"The helicopter guy was making a rational comparison between his career prospects and the cost it took to get there."

I wonder why he didn't do that before he even started? The helicoptor biz has always been harder to get into, higher cost to train, and a lower paying career. It's been that way for a long, long, time. Yet, many folks seem to be happy doing that job. More power to them. Whenever a kid asks me about a flying helicopters for a living, I tell him to join the army to fly. You don't even need a four year degree. But, I don't think there are nearly as many 100K chopper jobs as fixed wing jobs.