Articles for category Career Development
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Apr
08
2019
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Posted by Admin
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If you’ve ever had the desire to travel further, faster, and higher your time is here. I’ve flown helicopters commercially for 13 years. As a civilian, I attended a small flight school in Florida where I obtained all my training from Private through CFII where I used my GI Bill benefits.
Until recently, most Part 121 air carriers did not count helicopter flight hours towards their hiring minimums. In recent years, this trend is on the decline. If you are an experienced helicopter pilot and have ever wanted to fly for the airlines, opportunity may be on the horizon. With as little as 250 hours of airplane PIC time and a commercial multi-engine land add-on certificate you can be eligible for hire at a regional airline that may provide a stepping stone to the mainline carriers.
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Categories:
Career Development
Human Interest
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Mar
18
2019
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Posted by Admin
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Last year when one of my best friends was preparing to retire from the military, he expressed to me that one of the greatest challenges for him in the transition process was his difficulty imagining civilian employment could ever provide him with the same sense of purpose and fulfillment that he had experienced as a member of the military. For many of us who have served, defending the American way of life and serving in the country’s most trusted profession makes pay and earnings seem like an almost secondary motivation. For my friend, the thought of working at a job where—he imagined—salary and benefits was the sole reason to get up and go to work every day sounded like a rather unhappy way to live life. Fortunately, I had transitioned from the military two years prior and had already found my new purpose, which provided me with a few insights that I was able to pass along to him. Don’t get me wrong: redefining your life’s purpose after so many years of living with “duty, honor, country” as the default is not easy. It’s not easy at all.
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Categories:
Career Development
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Jan
07
2019
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Posted by Admin
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Seven years ago I was invited to speak at my first Helisuccess Career Development Seminar and Job Fair and was literally blown away by the experience. This year’s event was no different and I can say it gets better and better each year. This year we had 13 speakers covering 16 topics and $4,000 given away in scholarship money.
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Categories:
Career Development
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Dec
04
2018
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Posted by Admin
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I’ve been privileged to fly in different countries around the world. You gain a perspective on the good, bad, and ugly of our aviation system here in the United States. With that said, I haven’t been anywhere outside of the U.S. where opportunity for all citizens to experience aviation is more available than here in the States. You are not excluded from aviation, because of your gender, race, ethnicity, religion, or any other differentiating factor. Additionally, many physically challenged persons find themselves successful in aviation as well.
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Categories:
Career Development
Training
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Sep
17
2018
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Posted by Admin
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You’re about to be that guy—that guy that gets his first civilian flying job and can’t stop talking about how he used to do things in the military. Look, we get it; your military flying is the only gauge you have to measure your new civilian flying job. I’m here to tell you—it’s grating to hear the new guy prattle on about how he used to do things in the military.
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Categories:
Career Development
Helicopter Sectors
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May
28
2018
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Posted by Admin
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Military aviators are the best trained pilots in the world, right? How could that possibly be limiting?
Military pilots are extensively experienced, highly trained aviators. They are skilled leaders with combat time, and security clearance. These attributes are listed on most transitioning pilots’ resumes. Unfortunately, civilian employers aren’t looking for any of those skills and they certainly don’t list them in job advertisements. Most military pilots appear out of touch and they never receive a call back.
The truth is, your experience and skills are based upon your flight time, and most military pilots haven’t even been keeping a logbook. They’ve been letting the military keep track of their flight time, which doesn’t keep a flight log in accordance with civilian requirements.
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Categories:
Career Development
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Apr
16
2018
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Posted by Admin
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In its third year, Rotorcraft Pro’s annual U.S. Pilot Salary & Benefits Survey was initially launched in an effort to monitor and report trends on the salaries of pilots in the industry. Traditionally, surveys were sent directly to employers via snail mail in ballot form, then collected and tabulated. This old method did provide interesting results, but because employers are reluctant to reveal the exact salaries and benefits they provide, the sampling could be rather small and probably wasn’t always representative of the larger whole.
Online technologies have given us the ability to survey actual pilots and their employers thus generating more participation throughout the industry. As in previous years, this year’s survey had excellent participation and we have obtained some of the latest information on helicopter pilots:
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Categories:
Career Development
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Apr
09
2018
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Posted by Admin
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RPMN: What is your current position?
I am currently the President and CEO of Sevier County Choppers Inc. Our main business is conducting overhauls on Robinson helicopters, along with a small flight school and touring business. We are a family owned and operated business.
RPMN: Tell me about your first flight.
My first flight in a helicopter was during Army flight school. About halfway through I was pretty sure I would not be able to do this. I really thought I was going to throw up on my instructor and was probably several shades of green. Of course this was August in lower Alabama, so the heat didn’t help much.
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Categories:
Career Development
Human Interest
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Apr
02
2018
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Posted by Admin
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On 17 October 2017, a flight instructor and commercially rated pilot were practicing instrument approaches at the Molokai Airport (Hawaii) when they were lost from radar. Debris from the helicopter was found floating on the water northwest of the shores of Molokai. Although they were operating on an IFR flight plan, the flight was being conducted under VFR as a Part 91 training flight. (NTSB Identification: WPR18LA010)
Air Traffic Control had cleared the aircraft for a practice RNAV (GPS)-B instrument approach to the Molokai Airport. They were provided instructions for the missed approach procedure, which included a climb to 4,000 feet and a heading of 040 degrees. Following completion of the instrument approach, they reestablished radio contact with Air Traffic Control (ATC). They were then issued a clearance to PHNL (Honolulu International Airport) with instructions to fly a heading of 260 degrees, then 240 degrees and ascend to an altitude of 4,000 feet. They were to intercept the Victor 8 airway, which they confirmed with ATC. Shortly after, the controller noticed the flight had descended to 3,600 feet before radar and radio communication with the helicopter was lost.
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Categories:
Career Development
Training
Safety
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Feb
12
2018
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Posted by Admin
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RPMN: If you could give only one piece of advice to a new helicopter pilot, what would it be?
The helicopter industry is a small community and your reputation will follow you as a pilot. My best advice is always be honest and professional. If you make a mistake such as over-torquing the aircraft, cause a little hanger rash, or overfly an inspection, admit your mistake and live to fly another day. Don’t try to hide it or not report it. Even the smallest lie will have your peers second guessing your integrity and it will likely follow you your entire aviation career. I have seen and read about pilots getting fired just because they did not report something or lied about it. If they were upfront and honest in the first place, they would have kept their job. Everyone makes mistakes.
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Categories:
Career Development
Human Interest