Newbee Question #2

[Jay Flight]

Hello All, When would it be better to start training?? Spring, summer, fall, winter? I would think that spring-summer would be good as the temps go up and the perfomance goes down? I would like all your points and views thanks

[Helilog56]

Hi there Jay Flight.....I think you should consider that if you were to train in the fall/winter, you would hopefully be finished in time for the prime time of hiring season within the VFR commercial industry. Not sure of the geographical area that you were considering, but none the less,what I mentioned is something you may want to consider.....Cheers

[Heli-Raiser]

I did my training during the summer and it was a hot one. I weigh 200lbs and many days were 30C @ 4000ASL. I learned fast about the limitations of an R-22 so you are right with regards to performance realisations (I could only take 45mins of fuel for my flight test).

The point about finishing during the hiring season is a good one though. I also feel like I missed out on a few of the benefits of flying in the winter (by benefits I mean being subjected to the adverse conditions in weather). You'll notice that some schools end their training late April, which seems to me to be just after the prime season for hiring. Most people are doing their PPC's at this time.

I would say the best time would be in the fall, where you could still get some hot days, a little winter weather and finish before the season of hiring.

[Cry of the Wind]

If anyone has done their commercial training with the Buttonville Canadian Helicopters school I'm curious to know about how long it would take to finish given that I've got the cash for regular training. I'm starting in mid June and and hoping to finish around the time the hiring season is starting.

[shaggy]

i dont' know about canadian but i was always under the impression that most schools were pretty accomodating as far as scheduling. if i were doing it again, i would try to concentrate the training into a period of 4 - 5 months ending early to mid-march in order to try to catch the seasonal upturn. the hot and heavy experience is a valid point but at this point in your careers, that little bit of extra expereince is probably not going to make much difference, it would be better if you are more current than if you hadn't flown for 6 months. at least that is how i would look at it if i was to be in the position of hiring entry level people.

however, all that being said, be persistant and good luck to everyone!

p.s: the extra hot/heavy experience may also be replaced by bad wx experience and the go/no-go decision making experience. all of these things are useful in the real world so the choice is up to you. you will gain experience in all of these things with time.

[Cry of the Wind]

4-5 months will put me finishing around Christmas. I'm under the impression that my first jobs won't be involving much flying anyway so would currency really be and issue if I'm spending a few months on the ground before getting a checkout?

[shaggy]

you never know, but when i started in may of whatever year it was i was told that it would be a year beofre getting in the machine to actually start revenue flying but by july i was flying regularly. they'll have to train you anyway, but if you were in their shoes would you rather have someone who still had abilities rather than having to go back that much further? i'm not trying to be rude but i remember that when i started out it didn't take long to get rusty.

[Cry of the Wind]

I understand getting rusty doesn't take long...I let my fixed wing lapse for 3 months and it messed me up a lot at first...I'm guessing helicopters would be worse for that but then again I'd have almost twice as many hours to bank on...either way I don't think there is too much difference for me, I can wait a little longer to start the flying portion of the training and keep my high by doing fixed for fun in the mean time. So what the best month to start sending resumes... Feb, March, April???

[Ryan]

From what I've heard from Chief Pilots and Ops Managers is don't bother simply sending resumes, hand deliver them. Odds are you won't even be considered if they have never met you face to face. March seems to be the best time to do this but it varies from company to company. Some start looking as soon as early January, others like one company I'm pestering do their hiring in a few weeks so it's quite varied.

[Cry of the Wind]

Good to know...I understand about the face to face...just trying to plan the best time to go.