Episode 398: Get After It- How to Start Your First Helicopter Pilot Job

Do we have any questions?

Oscar? I am a CFII helicopter pilot with about 350 hours in the R22 plus. He recently completed the Robinson safety course in July.

Nice.

He gave his weight and he has not been able to find a decent entry level job. He's been cold called by schools applying to dozens of places. Wants to know if he is doing anything wrong or if that's normal for someone just trying to get an entry level job. And what advice would you be able to give?

That's a phenomenal question. I know to get my start took a little bit, right? Like I, I became a new, I was brand new CFI and the school that I did all my training at didn't need anybody at that time. And I started, you know, applying different places and luckily within a few months the school where I trained had an instructor leave to move on another job and I got a position there. If you're advertising and you're not getting any jobs, you got to stay after it. Number one, we hear this, but we also hear there are plenty of jobs out there. Keep at it, you know, keep networking, keep talking to people. I know like in law enforcement, you know, I was a police officer and same thing there. It was like you got to keep applying, keep it trying until you get there. Now I don't know what you could be doing wrong, what I tell people, I mean you're already there at CFI double I, which makes you even more marketable because most people just get their CFI and start teaching. Most people applying aren't normally double I, but when I tell people, you know, you have to obviously present yourself well. You got to go after it, you got to talk to people, you got to be aggressive. I know I got my first job because I trained there. But then 911 happened shortly after and that flight school was doing nothing afterwards. And so I started looking for a job because I could continue flying. Nobody in the country's hiring at that time and I should start a contact in every single helicopter flight school in our state or the surrounding states. All 1, 2, 3, 4, I could think of. I just went online and this is clear back in the early 2000s and I just started contacting every single helicopter company that was in a five state area that I could, you know, drive to fairly easy with an interview because usually you're a new CFI and you don't have a lot of money. So I wanted to get something where I could at least drive to an interview. And I just started emailing, emailing, emailing. Emailing and telling them who I was. I was ready to get my career going, told them my background and I was looking for my start. Off the top of my head, that's the best tips I can think of is just keep after it. Keep talking to many people as you can and don't give up you've gotten this far. First right here is free free PDF private pilot 101 helicopter training blueprint. That's why we created this and let me cover what's in the first chapter. Since you ask and you're at the beginning. That's why we created this. The first chapter are questions that we've, we took like the top 10 questions that we get all the time. Like is learning how to fly a helicopter difficult? How long will it take to become a private pilot? How much will it cost to become a private pilot? What is the best approach to selecting a flight school? What are the key differences between helicopters and fixed wing aircraft? How many tests will I have to take? How many hours for solo on the license? Kenny's recommended training supplies so this is absolutely 100% free. You can go down below, there's a link down below. Or you can type in your browser privateblueprint.com and you can download immediately after you sign up. You'll sign up, enter your name and email and the next page will show you download your book here. That's where you should start because again it's free. Or subscribe to the YouTube channel. Subscribe the channel. You'll get notification when the new video comes out for either the live or the premiere, whichever way we do it. And then we want to also bring up we are updating and starting to update our R22 specific course behind us. Course behind us. Course using the helicopter behind us. Lindsay's in charge of getting in there and updating some images. In the R22 site section of Hogs. We have R22 specific section and an R44 specific section that come with any of our memberships. So you don't have to buy that specifically we use private pilot for example monthly membership. It has both the R22 and R44 sections in there. And since we have an R22 available to us and an R44 available to us, we thought why not get the content updated in those courses with some fresh videos, brushed images. We got two aircraft and a lot of people going well I want to. Well I'm gonna. Well after Christmas. Well that's when everybody's going to start wanting those times. So to speed the process along. We need to get some workbook for these helicopters. Both of them are sitting, currently not flying, and they're both ready to go. So reach out to Hogsmember support 574-767-1797. If you'd like to get on the schedule for some training. We specialize in check rides, finish the people up. But we can also do, you know, SFAR checkouts. Again, you can come in for one day, two days, whatever you need, or you need a block of time. We'd even be willing to work your little deal this time of the year to get some time on these aircraft. So again, reach out To Hawk member support 574-767-1797. When you feel the pressure to fly, but know the right decision is to stay on the ground, hit the hogs no go and live to fly another day. Helicopterground Com.