument training side by side and taking the instrument check ride before the commercial. I think it may be more to do with how the syllabus is setup that the school is teaching from.

Edited by Darren Hughes
Posted

You can do your Instrument before Comm as a VA student, just be careful not to wind up enrolled in both Instr AND Comm at the same time. The order doesn't matter but you can only be officially enrolled in ONE syllabus at a time. Just watched a friend get hung up over this technicality. It is getting ironed out but it ties up your reimbursements and we know how efficiently the VA is run... :P

Posted

Wow,

Thx for all the helpful answers. Sry it took me so long to get back to this, but i just made the move to FL. I really appreciate all the helpful advice, maybe ill see some of you in the air one of these days. :D

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...