Do helicopter hours apply?

Andrew_Neal

Andrew_Neal

Well-Known Member
Curious about whether or not helicopter total time will apply towards other things; I'm familiar with the fact that the hours will help in making my FW SEL add-on much quicker... but not sure it helps beyond that. I'm at a college flight school learning helicopters, but I'm 80% sure I'm going to switch over and do fixed wing instead, simply because the career path seems more viable.. and because I'm jealous of all my buddies who started FW and are now getting picked up by regionals.

Another big reason I'm switching is because I'm a GI bill student and I've used 8-9 months of benefits and I'm just now scheduling my private checkride. The school has a hard time keeping the helos up an running and the guys who started FW at the same time I started flying helos are now finishing up instrument and working on commercial. Not sure being dual rated will benefit me at all in the long run; but I've considered just doing the whole helicopter program and hoping I have enough GI bill eligibility left to finish the FW stuff.. but that's not likely given the maintenance turnaround at this school.
 
Yes, but it depends on the company. "Most" company's will accept it for total time but require you have specific time in type for the job on top.
 
I read yesterday that customs & border patrol will take helicopter pilot applications at 1500 total time (in whatever) as long as you've got 250PIC in helicopters. Didn't see any requirement for turbine time.
 
Found the actual posting, seemed to be correct with the addition of some night and instrument time.

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/470929000

Certificates, Ratings and Flight Experience:
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You must possess and provide proof of the following, at time of application in order to meet the basic requirements of this position:

  • A current FAA Commercial or ATP Pilot Certification with the following ratings:
    Dual Rated: Airplane (Single-engine land or multi-engine land) with instrument rating AND Rotorcraft Helicopter with instrument rating; OR
    Airplane Rated: Airplane (Single-engine land or multi-engine land) with instrument; OR
    Helicopter Rated: Rotorcraft Helicopter with instrument rating.
  • An FAA Medical Certificate First or Second Class. Either one must be dated within the last 12 calendar months and valid through the closing date of this announcement. However, at the time of your Flight Assessment you MUST have an FAA 1st Class Medical Certificate dated within the previous 12 calendar months. Military flight medicals cannot be used - you must possess an FAA 1st or 2nd class Medical certificate.
  • Have 1500 hours total flight time. Within the 1500 hours you must have/show; 250 hours as Pilot-in-Command; 75 hours Instrument, and 75 Night hours, and 100 within the last 12 months. The flight logs you provide at time of application must clearly show all flight hours listed above. Your physical flight log book(s) will be required for verification at the time of your Flight Assessment.
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av8tr1 said:
Actually if you are prior service I have heard they will bump that down to 750.
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Sarcasm? Lol, that seems awfully low.

I'm prior service but not as a pilot. I did 5 years active doing Huey & Cobra maintenance.
 
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Soku39 said:
You might not fly that much, I've heard of people routinely only doing 5 hours a month in guard units.
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Guard units or border patrol units? Not sure what the organization structure is with CBP.


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At the end of the day what matters the most to me is that I'll be able to fly for a living one day. Guess that's most student pilots on this forum. If CFI work paid more I'd be cool with that, but it won't put my kids through college. Trying to spend my GI bill wisely on an aviation education sometimes seems like a very long and drawn out chess game that I've been playing for about a year now.
 
Andrew_Neal said:
Sarcasm? Lol, that seems awfully low.

I'm prior service but not as a pilot. I did 5 years active doing Huey & Cobra maintenance.
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Not sarcasm, if you are a veteran of military service there was a rule that allows them to lower the minimum number of hours. I don't know if it's still in effect or not. You can also avoid the age cut off with prior service.
 
Andrew_Neal said:
At the end of the day what matters the most to me is that I'll be able to fly for a living one day. Guess that's most student pilots on this forum. If CFI work paid more I'd be cool with that, but it won't put my kids through college. Trying to spend my GI bill wisely on an aviation education sometimes seems like a very long and drawn out chess game that I've been playing for about a year now.
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From what you have describe i would find another school.
 
av8tr1 said:
Yes that's correct I know guys coming out of the Army after eight years with less than 400 hours.
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The days of 1000 hour deployments are over.

We still deploy plenty of people, but we don't have the heavy maintenance support we used to enjoy so commands can't simply request we fill the calendar with blade hours.
 
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