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    Helicopter Pilot Careers
    Helicopter Pilot Careers
    Helicopter Pilot Careers
    Ebook82 pages1 hour

    Helicopter Pilot Careers

    By Helen Krasner

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    About this ebook

    Helen Krasner for many years combined working as a helicopter flight instructor with writing about various aspects of rotary aviation for a number of magazines. Collections of many of these articles have already been published as ebooks. This latest collection contains seven articles which could be particularly useful and interesting to those wanting to know about various helicopter pilot careers.

    The first two articles discuss the qualifications and experience needed to become a commercial helicopter pilot and then a flying instructor. After that come Helen’s experiences of the different jobs available to helicopter pilots. Thus the next two articles are about different aspects of the worthwhile work of air ambulance pilots. Then come two further articles about the work of the Metropolitan Police Air Support Unit. Finally we have some details of the less well known jobs of those pilots who patrol and monitor the gas pipelines.

    Some of these articles describe in detail the work of the pilots involved; others concentrate more on the types of helicopters used. All should be particular interest to anyone considering a career in rotary aviation, but ought also to appeal to anyone else interested in helicopter flying. The articles are of varying length, and the book is well over 20,000 words.

    Helen has been flying for many years: she holds a Commercial Helicopter Pilot's Licence and until recently also had an Instructor's Rating. She also has a Private Pilot’s Licence for Aeroplanes, and well over 1000 hours flying time in total. Until 2011 she worked as a freelance helicopter instructor, flying mainly R22s and R44s.
    Helen still writes regularly about helicopters and other aviation-related subjects for a number of magazines and websites. She is also a former Newsletter Editor for the BWPA (British Women Pilots’ Association). She was nominated for one of the Aerospace Journalist of the Year Awards in 2004, for an article about Flying Helicopters in Russia. She has published two print books about helicopter flying – The Helicopter Pilot’s Companion (Crowood Press 2008), and Flying Helicopters: A Companion to the PPL(H) (Crowood Press 2011). In addition she has previously compiled eleven ebooks, mainly about aviation, and in general comprised of collections of her regular articles. Finally, Helen has also written and published a book about a five thousand mile walk around Britain which she undertook some years ago (Midges, Maps, and Muesli). All of these books, both print and digital, are widely available. Further details of them can be found in the Books section of Helen’s website, www.must-fly.com. Signed copies of the print books are sometimes available from Helen; you are welcome to email her for information.

    If you enjoy this book, take a look at Helen’s other books.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHelen Krasner
    Release dateJan 6, 2014
    ISBN9781310314759
    Helicopter Pilot Careers
    Author

    Helen Krasner

    Helen Krasner worked as a helicopter instructor for several years, instructing for various flying schools on Robinson R22s and R44s. She has also flown a large number of other helicopter types, held a private pilot's licence for aeroplanes, and has had a go at flying microlights, gliders, and balloons. Helen has been writing professionally for many years and contributes regularly to a number of aviation publications. She was nominated for an Aerospace Journalist of the Year award in 2004, for an article about flying helicopters in Russia. She has also had several books published, both print and ebooks, mainly – though not exclusively – on aviation related topics. She is also a former Newsletter Editor for the BWPA (British Women Pilots' Association). You can find out more about Helen, including details of all of her books, on her website, helenkrasner.com.com.

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      Book preview

      Helicopter Pilot Careers - Helen Krasner

      Helicopter Pilot Careers

      (The Life and Work of a Helicopter Pilot: Collected Articles)

      By Helen Krasner

      Published by Helen Krasner at Smashwords

      Copyright Helen Krasner 2012

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

      Preface

      Helen Krasner for many years combined working as a helicopter flight instructor with writing about various aspects of rotary aviation for a number of magazines. Collections of many of these articles have already been published as ebooks. This latest collection contains those articles which could be particularly useful and interesting to those wanting to know about helicopter pilot careers.

      The first two articles discuss the qualifications and experience needed to become a commercial helicopter pilot and then a flying instructor. After that come Helen’s experiences of the different jobs available to helicopter pilots. Thus the next two articles are about different aspects of the worthwhile work of air ambulance pilots. Then come two further articles about the work of the Metropolitan Police Air Support Unit. Finally we have some details of the less well known jobs of those pilots who patrol and monitor the gas pipelines. Some of these articles describe in detail the work of the pilots involved; others concentrate more on the types of helicopters used. All should be particular interest to anyone considering a career in rotary aviation, but ought also to appeal to anyone else interested in helicopter flying.

      Helen has been flying for many years: she holds a Commercial Helicopter Pilot's Licence and until recently also had an Instructor's Rating. She also has a Private Pilot’s Licence for Aeroplanes, and well over 1000 hours flying time in total. Until 2011 she worked as a freelance helicopter instructor, flying mainly R22s and R44s.

      Helen still writes regularly about helicopters and other aviation-related subjects for a number of magazines and websites. She is also a former Newsletter Editor for the BWPA (British Women Pilots’ Association). She was nominated for one of the Aerospace Journalist of the Year Awards in 2004, for an article about Flying Helicopters in Russia. She has published two print books about helicopter flying – The Helicopter Pilot’s Companion (Crowood Press 2008), and Flying Helicopters: A Companion to the PPL(H) (Crowood Press 2011). In addition she has previously compiled eleven ebooks, mainly about aviation, and in general comprised of collections of her regular articles. Finally, Helen has also written and published a book about a five thousand mile walk around Britain which she undertook some years ago (Midges, Maps, and Muesli). All of these books, both print and digital, are widely available. Further details of them can also be found in the Books section of Helen’s website, www.must-fly.com. Signed copies of the print books are sometimes available from Helen; you are welcome to email her for information.

      If you enjoy this book, take a look at Helen’s other books, and feel free to contact her at helenkrasner2@gmail.com.

      CONTENTS

      Chapter One: Becoming a Professional Helicopter Pilot

      Chapter Two: Becoming a Helicopter Instructor

      Chapter Three: A Day with an Air Ambulance Pilot

      Chapter Four: More Air Ambulance Flying

      Chapter Five: An Introduction to the Metropolitan Police Helicopter

      Chapter Six: More Flying with the Police Air Support Unit

      Chapter Seven: A Day with the Pipeline Patrol Pilots

      Chapter One: Becoming Professional Helicopter Pilot

      Return to Table of Contents

      Helicopter flying is extremely addictive! Almost everyone who tries it wants to do more, and many people who embark on a PPL(H) course at least consider the idea of getting a commercial licence and being paid to fly rotary aircraft. So what is actually required to become a professional helicopter pilot? In addition, what are the job prospects once you have passed all the exams, done all the required flying, and jumped through all the other official hoops? And perhaps most importantly, is this even a sensible thing to be considering at the present time, in the current economic climate? After all, helicopter flying is very expensive, even by aviation standards. Borrowing the money for your training is likely to be difficult at the present time, if not impossible. And with the UK officially in recession, and those who have jobs becoming worried about keeping them, will you even be able to find work at the end of that long – if highly enjoyable – training?

      Let us firstly take a look at the last of those questions. This economic downturn will not last for ever. If you gain your professional qualifications now, then when things improve you are likely to be at the front of the queue when it comes to getting a helicopter flying job. Those who wait for better times will only then be starting their training, and will be far behind you in the race for jobs. As for funding your training, this is always an individual choice. But it would certainly be better to make sure that you have at least some of the money needed before you start the course.

      However, this last would be sensible advice for aspiring rotary pilots at any time, for a very good reason. There is one big, big difference between becoming a commercial fixed-wing pilot and the rotary equivalent. Most prospective fixed-wing pilots have an airline job in their sights, and airline pilots, given a reasonable amount of luck, are ensured of a long term steady job with adequate pay. But there is no similar career path to the airlines in the helicopter world. There are a number of different things you can do, which will be discussed later in this article. But generally – with the exception of the North Sea oil companies - helicopter jobs in the UK are insecure and relatively short-term. And even the North Sea is a fluctuating employment market. Overall, there is usually plenty of rotary work around, but you may need to travel and be flexible in order to get it. And this is a lot easier to do if you don’t have huge debts to start with.

      Back to the beginning… The

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