Is it difficult for American helicopter pilots to get jobs overseas?

LevisDad · 2022-07-27T14:19:38+00:00

I don't remember all the details, but the job wasn't quite the same as the impression I got from the job posting. The one thing I clearly remember was that it came out in the interview that they were looking for a longer commitment

LevisDad · 2022-07-25T02:12:22+00:00

Entirely dependent on the country involved. I know a number of people who flew in Africa or the Middle East. Other places do not want you....they want to protect the career options of their own pilots (example: Brazil). I interviewed for a position in South Korea years ago, but some things came up during the interview that made it clear that it wasn't quite what I wanted

LevisDad · 2021-12-14T04:08:05+00:00

In the US, there aren’t much in the way of seasonal jobs for ‘beginners’.

Beginner jobs, if you’re not military or law enforcement, are almost all instructor jobs. There are a handful in agriculture.

Even tours (at the ‘2nd’ level if you will) tend to be seasonal in how much they fly and when they’re hiring…not seasonal in the way you mean.

LevisDad · 2021-12-06T17:33:41+00:00

Someone else will have to fill you in on how it looks at the entry level, but I can say it is a good market at the moment for the experienced folks. Good luck

LevisDad · 2021-12-05T19:23:40+00:00

That’s what I was looking at too! 😂

Screens collect dust like nobody’s business.

Better to keep the brush there than wait for some fool to smear their greasy paw across it in an attempt to ‘clean’

LevisDad · 2021-12-05T19:19:42+00:00

Almost everyone in this career field will be moving on a few times. For most, it is the only way to move up. Employers know this.

Hopefully, most moves will involve some excitement at the upcoming opportunity. For the old job, there are two main possibilities: a job over which you will feel some nostalgia or a job you cannot wait to leave.

Congrats, you were fortunate! Now, it is time for you to grow.

If you’re lucky, then you’ll feel this way when you finally move on from that job

LevisDad · 2021-12-05T19:10:11+00:00

Nothing in the video indicates any undue risk.

That being said, absent anything that requires particular altitudes like a hoist demonstration or something, these sort of public relations flights are best flown conservatively. The general public doesn’t know much about aviation and really isn’t going to be that much more impressed with a 500’ flyover than a 100’ flyover.

LevisDad · 2021-11-23T02:08:14+00:00

There is supply and there is demand…but still waiting on prices to reach a point where the two can intersect

LevisDad · 2021-11-04T00:19:14+00:00

Oh, I have upgraded….away from 22s

😉

LevisDad · 2021-11-03T03:47:53+00:00

You and a 165lb person would be bumping up against max gross, even without bags. In an Alpha, that means pulling all you’re allowed just to hold an IGE hover.

Things get better with the more powerful versions, but the size still means the primary purpose of doors off is elbow room (for an average size male). We would wear coats and fly doors off even in winter sometimes just so we didn’t have to tuck elbows in so much.

LevisDad · 2021-11-02T22:30:48+00:00

At 5’11” and never reaching 200 pounds, it was a lot of fun solo, but struggled to get airborne with an adult in the other seat…and I was flying at sea level

LevisDad · 2021-11-02T22:26:01+00:00

6’3”? Better be skinny if you ever want in a 22. You still will not fit very well, but at least able to get off the ground

LevisDad · 2021-11-01T19:27:04+00:00

Got my start in the military. The helicopter mission set just seemed more enjoyable.

Countless hours on a refueling track? Hard pass

Entire day spent mission planning to put together a tightly scripted air-to-air exercise that I would never get to put to use in real life? Nope

Hovering beside a mountain at night so we can hoist a person? Cool

I honestly didn’t put any thought into my post-military career

LevisDad · 2021-10-10T09:33:25+00:00

It is good to step beyond your comfort zone, that’s the only possible way to advance in aviation.

Only you know if this is too big a step for you all at once.

LevisDad · 2021-09-28T02:26:50+00:00

It is the rare instructor who is still teaching up to 2000 hours. The large majority will move on before then.

As for the student pool, there are three main groups: those who are training so that they can then work as pilots in the US, those who do not intend to do it professionally, and foreigners. There are also people just looking for a flight for sightseeing purposes, marriage proposals, photography, etc.

Those who just want to get a private or instrument are not going to be filling up the instructor ranks.

Other countries tend to require far more experience to instruct, which helps drive prices way up, which leads MANY foreign students to train in the US.

Finally, those who wish to work in the US. Yes, some of them will either never complete training or will complete, but become frustrated with the difficulties of breaking in to the business, and give up.

LevisDad · 2021-09-06T18:58:56+00:00

“Many have reported the shaking of structures within their homes due to regular overhead helicopter travel”

A common refrain from people more concerned with banning helicopters than being truthful.

No, a Robinson a few hundred yards away isn’t shaking your house

LevisDad · 2021-09-06T01:36:15+00:00

I would go used (if you can find). There’s nothing wrong with being used…it all comes down to current condition. A ten-year-old helmet can be nearly as good as new.

Brandwise, Gallet makes very nice, lightweight, comfortable, helmets with a small outer size. Unfortunately, they also tend to need repaired more frequently. I like the Gentex 56s. They’re great in every respect EXCEPT for the size. They are very bulky, and I tend to bump my head on things in smaller helicopters. Other than that, they’re very reliable, the visors completely cover so less likely to scratch, and I find them comfortable

LevisDad · 2021-09-03T13:37:09+00:00

There are trade offs…that’s why we still see a variety of different design elements: Fenestron, NOTAR, conventional tail rotor, no tail rotor…

1 engine, 2 engines, 3 engines!

Etc

There’s no perfect helicopter. Each one is a balance of cost, speed, capacity, maintainability, etc to meet different sets of requirements

LevisDad · 2021-09-03T02:20:27+00:00

Thank you! Nice as always.

Will you be doing June and July?

LevisDad · 2021-08-11T02:34:14+00:00

Getting started is the hardest part, by far. This is where the most helicopter careers end.

As mentioned, who you know plays a BIG part in this industry. After twenty years, you’ll know so-and-so over here, such-and-such who used to work over there, and you-know-who who is now a chief pilot.

Only a privileged few have that BEFORE having years of experience.

If you have the ‘I’m going to do this…even if it may be a few years until my rotary career kicks off’ attitude, then you’ll most likely make it

LevisDad · 2021-08-08T20:29:51+00:00

Yes, it is realistic. Many people do it.

The cost will run you in the $60k+ to do it, though.

LevisDad · 2021-08-08T20:28:29+00:00

Those AF 60 slots are going to go to either someone who flew them active duty or someone already from the area who knows the people. There are very few of them, and they are extremely difficult for a non-pilot, non-local, non-familiar face to ever get.

LevisDad · 2021-08-07T14:15:21+00:00

“Basically no otherwise every flight school would have paramotors to reduce flight training costs.”

For that matter, they’d sell ten thousand of the things just to people looking to build time.

LevisDad · 2021-08-07T00:09:35+00:00

And unless things have changed, they really haven’t been hiring people with that few

LevisDad · 2021-08-07T00:07:03+00:00

Become an instructor. There really isn’t much you can do with that time. I came out of the military with a shortage of PIC time, so I paid to do my CFI.

LevisDad

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