what exactly is the job outlook for helicopter pilots? can an airplane pilot train to become a helicopter pilot? What do police departments or the coast guard typically pay for helicopter pilots?

i think it would make a good career, since the pilots probably stay close to home, and dont have to commute to Chicago or Texas every week, right?

this position pays over $70000 annually

Helicopter Pilot (Instructor) - Fort Rucker, AL, USA - TAOnline

Most of the helicopter pilots out there seem to be retired Army or MC guys, probably due to the fact that helicopter training now seems to run 2-3X airplane training at a minimum.

speed550 -

I asked this question many, many years ago and was told the same thing that you are hearing above. It seemed that there were many helo opportunities out there, but I was told that the market gets saturated with former military types and it is the exception that a pure civilian trained pilot is competitive for many of the jobs.

I recently flew with a former 106th SOAR guy and before getting his current job, he was flying as a news reporter / helo pilot in Atlanta. If that is the type of experience that your regular helo pilot is going up against for a spot flying a TV station's aircraft then I'd say it is competitive at the least!

Btw speed550 - I'm pretty sure that the job that you posted the link for is mainly targeting former military instructor pilots.

USMCFLYR

And don't forget about the anti-military moffia. Many civilian only pilots hate military guys. I have seen it too many times....

The best paying jobs are in the most expensive cities. You can make 70k in the SF Bay area, but you can't live there for that.

darn it

Some of the positions are GS-12's and 13's, nice paper:USAJOBS - Search Jobs

Any dual rated pilots out there have an opinions or insight on this subject?

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.