Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Any helicopter pilots here?

Just wondering if there are any rotary pilots on the 'fire. I've decided that will be my next career when I get home after this tour. I've always dreamed of becoming a pilot, and I have found a rotary flight school in Anchorage that will accept my GI bill.

My plan is to get all my certifications (My GI bill is much larger than the standard initial offering.) and then use the VA small business loan to buy a Robbie 44 and start my own business. I've already been offered a partnership with a local fixed wing training/charter business. They want to expand to rotary flight and can offer me considerable hours and a chance to get my foot in the door in the aviation industry.

I'm pretty excited about this - Alaska is the place for aviation! Any tips/advice from helicopter pilots are welcome!

I'm pretty sure there is. I got yelled at by several of them when I said a helicopter would drop out of the sky if the engine quit. lol

There's a fella named "Hawkdriver" here that spent some time in the sand box beatin' the air into submission, he is probably up to speed on state of the art.

Yeah, that's a myth perpetuated by the movie industry. Helos will "autorotate" upon power loss, giving some directional control and relatively slow descent. You just select the safest spot to land and head for it, then flare just before touch - down to slow forward momentum and further slow the descent. A helo can land just as soft with a dead engine as it can under power.

A child of the sky a Fire member is a current chopper pilot.

Thanks gents - hopefully they'll chime in here if they see the thread. I've already downloaded and read the FAA helicopter flight manual - that's where I learned about autorotation. I confess I was a believer in the movie myth myself until I read the manual.

Now I'm starting to look into the regs. I should have a passable knowledge by the time I start my training.

You have a long road before you Grasshopper...unless you forget your training. Best of luck with it!

Thanks!

AlaskanMatt;
Hopefully this finds you and yours well sir. While I believe I may have done so already, I'd like to say a sincere thank you for your service as well.

With the understanding that I'm not a helicopter pilot and haven't been involved with them since '99 I'd just throw out this for your consideration.

I spent almost a year working with the folks who had this particular helicopter at the time. As of last week I still saw it in the air above Penticton, so I'm going to say it's still going strong.
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Eclipse-Helicopters/Aerospatiale-AS-355F-1-TwinStar/1417718/M/

Anyway, to the point of my post and this may not be of any use to you at all, but these folks picked up a fair bit of forestry ,radio and microwave tower repair work because that helicopter had a bit bigger weight capacity than some of the other local companies.

I should clarify that as I understood it, the units like the Bell 214 could obviously lift even more, but the charge out rate was much higher for that size class so forestry and such didn't use them any more than they had to as it ate up the budget faster.

Again I don't mean to do anything other than offer some thoughts for options in your new venture. All the best luck to you and yours as you go forward with it sir.

Regards,
Dwayne

I have a bit over 3000 hours in Boeing, Sikorsky and Bell military products. One instructor tour as well. Retired Naval aviator.

Thanks for the link! I just got started and it looks like a good read.

BC30cal - You're entirely welcome! There's no need for any of that "sir" stuff though.

That Twinstar might be a bird I can aspire to someday, but since the VA business loan maxes out at half a mil and that bird is at least a cool million or more I think I'll have to build the business a bit first. Even a bare - bones Bell 206 Jet Ranger is right at a million bucks.

I'm starting out with a piston engine bird. They are more fuel efficient, and much cheaper on maintenance, as well as FAR cheaper to purchase initially. The heavier piston engine reduces their carrying capacity though. The Robinson R44 is a four seater with a total weight capacity of roughly 960 lbs. It "only" costs around $450K new though. What a bargain at just triple the cost of my house!

So OH 58s, AH 64s and CH 47s? Bell, Boeing and Sikorsky in that order I think... Any pearls of wisdom to pass along to a rookie?

My brother is a helicopter pilot and did it the civilian route. Since you have the GI bill, you won't accumulate the massive debt he did. Jobs are tough in the industry right now, especially for those with low flight hours. The economy has really taken a bit out of the industry. Much less corporate flying and law enforcement are cutting helos due to budget cuts.

He's flying power lines in Kentucky right now for about 60% of what would be considered good pay for pilots. But, he's very happy to get the job because he spent about over a year looking for it after getting laid off in 2009.

He spent years flying crap jobs in poorly maintained helos - flying for oil companies in the Gulf. He says it's hard to find great companies to fly for that have newer helos and are religious about maintenenace.

I have a bit of an advantage living in Alaska. AK is very much dependent on aviation due to it's immense size and lack of a road system throughout the vast majority of the state. Aviation jobs are easier to come by. You might suggest to your brother if he continues to have trouble finding work, he might consider checking out Alaska.

I'll be buying my own helicopter, so the risk of flying a poorly maintained bird is a non-issue for me. I'm meticulous with my vehicle maintenance, and will be even more so with a machine that could drop me out of the sky!

AlaskanMatt;
Thanks for the reply I appreciate it.

I most certainly do hear you on the initial purchase price on the Twinstar, it came to them from Japan as I recall and even though it was used it wasn't free.

The point about maintenance costs is well taken too, as I recall some of the parts costs on the Twinstar were beyond ridiculous.

That said, when you stuff one pilot and a couple technicians into a unit that tops out at under 1000lb capacity, you don't have a bunch of room for tools and equipment left over - even if the three humans are weekend jockeys!

We are seeing a few of what look to me like the R44 up here these days. After looking the R44 specs up on it I can see why as it represents a good "bang for the bucks" when it comes to helicopters.

Again, all the best to you and yours in the new venture.

Regards,
Dwayne

Thanks Dwayne! I'm really looking forward to it. I hope that some day if my son is interested, he can get his license and join me in the business. Or maybe one or more of his four younger sisters...

Those are all Army birds, right? I was a Marine/Navy helo driver so it was TH-57B/Cs, CH-46Es, and SH-60Bs, with some Huey time thrown in flight school.

I gave helo driving a good look prior to retiring, and the most numerous jobs available were off shore. Didn't pay much though. Border Patrol had a few SH-60s, but the best jobs are with local Sheriff/Police forces, but those jobs don't open up til someone dies. ha ha

I am a big believer in the superiority of the Bell Jet Ranger for the type of service you are describing. The platform is bullet proof, time proven, upgradable to instrument flying, and holds four passengers (one up front with you and three in the back) with their luggage. Great autorotation capabilities, too.

OK, you and DD have me beyond intrigued -- I was astonished that crews routinely survived being shot down -- I assumed that whirly birds had the same characterictics of a large stone in flight when they lost normal function.

I now also understand why the pilot looked like he was pleasuring himself while we hoovered - I assumed they were just antsy.

Yep - army birds. I should have guessed the Navy would have different names, but they are very similar I'm sure. The OH 58 is essentially a Bell Jet Ranger configured for military service, the AH 64 is the Apache and the CH 47 is the Chinook.

I did some searching, and there are a few Jet Rangers in my price range made in the 70s. I am hesitant to begin a small business with a machine that is so expensive to maintain and keep fueled though. Maybe my market research will convince me I can still make it work, I'll have to see. I'm sure I'll eventually wind up flying a bird with a turbine engine, I just might not start out that way.