I would finish up your fixed wing ratings and shoot for the airlines. Unless you land a Cush hospital IFR EMS program that can pay 100K a year and only flys 30 flights a month. It's just not worth the 60K a year to fly all night in crap weather, single pilot NVG. All these jobs have faults. Just do what's good for your situation. If you go 121, at least you'll have the hours to find a 91 or 135 FW job that works for you later down the road. You can always go find a EMS RW job.

I am sure by now you understand the reasoning behind why FW operators do not recognize "multi-engine" RW time?

I appreciate the recommendation. I think the best option will be to work toward the FW ratings and a regional airline. I only have 1000TT and most IFR EMS want 1500+. A lot of the deployed contract jobs are drying up, so there are many more qualified RW guys to fill up the EMS and oil jobs.

If not he should get some refresher ME FW instruction before 121 interview? Maybe..




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I'd like to know why my 1300 hours of flying a 69,000 lb 3 engine 4 hydraulic system helicopter onto the back of a boat at night in the goo makes me less qualified than flying a cessna 152 onto a 8000' runway during day VFR conditions?
I can say my helicopter time has definitely made me a much better pilot than flying a cessna.

It is absurd that helicopter time is not accepted by the majors!!! I just looked at the minimums for Alaska Airlines and it says 3000 fixed wing (no helicopter)??! This is so stupid given the Director of Training is a former H47 pilot in the Army. The Chief pilot is screw ball that thinks helo pilots are less qualified.

AirlineAPPS helo time
 

I just looked at my app on Airlineapps and the helo time is included in the total time but is not included in the "Pic" time.
It is still discriminating against helo pilots.

No, I do not understand said "reasoning". I'd appreciate the benefit of your wisdom on the subject.

Are you serious or did I just miss the sarcasm?

Asymmetrical thrust. Same reason - even more so in a helo - for the centerline restriction. Don't necessarily agree with ignoring the TT, but absolutely understand not counting the ME.

What an airline does and doesn't count is up to the airline with respect to different flight time.
-Helicopter multi-engine isn't the same as fixed wing multi-engine because of the asymmetrical thrust. You lose an engine in an multi-engine helicopter and you might not be able to maintain level flight. You lose one in an airplane and you might end up with uncontrollable yaw.
-Some airlines will count helicopter time towards their total time requirement, but not all. The bottom line for those of us that want to make the transition from rotors to fixed is to get the FAA mins for your fixed wing ATP (1500TT (or less if you qualify for an ATPr), 250 FW PIC, 100 FW PIC cross country, and 25 FW PIC night). Get in with a regional to build up more fixed wing hours. Keep your application active and updated with the majors and hopefully you will get the call within a few years.
-You can't expect to jump right to a major when all your flight time is in rotors and you just have enough fixed wing to get an ATP. There are pilots that have been grinding away in the regional airlines that have more experience in the type of flying that the majors do.
-That all being said, the majors do look favorably on some of the military helo training and experience. Yes, flying to the back of the small boy in IFR to do a medivac in pitch 3 roll 4 conditions does breed a pilot that has a solid foundation in aviation decision making. But it doesn't help you fly a STAR into New York without getting a violation.

For those that are looking to head to the police side of rotary flying, many departments are going away from the requirement to be in the department for 2-3 years first. They have realized that it is too long of a training pipeline when they need a new pilot due to someone losing their medical or other unplanned loss. Many have also gone to using contract pilots. MD State police, Fairfax police, FBI, and National Park Service are all organizations that are now either hiring pilots directly or are using contract pilots to fill their helicopters that I know of in my area.