First Helicopter Flight 06/04/16

[RECOVER]

My dad purchased me a first ride for Christmas. I waited till my semester was over and this beautiful day to embark. After 30 minutes in a simulator we fired up the real thing. After all the preflight checks i was given all of the controls for takeoff, not the original lift off and hover, but to go off the field. Hearing the instructor call out ETL and seeing ETL come to life and climbing out was the happiest feeling i've had in aviation in a long time (beats the hot air balloon ride i took last year).

Lots of planes flew by at the towered airport and i felt a little out of place not being in an airplane.

As far as adding on rotorcraft to a commercial or future cfi-a ticket, how easy are heli jobs to get and do they pay decently to see an investment of commercial add-on through?

P.S. I can't hover LOL.

 

[deadstick]

The CPL add-on is 50+ hrs. Do it in a Robbie. The only reason I say this is because everybody uses them and there in SFAR73 in Part 61 that requires hours specifically in the 22/44 in order to instruct.

Jobs are somewhat tight right now because a ton of pilots have been laid off in the offshore industry in the last 18 mo. People who would have moved on haven't and there are a few people with good quals looking for jobs. With that said, the RW jobs usually start at a better pay, but top-out lower than say 121 or senior corporate FW pilots. BUT it is much more interesting.