Airline Pilot Central Forums - Mil helo time on a major application

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Quote:

Originally Posted by rickair7777 (Post 2446945)

Once you meet mins, and are ballpark FW competitive, you'll get called ahead of civilians because you have military wings. So not all in vain by any means. Lots of mil guys making touch-and-goes at skywest. Typically well under two years, more likely one year at a regional.

rickair is right on...
I was a Navy Helo bubba with some fixed wing time...Retired in '15, touch-and-go at regionals and to a legacy in just over a year.

And another thing; Looking back, I wouldn't trade a single helicopter hour away for the sake of competitiveness--flying helos was WAY too much fun!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alfred E Newman (Post 2453404)

There are a lot of army helo guys at regionals who have been there for several years with no luck and who are "competitive" with solid degrees, upgrades, and otherwise solid resumes. It's not always a quick touch n go. For me it took 12 months to interview, 18 months to get on property at JetBlue, who values helo time, and most of my buddies (and other helo dudes I cross paths with commuting or whatever) with similar resumes and timelines are still waiting for a call.

A correlation I have seen is that USAF/USN/USMC helo pilots all went thru mil fixed wing training. They seem to have an easier time getting on at legacies. I don't know if it's their bro network, their mil fixed wing training, or what. But every bro of mine going to the airlines after flying army helos gets the disclaimer that it's not always quick. Fortunately, regional life and pay is a lot better than when I did it a few years ago.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeatNavy (Post 2453512)

Yup, this. Unfortunately by the time many got the fixed-wing time that was needed the majors were not hiring. Flash forward to this hiring boom now and they are considered too experienced. I guess some majors have had issues with high time captains going through new hire training and now won't touch them.

I’m an army guard helo guy and a civilian airplane cfi about to make a jump to the regionals. From what I’ve been told and seen happen to the guys I’ve been flying guard with is that it basically just gives you a leg up vs the straight civilian when it comes to two equal candidates at legacy interview time. I feel like my military helo time is going to be less effective now though with all these RTP programs popping up. Maybe the fact that I’ve been instructing fixed wing and have those extra ratings will help... probably not though haha

Mundergun:

I'm in the same boat you are. I agree with you that having the rest of your FW ratings as well as CFI'ing will definatley make you stand out. Having a deployment or two under your belt will also help.