Originally Posted by
Carson
First off, I'm sorry if these questions have already been asked/answered in depth on this site. I've spent some time searching, but to no avail. I'm just starting UPT and have started looking into shooting for helos. Once my service is up I really want to transfer over to the airlines, would helos pretty much rule that out for me? If so, what airframes would you recommend considering? Sorry for my ignorance, I don't really have any military or aviation background in my family so I'm kind of jumping into all this blind. Thank you for your time.
-Carson
You can't predict the future. Figure out the mission you want now, then go for it. There were a lot of people that planned on simply transferring to the airlines that went to UPT in the 90's. Didn't exactly work out like it did for the people who went to UPT in the 70's and 80's. Your goals and desires will probably be vastly different 11 years from now.
On a side note, have you thought about CV-22s? I'm not really sure how the FAA looks at tiltrotors, but it's different from helos. Another input, as a MC-130 guy, I knew tons of helo pilots. They're mostly all great Americans and have done some amazing things the past 10 years. Same for the Rescue HH-60 pilots. If that's the kind of action you are looking for, then do what Albie said to do in UPT and don't look back.