Job outlook for rotary wing?

[P3-Adub]

Helo questions

New to the helo side of the industry, our company is considering setting up a helo op down in the carribean. No idea what kind of pilot experience/requirements we should be looking for, I do know that we will be shopping for a good machine, twin turbine, IFR, ete... for pax transportation. Posted a thread on this today. Any chance someone could enlighten me on pay ranges for out of country contracts for pilots and mechanics ? Will be a first class operation with excellent support. I have seen the S76 and the Agusta at NBAA, rode around quite a bit in the TwinStar. We are thinking up to 6 pax and some baggage capability. Wheels or skids ? Over water concerns ?


Thanks in advance for your replys.

 

[onthebeach]

Suitable Helicopter

If you are operating in the Carib, IMO you don't NEED true IFR capability, i.e., certification for IFR ops, since if the weather is bad enought to fly IFR in the Carib it will be the kind of weather you wouldn't want to be flying in in the first place. However, I recommend buying an IFR-certified ship to allow filing IFR in the many instances that pseudo-instrument conditions will exist down there, i.e., hazy days overwater, and basically ALL night-time operations around hilly island terrain with few surface light. You definitely want a single pilot operation for weight considerations and therefore you will also want an autopilot-equipped helo. If you buy the helo equipped as described, you will also have a much better situation at resale time.

The place you don't want to scrimp on is the pilot, especially if you're going to be operating at night. Make sure the individual you hire is comfortable flying over water AND is instrument proficient. Now here is where you are going to have trouble, because the people who REALLY are instrument proficient usually don't want to fly a VFR operation, and if you manage to hire someone who actually can fly the gauges he/she will lose proficiency rapidly without 2 x year recurrent (my recommendation) IFR recurrent training. Everybody with an instrument ticket...and there are many...will tell you a tale, but take my advise, put your prospective new hire in a non-autopilot Bell 206 with only basic gyro instruments & one nav/com, cover up the chin window, put foggles on him/her, then get in cruise flight, throw an approach plate in his/her lap and say, "you have the controls, you just punched in, the weather is 600 & 1, land us at a suitable airport." This test will separate the horses from the crowbait...

You do not want a wheeled helicopter UNLESS you will regularly be operating around fixed-wing parking. The line people in the Carib tend to be *laissez-faire* about parking and unless you have a golf-cart/limo set up to hustle your pax to the terminal from an outlying ramp area you are going to sandblast jets with a skid job...not good. Wheels add weight, complexity and add to the cost of maintenance in the operation you'll be setting up. Of course, it should go without saying, you MUST have popout floats installed.

You definitely want a twin for over-water operation. You will have trouble getting one that will haul the load you're talking about and maintain any sort of Category A capability in that heat and humidity. The good news is, you really don't need Cat A since an obstacle-free flat place is not hard to find in the islands, but the capabilty to continue to an airport in the event of engine failure during 95% of your flight profile, i.e., cruise, will be invaluable in terms of safety and insurability down there.

Buy the newest helicopter you can. You may not think you can afford new, but trust me you will not be able to afford to maintain a run-out ship. Pay now or pay later. Hire a good mechanic.

If there is ANY way to get around it, DO NOT buy a helicopter in the first place. If you absolutely must have vertical takeoff and landing capability, the helicopter is the only way to go, however I have seen a lot of helicopter buys that were based pretty much on ego. In the Carib it's probably better to buy a simple STOL twin airplane (i.e., Islander) and limo the pax to/from. However if you are going to/from yachts and/or the small "primitive" islands where runways don't exist, then you are going to be forced into the helicopter. In that case, lots of luck.

If you want to do it and do it right, you can hire me for the job. My asking salary for an operation like this is between $100,000 and $70,000 per year, depending on the benefit package, plus a full-service training arrangement with FSI (the last item is non-negotiable).

However, I suspect that your boss is pretty comfortable with you and will probably transition you to fly the op...that is, if insurance can be had...probably not. In case you do end up flying the thing, take my advice, hire a part-timer with a real helo background to babysit you for a while. Make sure you are proficient in IFR recoveries and avoiding settling with power. Make sure your part-timer can teach you the "EMS approach and departure" technique for getting into/out of an unfamiliar LZ, or better yet, don't fly into unfamiliar LZs. When you cut loose and go on your own, remember a high time fixed wing guy is still a low-time RW guy. Do not get overconfident, these machines are really pretty fragile and can get you into trouble faster than a M0.92 CE-750. There is no such thing as a minor helicopter accident.

 

[NavyMetro]

Anyone know anything about the News Helicopter jobs? Do the news stations have their own Helos, or are they hired out?

 

[ghostrider64]

Some channels have their own. Some have their own and use 135 operators to do traffic etc... some use 135 operators exclusively....