Articles for category Career Development
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May
02
2022
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Posted by Admin
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Foreword: Pilot shortages are real for several reasons
Before we dig into the salary and benefits survey numbers, we wanted to paint a picture, even if only anecdotal, of what we believe are the forces currently impacting the supply of working helicopter pilots.
It was around 2005 that articles and online communities began raising alarms about our aging Vietnam-era pilot population and a looming shortage. That era of helicopter pilots were considered the “baby-boomers” of helicopter pilots in that they represented nearly 50% of the working pilot force and most were in their late 50s and early 60s at the time. It was well known that the lion's share of that population would retire somewhere between 2010 and 2020. Questions began to arise about whether or not the traditional training institutions (civil schools and military) could produce the pilots as fast as they would be retiring when the time came. Now that most of those pilots have left the cockpit, and hindsight being 20/20, we now know the answer to that question is no. But it wasn’t only retiring pilots that contributed to the problem.
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Tags:
Helicopter Pilot Salaries
Pilot salary reports
pilot salary survey
US Helicopter Pilot Salary Report
Categories:
Career Development
Opinion-Editorial
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Apr
11
2022
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Posted by Admin
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Transitioning from the military can be daunting to say the least. If you’re still active duty and considering your transition, whether after 5 years or 25 years, you probably have a lot of questions swirling around in your head. I made the leap about 6 years ago, but my process started about 5 years prior to that. I hope that some of my experiences and observations can help you as you consider your future beyond the uniform.
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Tags:
Military to Civilian Aviation
Military to Civilian Transition Helicopters
Military to Civilian Transtion Pilots
Categories:
Career Development
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Feb
07
2022
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Posted by Admin
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I remember the day my S1 (personnel officer) came into the standardization office and handed me my retirement orders. She asked if I was excited. I had been excited when I submitted for retirement, but now that the orders were in my hand, I was wondering what the hell I did!
It doesn’t matter how prepared you are for your transition; you will feel stress at some point during the process and it isn’t quickly relieved by getting some exercise and sleep. Transition stress is an increased feeling of pressure, anxiety, and/or loss of purpose and direction triggered by a significant period of change or adjustment. Specifically when talking about veterans, transition stress refers to the difficulty of adapting to life after discharge. It is a longing for the way service members lived while on active duty. Other symptoms include depression, loss of identity, difficulty finding meaningful employment, difficulty navigating relationships, and difficulty relating to civilians. Transitional stress is an “identity crisis.” Basically, when you are transitioning, you are losing your identity, and being forced to develop a new one without the support network you had while in the military. If there is anything positive about your transition, it is that everyone goes through it, so you are not alone.
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Tags:
Military to Civilian Transition Helicopters
Military to Civililan Aviation
Categories:
Career Development
Opinion-Editorial
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Jan
24
2022
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Posted by Admin
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RPMN: What is your current position?
I am chief flight instructor at the University of North Dakota (UND) and a designated pilot examiner for the FAA. UND Aerospace has been training pilots since 1968 and currently has over one thousand active flight students in fixed-wing, helicopter, and UAS degree programs. As chief flight instructor, I have many responsibilities including the day-to-day operations of the helicopter department, hiring and standardizing instructors, conducting evaluations, and teaching academic classes. We flew a record 126,000 flight hours last year making our home airport of Grand Forks routinely one of the busiest in the country. We’ve operated a number of helicopters over the decades from MD500s to Bell 206s and have transitioned exclusively to the Robinson R44 Cadet this past year.
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Tags:
University of North Dakota Aviation
Wes Van Dell
Categories:
Career Development
Human Interest
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Dec
06
2021
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Posted by Admin
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This is your formal invitation to join us at HAI’s Heli-Expo 2022 Military to Civilian Transition Workshop!
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Tags:
Military to Civilian Aviation
Categories:
Career Development
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Nov
22
2021
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Posted by Admin
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RPMN: What is your current position?
I am currently wearing two hats. I am the owner and president of Black Hills Aerial Adventures, primarily an aerial tourism operator based in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and I am serving as Chief Pilot for Redding Air Service, a utility operator with a primary base of operations in northern California. All of this has transpired within the last year. Over the last 12 years I have served as the chief pilot in Southern Nevada with Papillon and chief pilot and subsequently director of operations for Sundance Helicopters in Las Vegas.
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Tags:
Black Hills Aerial Adventures
Chief Pilot for Redding Air Service
MARK SCHLAEFLI
Categories:
Career Development
Human Interest
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Oct
25
2021
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Posted by Admin
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Helicopter training doesn’t necessarily give us the opportunity to live our life as a champion— but it can give us the opportunity to live the rest of our life. I was thinking the other day of all the training that I have received during my 35 years of work life. I have really only had four chapters in my career. U.S. Marine, firefighter, helicopter pilot, and business owner. The first three have required extensive amounts of training. I cannot help but wonder how much of it I took for granted.
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Tags:
Helicopter Training
Rotorcraft Pro SepOct 2021 Issue
Categories:
Career Development
Human Interest
Opinion-Editorial
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Oct
25
2021
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Posted by Admin
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Pay, location, and job satisfaction are three of the major factors involved in determining the ultimate helicopter pilot position. You can consider yourself pretty lucky to get two out of the three. Fortunately, for retired Marine Pilot Ryan Jacobs, all three is precisely what he got when he landed the enviable position as a contractor simulator instructor at NAS Whiting Field.
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Tags:
Aviation Military to Civilian Transition
Helicopter Military to Civilian Transition
Mechanic Military to Civilian Transition
Military to Civilian Transtion Pilots
Simulator Instructor
Categories:
Career Development
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Oct
11
2021
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Posted by Admin
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The success of an air ambulance pilot isn’t written on an elusive list of trade secrets buried deep in a frightful dark abyss. Instead, the necessary tenets are generally in plain sight and, unfortunately, an abundance of what we now know comes from the tragedies of those that came before us. But, as the worn-out cliché goes: “We don’t know what we don’t know.” Not learning from others (mentors) who are successful in this unique field is not only unprofessional on the part of the pilot new to the air ambulance arena, but gravely hazardous as well. Awareness of the lack of knowledge and skill sets needed and being able to say “I don’t know” is vital to success. You have to be thirsty for knowledge if you want to physically and mentally survive. Don’t rely on sheer luck.
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10 Tips for Success for the Air Ambulance Pilot
An Air Ambulance Pilot’s Career Survival Guide
Matt Johnson
Categories:
Career Development
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Aug
23
2021
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Posted by Admin
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Adversity—we can try to run from it, but it is in adversity that we find growth and ultimately, we find excellence. Leadership Coach Les Brown says that there is greatness inside us all. I believe that is true, but I also believe that greatness is revealed through the pain and suffering of adversity.
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Tags:
Maintenance Minute
Categories:
Career Development