wombosi

Are these wild animals that are being captured? Or farmer's animals that have somehow escaped?

I thought so too! Very encouraging.

hi guys and thanks for the replies. gettothechopper: before i read your post, about a week ago, i did indeed visit bluehillhelicopters outside of boston. i have to say i also had a much more enjoyable flight in the 300. i did a 30 minute flight and the end of it was hovering pretty solidly! the instructor was impressed. i didn't get sick at all, either. my hesitation was that bluehill seems like a tiny school with an absentee owner (who flies in the GOM, though, so maybe is well connected). they only have 2 helis, one of which is hte instrument trainer. the instructor said they were talking about acquiring an r44 for tours. but the CFIs are very well paid, or at least my instructor of 500 hours is. PM me if you want to know. i don't think i would have any problem training here, just a matter of if i decide i can hang in for another winter or two, and whether or not a spot out west might better launch me into something like maverick or TEMSCO. gettothechopper: are you training in the schweizer in colorado? how do you like your school and which one is it?

Great. Sorry I didn't catch that link to Amazon on the first read. Thanks!

Right. I mean after instructing. So what would my chances of employment be with Rick? Another school I liked the sound of was Tomlinson (300s), but I can't get much of a straight answer from the guy. Also, it seems like most pilots from Florida go off to the GOM, which I wouldn't want to do.

I took an R22 flight with NE Helicopters a few months back. I had been thinking all this time that I didn't want to train in New England due to weather. But I'll be in Boston later this week and was looking at New England Helicopter Academy in Plymouth and thought about trying the Schweizer. Spoke with the owner at length who seems like a good guy. First question: Any reason to try the Schweizer? If I were to train in this, I had better be employed by the school I trained at, or things will be harder than they need to be, right? Or, maybe Schweizer CFIs are so few that they can easily find instructing work in Schweizers? 2nd question: Pros and Cons of training in New England in general? All else being equal would it take 18 months instead of 12 because of weather? It seems like various schools in the West have certain connections to operators, where the operators like to employ grads from certain schools (i.e. MLH & TEMSCO, or some of the Utah/Colorado schools and Papillon). So what's the New England "connection," if any? I want to try another flight anyway to make sure I don't get motion sickness again, so it's either the Schweizer for comparison, or another ride in an R22 (maybe from North Andover Flight Academy?). My school criteria is as follows: Able to get to CFIi as quickly as possible Relatively busy school with high turnover of CFIs Not the most expensive school I would primarily be interested in GC and Alaska tours for first employment. So, being in Boston this week, which should do I? Schweizer at Plymouth, or R22 at Andover? Or, maybe Blue Hill? Can't afford all right now. Do you guys think it's important that I pick a school that also runs a tour business, for greater exposure and connection to the industry and therefor likelihood of employment? Thanks!

where's the list? thanks.

I'm going out of town for two weeks and am looking for some good helicopter reading material for the 15 hour plane ride. Can you guys recommend some good, educational reading? Specifically things that a student in flight school might be reading? I'd like to start learning about all the terminology, mechanics, physics, etc... Thanks.

I was on the NTSB site trying to find safety/accident records of certain helicopter schools. Is the only way to do this by searching by state and finding the nearest airport to that school and then stumbling upon the school name in a list of documents? Is there any easier way to see some kind of list of schools ranked in order of safety record? I also wonder if this really matters? In other words is a lot of it "luck of the draw" as opposed to negligence or improper maintenance on the school's part? But I read a thread of a guy listing three possible schools. One of the responses said that one of them had had a number of accidents within the past few years. So I was trying to determine which one it was. Another thing I wonder: when a CFI is involved in an accident due to pilot error, is that guy basically doomed to never be employed? Thanks.

Thanks Fellas. That really sucks for R22Butters.

I guess the place to start with this career is getting the FAA medical card? How and where do I go about this? Does it need to be an FAA affiliated Doctor, or do you just go to your GP and get a special physical? The only thing I'm concerned about medically is that I've had vertigo episodes before. It hasn't occured in almost 10 years now, but I did get nauseous on my first helicopter ride (extremely windy day and me lurching the chopper around like crazy, too, I hope it most of it). So getting the medical - is it a big questionnaire and if I check "yes" to "have you ever had vertigo," am I basically screwed? Also, I have no college degree. I know it's not necessary which is one of the reasons I was drawn to this as a career change, but I wonder if the industry is moving more and more in this direction? Still pretty wide open for someone without a degree? Thanks!

What I meant was, after instructing to 1,000 or 1500 hours. Most of the basic tour jobs seem to be in that range. Am I wrong?

I hear ya BH, and thanks. Well, helicopters couldn't be any worse than construction right now and I'm already jaded in that field. Let's put it this way: The $40,000 entry level helicopter position is looking pretty sweet right now!

Thanks guys. BH206: are you saying neither because of specific issues with the schools, or just because you don't think anyone should pursue this as a career? It sounds like you have some regrets, and I've certainly heard a lot of the negativity. First of all, I haven't decided for sure if I'll go through with this. Secondly, I would do it in such a way as to have zero debt. I've owned a house for the last 4 years and put several hundred thousand $ in equity into it. My plan would be to sell it, and pay my way through flight school as quickly as I can learn it all and pass the check rides. But, there are certainly a bunch of negatives to weigh first... I am well aware of them all. And I'm not so young anymore, either. If you could better quantify your answer in regards to the two schools i would appreciate it. Thanks.

that's a good question and i'm not sure. i'll have to ask neil tomlinson. thanks.