RW vs FW social life

[wannabejetpilot]

Hi, I am not trying to start a war on which type of pilots are better, but which one can have the time to meet people and spend time with friends more often? I love both fw and RW but cant decide which one to choose? I heard airline pilots and business jetare often away from home on long flights and don't spend time with friends as often as rotary guys, who usually stay where they are based such as air tour, EMS, etc. am I correct?

 

[wannabejetpilot]

Hi, I am not trying to start a war on which type of pilots are better, but which one can have the time to meet people and spend time with friends more often? I love both fw and RW but cant decide which one to choose? I heard airline pilots and business jetare often away from home on long flights and don't spend time with friends as often as rotary guys, who usually stay where they are based such as air tour, EMS, etc. am I correct?

 

[MikeD]

This is like asking whether Coke or Pepsi is better.

There's no right, wrong, correct, or incorrect answer. It all depends.

 

[AAPalmTree]

Every segment has its pros and cons. FW guys are gone a lot more. Money and safety is better on the FW side. I'm a FW guy and I think the RW mission would be more fun. I often look up at helicopters from my neighborhood and think "that thing can't carry enough gas to get too far from here." Which would be veeeeeery nice.

I think your decision in which side to choose will be more of a "calling" than a pro/con worksheet.

 

[hammerhat]

Try gliders I guess. Great social life, always sleep in your own bed (ok almost always, but if you managed to get it that far then wow awesome xc skills man)

You didn't mention anything about pay so I'm going to stop at that.

 

[BobDDuck]

That question is way more dependent on the type of flying you are doing. There are plenty of fixed wing jobs that have you home every night. There are also some rotor jobs where you are on the road for weeks at a time. In general, I suppose though, a helicopter won't travel as much as a plane.

 

[badtransam97]

It's a tough choice. I'm currently flying EMS in helicopters, but trying to scratch and claw my way into the charter FW world, which is proving hard to do with my experience, and without taking a very drastic pay cut.
With that said, I am home at least some point every day, depending on if I'm the day pilot or the night pilot. I live 20mins from my base, and work 7/7 12hr shifts. We get 2 weeks vacation a year, so I can be off a month no sweat.
It sounds nice, and it isn't bad, but it is seemingly more dangerous than FW flying, you are "stuck" in the same general geographic location and usually visit the same handful of hospitals over and over. I fly very nice equipment, and the "down" time is similar to a firemans quarters(living area, bed, kitchen,etc).
For me, I am looking to the FW side for a safer, and hopefully more lucrative job once I get some more FW experience. I also think il there are more job options if you fly airplanes. This EMS stuff is gonna go bye bye I feel like at some point, at least at the level it is now, and I don't want to be on the street with no other skill set to fall back on. God forbid I have to get a job that doesn't involve flying haha!!!
Hope this helps somewhat, and doesn't sound negative in any way, because the EMS side of RW is really not a bad gig, I'm just the type that has to be doing something all the time, and there is a little too much down time for me. We only fly about 150hrs a year if that.
Any other questions feel free to ask.

 

[Low_Level_Hell]

Hi, I am not trying to start a war on which type of pilots are better, but which one can have the time to meet people and spend time with friends more often? I love both fw and RW but cant decide which one to choose? I heard airline pilots and business jetare often away from home on long flights and don't spend time with friends as often as rotary guys, who usually stay where they are based such as air tour, EMS, etc. am I correct?

There's no war to be had. Helicopter pilots win that battle hands down.

Helicopter EMS and Oil operations lend itself to shift work such as 7 to 14 days on followed by the same amount of time off as long as the operation isn't short staffed. Other than that both FW and RW operations have seasonal or contract work that may take you away from home for extended periods. I doubt there are airline type schedules in the RW world.

 

[gotWXdagain]

You can be in FW EMS and live at home.

 

[Ruck]

Not to derail, but:

This EMS stuff is gonna go bye bye I feel like at some point, at least at the level it is now, and I don't want to be on the street with no other skill set to fall back on.

I'm interested to read that, because I'd always thought of HEMS as one of the least likely aviation subfields to shrink or vanish - it's not like people stop getting into car wrecks, or RW pilots stop holding HEMS in high regard either. What makes you say that?

 

[SpiraMirabilis]

Basically it is commonly accepted that the EMS industry has something like 50-100% more aircraft than needed. Air ambulances are not regulated like ground ambulances -- to put a ground ambulance in service in most states you have to show a need for your service. Honestly though, my base does about 45 flights a month and it is sometimes rough to do 2 flights in a row back to back.

 

[MikeD]

What makes you say that?

UAV EMS

 

[badtransam97]

@Ruck I say that because there are way too many unnecessary flights made by way too many helicopters out there. There are talks that the insurance companies are going to stop reimbursements or at least cut back on them for flights that do not meet a certain criteria. Right now, we fly everything from a stubbed toe to massive trauma.
There will always be a need for ems helicopters, but not to this extent. Everyone is cashing in on the "free" money right now by getting full payment for a flight that could have easily went by ground transport.

 

[AAPalmTree]

There's no war to be had. Helicopter pilots win that battle hands down.

Helicopter EMS and Oil operations lend itself to shift work such as 7 to 14 days on followed by the same amount of time off as long as the operation isn't short staffed. Other than that both FW and RW operations have seasonal or contract work that may take you away from home for extended periods. I doubt there are airline type schedules in the RW world.

International FW flying can match those schedules.

 

[dustoff17]

The FFA* has made the move to no longer use the reference "HEMS" but rather Air Medical Transportation (AMT). They assert that most flights today are, in fact, NOT "emergencies".

I can only remember one flight that was not an emergency (or at least didn't start out as one). However, I have heard of many uses for a HEMS aircraft that was clearly just a helicopter ride or a means to bilk an insurance company.

*Yeah, I know

 

[badtransam97]

I would venture to say that probably 90% of the flights we make are non emergent..they without doubt could go by ground ambulance, and in most cases by personal vehicle. It truly is getting ridiculous.

 

[Mollymatz]

Well, This is totally depends on your interest but I would say the career option for it. Helicopter pilots will make more at the intermediate level, but airplane pilots will max out at a higher point later in their careers.