Originally Posted by
Atlas Shrugged
And don't forget about the anti-military moffia. Many civilian only pilots hate military guys. I have seen it too many times....
That goes both ways, unfortunately.
The civilian route involves getting / adding on a commercial / CFI, then instructing until you meet 135 mins. A lucky few with connections can build the time on a corporate gig. After that it's EMS, offshore, etc. Yes, it's competitive. If you
really like flying helicopters it's well worth it and doable. It'll likely be several years until you pay your investment back and start taking home decent money, though.