Further to what everyone is saying about the IFR, get the bush time first!
Most IFR jobs fly very little to start with, so it''ll take you forever to get any time, and hours are what you need.
Likewise, two guys show up, both with 2000 hours for an IFR job. Pilot 1 has 2000 hours of bush PIC time and a fresh IFR ticket, Pilot 2 has 2000 hours sitting cojoe in an EMS 76. Unless there''s some serious personality issues with Pilot 1 he''ll likely get the job, and he''ll be a quick upgrade to Captain, and in my experience, will make a much stronger Captain when the upgrade comes.
Another thing to consider, Pilot 1 has been out in bush camps for the past 4 years and is looking to settle down and develop a steadier home life. Pilot 2 has been living on a steady, easy (in comparison) schedule , living in the Big Smoke, steady girlfiend/wife, going to movies/BBQ''s/Social functions on weekends and able to plan holidays, getting to friends weddings, etc. for the past ten years its taken him to get 2000 hours. Do you think he really wants to give that up to go back into the bush to get some PIC time in?
If the bush isn''t your thing, get it out of the way when you''re young.
Flying EMS is a blast and is very rewarding, and its an honorable goal, but if you get there too early, and you hear all the bush stories of your fellow pilots, you''ll regret your choice.
rotrhd1, Instructors rating was covered look up a few comments. I covered it.
You need 300hrs PIC in order to start a intructors rating. Some one can correct me if Im wrong. Sure it is something like that.
According to the CARS you need 250 hours PIC in HELICOPTERS to become a helicopter instructor, but that is a hard road though! Low pay and hard work (HAHAHA) like everywhere else, plus you actually have to know what you are talking about most of the time!
Firehawk, I saw you commented on the time necessary to get the instructor rating. But, I was wondering about after one begs, borrows or steals time to get enough in the books to start a rating, does anyone think it benificial to the career to invest in one?
I think it is benefical to get a instructors rating.
There seems to be a few oppions out there about weather a low time pilot with around 300 or 400 hrs should be teaching other low time pilots how to fly. I think it just depends if that is your niche and you like doing it and are good at it. I have a good buddy that started
intructing at 300 hrs and he is still doing it and loves it. He also went into the bush scene for abit,
he then went back to instructing. Like I said he loves it and the lifestyle.
It is his niche that he found. I think he is one of the best intsructors out there. Instructors are teaching you the basics how to fly a helicopter after
all. Maybe someone else can shed some more light on the subject for you. After all it is better to get more then one Oppion.
Talk to the schools about the instructor postions. I beleive there is a shortage of them.
It's not easy to start out as an instructor here in Canada, and it seems that almost everybody sees one as a unexperienced 'knowitall' with no skill or capabilities. I started out instructing in the States, and came here, because nobody in Canada wanted the job! Now I'm trying to get into the real world of aviation (don't get me wrong, I still enjoy instructing) but now the thing is, I don't have any experience! So here I am, a 1000 hour pilot, with no turbine time, and therefore I am almost unemployable, because nobody needs a 1000 hour wonder, with no bush experience. I was told that I'd pretty much have to start at dispatch, for at least a year from one company, and that is not why I got my hours for.
So, I Agree that the instructor rating is a good idea, I know a lot that I would not have known if I hadn't gone this way, but I also feel right now, that maybe coming here was a minor mistake, because I can't get no proper work out there!
