Bell 206/R44 - Helicopter license

Kaldo

Hi,

A colleague of mine is considering to become a pilot. The idea is to get the license Bell 206 or R44 for helicopter flying .

Obiously he wishes to make a living as pilot so I assume he would need a commercial pilot license for commercial use. Maybe private pilot too in a long term.

The idea is where he would be able to get a "job" as a commercial pilot and what wages would be (e.g estimation's income)

How would it work? I mean you might be employed by someone or hired? Would it suppose to own your helicopter?

Thanks

lintdrummer

Can't speak from experience but anything to do with helis is going to cost big time. Had a look and one website was advertising a one hour experience (half hour brief, half hour in the air) in an R22 (I think) for €250. So you could estimate paying 4 - 500 per hour for lessons. PPL would require 45hrs minimum but more than likely 55 - 65 hrs due to delays between flights requiring more consolidation. So you'd be looking at upwards of €30,000 plus additional fees for theoretical study and exams.

CPL then would require many more flight hours and instruction/exams. See this link from the CAA website for info.

Jobs for helicopter pilots are like hen's teeth I'd say, especially in Ireland. A couple of companies offer charters, obviously search and rescue is an option. He could potentially operate on his own offering sight seeing trips or the like, but he'd need a heli and he'd have to maintain it so I'd say the overheads would be eye watering.

Put it this way, he'd want to be a brave and wealthy man to go and do it and getting a job would be hard.

CJhaughey

Two different engines as well, R44 is a piston, 206 is Turbine.
Robinsons are popular because they are relatively cheap as far as Heli's go.
Have a look at Pilot Yellow on Youtube for an idea about training and costs and job prospects afterwards.

Mr Robinson designed the reliable little 22 especially for low level ranch flying where manoevrability snd quick turning is required rather being used as a transport and especially not as a trainer as it is utterly sensitive and unforgiving of errors. However it has become the default trainer because of its relative economy to operate. That said, when you get your license on an R22 I believe you will find pretty much any other chopper easier to fly although you have to convert to more complex engine & fuel management etc, in case of multi engine turbines etc.

When a young lass I learned to fly fixed wing, but in recent years I took two lessons in a Robinson 22 out of curiosity. I read up on the internet in some detail about the flying characteristics, pitfalls, etc. and visualized handling it-that being a very useful way to prepare. I knew I would never be able to afford chopper lessons, and had to give up flying long ago on visual grounds, so I asked the instructor to challenge me in all aspects of flying, let me do what was safe, and demonstrate the rest.

I found certain aspects remarkably doable, and suited the fact I tend to have a very gentle touch. Within the 2 lessons I learned to handle all 3 controls on climbing and descending turns whilst monitoring airspeed, rpm and keeping lookout. Previous fixed-wing experience helped a lot there. I managed an accurately placed landing using pedals and cyclic whilst the instructor used the collective. I had a go at entering a hover on all 3 controls and by golly I made a dog’s dinner out of that! Then the instructor gave a demo of entering an autorotation (simulating engine failure), and repeated it asking me to call out airspeeds, look out for a landing space, noting wires etc, which I really enjoyed. After it all he said it was an awful pity I couldn’t afford to continue. However, I’d be pretty scared handling one on my own-I often dream in semi nightmare I find myself terrified on a solo run in a Robinson 22.

During the Celtic Tiger there were a hell of a lot of accidents where people bought the 22, got the license and then ended up lopping its tail off trying to take off from unsuitable spaces. One owner destroyed his helicopter in a rollover on final lesson before examination flight, injuring the instructor a bit in the process. The instructor had asked him to do a manoeuvre which he was not comfortable with and not actually required to pass the test. Next day he rented another 22 and passed the exam. I’d say the insurance people gave up on some payouts or raised the premium to half the cost of a new chopper since that. There have been a lot of irresponsible helicopter pilots trying to make their machines do stuff they were not intended for.

An Air Corps training would be a superb opportunity to get helicopter flying. I don’t know what openings there are these days, but if I were interested in helicopter flying as a career I would make it my business to find out.

Inquitus

My mate did his Jet Turbine course in Hawaii and currently flies people out to rigs in Qatar and Turkey, now a captain. I think Hawaii is one of the cheapest places to get your license, and as the weather is largely fine you don't lose time due to "Irish Weather". Only issue is that UK and Europe don't recognise the qualification as an equivalent and if he ever wants to work back home he would have to do a reasonably expensive conversion course. Now he has a family and kids working abroad is hardly ideal, as the wife and kids now live in the UK and he only gets to see them when he has his time off.

He does the majority of his flying in Qatar and given wages are tax free there, it works out financially very well, the obv family issues aside, now causing him issues as he has got older, married and had kids since qualifying and getting his rig flying job.

Inquitus

Inquitus wrote: »

My mate did his Jet Turbine course in Hawaii and currently flies people out to rigs in Qatar and Turkey, now a captain. I think Hawaii is one of the cheapest places to get your license, and as the weather is largely fine you don't lose time due to "Irish Weather". Only issue is that UK and Europe don't recognise the qualification as an equivalent and if he ever wants to work back home he would have to do a reasonably expensive conversion course. Now he has a family and kids working abroad is hardly ideal, as the wife and kids now live in the UK and he only gets to see them when he has his time off.

He does the majority of his flying in Qatar and given wages are tax free there, it works out financially very well, the obv family issues aside, now causing him issues as he has got older, married and had kids since qualifying and getting his rig flying job.

I was on holiday in Hawaii earlier in the year. Even if the chopper lessons are relatively cheap (and chopper sightseeing trips are pretty much as expensive there as anywhere) staying in Hawaii is massively expensive. Hawaiians struggle to live in their own land, and it tends to be wealthy people go on vacation there. Food & rent is top dollar. Looking overall, Ireland may be as “cheap” as anywhere, and it may be possible to get a loan after doing the first 4 hours of training to prove you have a basic altitude for it. Also, training in Irish weather makes you a versatile pilot in future professional life, able to make judgements about weather limitations.

On the other hand, it might be worth investigating costs in former Eastern European countries where training may be cheaper, cost of living cheaper, & you have generally decent have European standards of aviation. Think Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, etc.

An example of a school to make an online enquiry:
https://www.academiccourses.com/Courses/Helicopter-Training/Lithuania/amp/