Advice to a Military Helo Pilot looking to go
09-12-2016, 07:51 PM
#11
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2013
Position: FO
Posts: 627
I've done the transition. It can be tedious depending on your circumstances but with your background you should be a quick learner. My background: Navy H-60 driver and instructor, got my AMEL, CFI, CFII, and ATP the civvie route after separating. Currently flying 91K/135 in a Pilatus.
1. If you are way out of practice in an airplane, find a place to rent one and get comfortable for many, many hours. Preferably with a CFI for a few runs.
2. Avoid shady companies with weak training programs. They will do you a disservice and assume you know things most civilian pilots learn in their training; this will put you at a disadvantage in your first civilian 121 or 135 Checkride, something you want to get right. A regional airline should be fine experience.
3. Don't worry too much about a professional resume review for companies that are begging for pilots (I.e. regional airlines) I would recommend having friends and colleagues review your resume.
4. I interviewed with two regional airlines and brought my paper logbooks only. I had less than 50 hours civilian time so it wasn't difficult to add things up. Since then I scrubbed them and entered them into a custom excel spreadsheet. It was free. I brought printouts to the interviews at my next two companies. **I did not make any adjustments to my military flight times based on FAA rules** The only thing I did was clarify certain flights or parts of training where I had a type of flight time logged that didn't translate to FAA. (I.E. First pilot time vs student time, PIC as First Pilot vs PIC as Aircraft Commander) Read through Part 61 with a fine tooth comb to figure out what should be what.
5. On the topic of flight time, make sure you have all the Part 61 requirements to qualify for an ATP, else you won't even be able to go to a regional airline. I was short a good number of night hours and hours as PIC in airplanes, hence my reason for finding a flying job vs paying for time building.
Any other questions, shoot.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
1. If you are way out of practice in an airplane, find a place to rent one and get comfortable for many, many hours. Preferably with a CFI for a few runs.
2. Avoid shady companies with weak training programs. They will do you a disservice and assume you know things most civilian pilots learn in their training; this will put you at a disadvantage in your first civilian 121 or 135 Checkride, something you want to get right. A regional airline should be fine experience.
3. Don't worry too much about a professional resume review for companies that are begging for pilots (I.e. regional airlines) I would recommend having friends and colleagues review your resume.
4. I interviewed with two regional airlines and brought my paper logbooks only. I had less than 50 hours civilian time so it wasn't difficult to add things up. Since then I scrubbed them and entered them into a custom excel spreadsheet. It was free. I brought printouts to the interviews at my next two companies. **I did not make any adjustments to my military flight times based on FAA rules** The only thing I did was clarify certain flights or parts of training where I had a type of flight time logged that didn't translate to FAA. (I.E. First pilot time vs student time, PIC as First Pilot vs PIC as Aircraft Commander) Read through Part 61 with a fine tooth comb to figure out what should be what.
5. On the topic of flight time, make sure you have all the Part 61 requirements to qualify for an ATP, else you won't even be able to go to a regional airline. I was short a good number of night hours and hours as PIC in airplanes, hence my reason for finding a flying job vs paying for time building.
Any other questions, shoot.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
09-13-2016, 09:53 AM
#12
Gets Weekends Off
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Aug 2016
Position: P-28
Posts: 151
Toonces thank you for the detailed reply and great advice. I'm looking to get back into a cockpit here shortly to knock some fixed wing rust off. We have a family friend/CFI who can get me up to speed in a piper arrow and checked out in it and then my father-in-law owns one where I can use it for gas and chipping in some for maintenance.
I need to clean up my log books to make them presentable as my dog has chewed the cover off of one of them. She got it off an end table and I'm not sure why it tasted good. Luckily all the pages are ok and signatures.
I need to clean up my log books to make them presentable as my dog has chewed the cover off of one of them. She got it off an end table and I'm not sure why it tasted good. Luckily all the pages are ok and signatures.
09-13-2016, 04:32 PM
#14
On Reserve
Joined APC: Oct 2008
Posts: 22
Helo time
Just attended a recruiting event with my Regional. They will take helo time; the crew coordination and turbine time are a plus. Ex-mil pilots are more or less guaranteed drug-free and have a track record of showing up to work on time and sober
And they are desperate for pilots. If I take the recruiting job they just offered; I'll be visiting Rucker/Campbell/Bragg surfing for sharp pilots who want to RON in a place without sandbags on the roof.
And they are desperate for pilots. If I take the recruiting job they just offered; I'll be visiting Rucker/Campbell/Bragg surfing for sharp pilots who want to RON in a place without sandbags on the roof.
09-13-2016, 05:29 PM
#15
Standing by to Stand By
Joined APC: Jul 2016
Position: Holding
Posts: 76
Originally Posted by wise810
Just attended a recruiting event with my Regional. They will take helo time; the crew coordination and turbine time are a plus. Ex-mil pilots are more or less guaranteed drug-free and have a track record of showing up to work on time and sober
And they are desperate for pilots. If I take the recruiting job they just offered; I'll be visiting Rucker/Campbell/Bragg surfing for sharp pilots who want to RON in a place without sandbags on the roof.
And they are desperate for pilots. If I take the recruiting job they just offered; I'll be visiting Rucker/Campbell/Bragg surfing for sharp pilots who want to RON in a place without sandbags on the roof.
09-14-2016, 03:43 AM
#16
Line Holder
Joined APC: Apr 2016
Posts: 83
Originally Posted by Hacker15e
Don't forget that JetBlue is the only big airline to officially give credit to rotor time, so put your app in there as well as the regionals.
I've had three helo-centric buddies get picked up by regionals, spend about a year and a half in the salt mines, then move on up to one of the more desirable companies. Your objectives are entirely achievable.
11-02-2016, 09:54 AM
#18
Gets Weekends Off
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Aug 2016
Position: P-28
Posts: 151
Figured I would give some feedback for others now that I've had a couple of interviews and followed through on some of the advise here:
-I took the time and redid my log-books. Part of this was that one of them was chewed up by my dog and I wanted to hand over something a bit more presentable, and part of it was to go through and make sure I was accounting flights accurately. It did take a lot of time, but it was also fun to review my flying career. I did not do any "conversion" so that my military log books (which I brought with me to the interview) and my printed digital ones would match and I would not have to explain some conversion factor. One of the airlines I interviewed with did say they added 0.3 to each sortie, but that really didn't add that much time to my fixed wing time (where I need it the most). Going through flight by flight also allowed me to properly categorize the flight time into FAA terms (dual received, PIC, SIC, etc.). It is also nice to have a digital log book with me now that I'm doing quite a bit of civilian flying to build up my hours.
-The interviews went well. I was offered one job at the interview contingent on me getting enough hours to qualify for ATP. I was passed on the second because I didn't have enough hours for ATP, but asked to resubmit when I had the hours.
I'm currently flying a relatives Piper Arrow II every chance I get to finish building my hours. Hopefully the weather is good enough over the next few months to get some good flight time in, or I'll need to take it South on some cross-countries to find good weather.
-I took the time and redid my log-books. Part of this was that one of them was chewed up by my dog and I wanted to hand over something a bit more presentable, and part of it was to go through and make sure I was accounting flights accurately. It did take a lot of time, but it was also fun to review my flying career. I did not do any "conversion" so that my military log books (which I brought with me to the interview) and my printed digital ones would match and I would not have to explain some conversion factor. One of the airlines I interviewed with did say they added 0.3 to each sortie, but that really didn't add that much time to my fixed wing time (where I need it the most). Going through flight by flight also allowed me to properly categorize the flight time into FAA terms (dual received, PIC, SIC, etc.). It is also nice to have a digital log book with me now that I'm doing quite a bit of civilian flying to build up my hours.
-The interviews went well. I was offered one job at the interview contingent on me getting enough hours to qualify for ATP. I was passed on the second because I didn't have enough hours for ATP, but asked to resubmit when I had the hours.
I'm currently flying a relatives Piper Arrow II every chance I get to finish building my hours. Hopefully the weather is good enough over the next few months to get some good flight time in, or I'll need to take it South on some cross-countries to find good weather.
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