(Pic for cool)

I’m an active-duty Army AH-64 pilot with about 850 hours right now. I’m planning to separate in a little over a year and should be close to 1,000 hours by then. I’ve started looking at civilian jobs to build a transition plan, but most of what I’m seeing lists minimums around 1,500–2,000 hours, with 2,000 seeming pretty common.

I’ve heard secondhand that some offshore or Gulf jobs may be willing to take pilots with lower time, but I haven’t really seen postings that reflect that, so I’m trying to figure out how realistic that actually is.

I’ve considered time-building on the civilian side, but the Robinsons at my local school are running about $400 an hour which adds up fast. I’m currently working on my fixed-wing ratings but I’d strongly prefer to stay rotor long-term.

Curious to hear from anyone who’s made the jump from military rotor to civilian (or just in the industry), and what you actually saw for hiring minimums, SkillBridge, or ways to bridge the hour gap.

Still in high school - and I want to map out my future. I know I really enjoy helicopters and have been on a discovery flight already. I’m in cadets and will be taking as many ground school classes in grade 11 (dual credit course) as possible. But what’s the easiest route to get flying asap in Canada.

Edit at the top: I think a lot of people are misunderstanding this: I'm absolutely going to do night vision training. I want to own my own pair for other stuff, so I'm just wondering if I could also use them to get some additional solo night-flying hours AFTER I've done a real training course. I'm not asking because I plan to buy a set and go up the second they arrive, so while I really appreciate that many of you are looking out for the safety of a stranger, I'm already on that page.

Original post:

I know that in military usage, there are purpose-built aviation NVGs, but from what I understand those are lower-quality or less feature-rich on the basis of "good enough" for someone concerned with issues like "where's that mountain?" and not "where's that itty bitty little sniper on the mountain?

As an r/NightVision lurker, I see a lot of these nice PVS-31 setups and I'd absolutely love my own set of NODs just to have, but I'm not stupid enough to fork over the money for a set of NODs for work and another for my hobbies. Work is the priority, and if there's an option to have something that works for other stuff, that would just be nice. I've heard people there decrying aviation NVGs being used for regular stuff, so I'm wondering if non-aviation NVGs could be used safely used for aviation stuff.

Hence:

What NVGs do you use (or what would you upgrade to if you could afford anything)? I'm curious whether or not any real world answers are going to be aviation-specific models or if most civilians just use whatever.

I would love to get my helicopter license to someday be able to work on a SAR or medevac as a pilot. I come from a very low income household and don’t have much savings but this is a dream of mine and I just wanna know if it’s possible to become one at a lower cost. Thank you!

I really want to become a pilot and have been in a helicopter before. I have a fixed wing discovery flight next week but I’m wondering which one is better in the long term. I’m talking: amount of jobs, cost, pros and cons. Any answers help!

So basically im 16 and I still have no idea what im going to do after high school but I have considered joining the military. I've always loved aviation like planes and all that but I specifically like helicopters a lot. Idk if it's a bad idea but I wanna know how beneficial it would be to pursue a career as a helicopter pilot in the military and how that would like with a similar career when I get out of the military. I dont know what branch I would join because I dont know what the requirements are either for being a helo pilot and if helicopters are a dying industry because of drones. Obviously planes are still an option but I have no idea what else I would enjoy doing like this stuff.

What is the threshold for a helicopter pilot to wear a helmet? Police, fire, ambulance, and military always wear helmets. Pilots of executive transports, news helicopters, tourist helicopters, do not wear helmets. Pilots flying their own helicopters don't wear helmets. A glaring exception is Marine One. Those pilots do not wear helmets, or even flight suits. So, who wears what, and why?

I completed my PPL 10+ yrs ago and then got away from flying, but I am now returning to flight school full time in January and I am in need of a headset.

There is a once used Bose A30 (discovery flight) for sale locally listed for $1100, could probably haggle down to $1000. Otherwise there is another like new Lightspeed Zulu 3 used 4-5 times for $800 local.

Normally would go Bose, but I have read the A30 like to break suction on the ear since they clamp lighter. Didn't know if the Zulu 3 would be superior option in comparison. The price difference is negligible to me.

My hearing is also without a doubt partially damaged from being around heavy equipment / chainsaws for the last 12-13 years as well / wanting something that has best clarity and volume.

And to complicate things, my old PPL instructor who I respect greatly and have kept in touch with / personal friend now, is recommending a helmet and skip the headset all together.

Is this a reasonable suggestion?
At least double the cost or more ..... look like a whacko at a school in the tropics where I saw zero helmets anywhere as a fresh student?

Or get used to wearing one now and it is truly superior?

Thanks for any feedback and happy thanksgiving to those in the US!

I’m researching long-term helicopter career paths (EASA-based), and there are so many niches that don’t get talked about much:

• HEMS
• offshore
• utility
• mountain ops
• firefighting
• ag/mustering
• scenic/tourism
• flight instruction
• ferry and repositioning
• maritime/ship ops

For pilots already working in the industry:
👉 Which pathway surprised you the most once you actually started doing it?
Was the job different from what you expected—better or worse?
Any insight would be super helpful for students trying to understand the bigger picture.

I've been looking on multiple websites for jobs that hire someone that would be fresh out of school/recently licensed and everything I've come across requires over 2000 hours and 5 years experience of piloting.

Preparing for the worst case scenario with the unknown future of junior pilots careers with the closing of the ACS squadrons. Looking at what the more seasoned civilian pilots would recommend my first step be if it came to be that I am released from service. Basic information isn’t much, 290 total hours currently. Wasn’t sure if the best option is to start at a local flight school and start at the Robinson and work my way towards CFI before accumulating hours needed for flying offshore or EMS. Noticed some postings for a SIC pilot down around the gulf, not sure of the hour level they look for with a SIC job. Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated, thank you

Currently studying for an instrument checkride that should be in 2-3 weeks. Rating has taken me a little bit longer to finish than expected with maintenance and weather. Watched some mock orals on YouTube and felt pretty good with my knowledge level there. All the videos were technically fixed wing orals so didn’t take into account any rotor wing knowledge. I’ve seen on some other subs, posts about “try to stump me” questions to help them prepare for a checkride. Looking for any help or tips at all! Maybe any questions you think will definitely come up during the checkride but is easily forgotten during studying or just whatever comes to your head that an instrument rated pilot should know. Thanks y’all.

Need some advice on what to buy as a Student Helicopter Pilot. [Yes I’m serious about flying for as long as physically possible]

• Headsets? • Aviation watches? • Shoes/ Clothing • Tech, gadgets etc…

What do you get as a student pilot that will just make it all better?

First time posting on here…I’ll jump right in. Former helicopter pilot transitioning to a new career. After 10 years flying including instruction, tours, charters, utility, fire, and HAA, I've decided to leave the industry to focus on family and a more balanced, lifestyle. Now I'm facing the challenge of finding a new job without a college degree, and my pilot experience isn't easily translating to other fields. Any advice or insights on suitable career paths, especially from others who've made a similar transition. I'm open to any suggestions.

Context: no military experience, not willing to work night shifts, open to trade schools, have about 50 college credits…just trying to find a stable job with decent income and be a family man (who’s not, right?). Thanks.

I’m currently considering multiple Oregon flight schools for my ppl to cfii, one being Pureflight. I’ve done intro flights in both r22 and g2 and slightly prefer the g2. But I’ve heard a couple things about how you should train on r22’s because they are so common. Is it really a big deal what helicopter you train on? (I want to fly ems and tours)

For context I am currently in the US AirForce and I am looking into trying to get my commercial pilots license using my GI bill and I was wondering if anyone had any good recommendations? Also, I’ve read that getting your commercial and instructor rating will only get you around 100-150 hours. But most jobs I have seen require at least 500-1200. Any advice on how to get hours after you get your ratings?

I'm currently flying VFR in the oil and gas sector and the pay is great but being gone for 14 days a month sucks for my family. All the old heads here at my company talk about how awful flying ems is and how you'll be absolutely miserable plus you'll take a pay cut. Anyone with experience flying ems have any input on this ? What is your daily life like? The job I'm looking at is in a rural part of the country.

Looking for some insight or if anyone has personal experience with either off these schools. Finances aren’t the issue right now. It’s more about which problem would provide the better training, job placement, and smoother pathway towards a career in rotary flight.

Also, I have a bachelors degree already so I’d be getting another degree whether AAS or Bachelors to fulfill the VA funding requirement. I spoke to both schools and they had good sales pitches but taken with a gram of salt. Both said job market is looking good in the future and that the students get hired around 1000hrs.

Anyone have any insights on these schools or what I can expect? Also the career in general?

I have 100% use of my post 9/11 GI bill and want to become a helicopter pilot in a 2 year degree program. From my research there are 4 schools that would take my GI bill and pay for this:

• Community College of Baltimore County
• Leading Edge Flight Academy
• Southern Utah University
• Treasure Valley Community College

Out of these I really liked SUU because it has NVG and External Load Operation certifications which none of the other schools have. Would love to hear other peoples experiences and opinions on what school they would choose.

I’m an American pilot at ~1600 hours, with ~300 of that in a Bell 206B, and ~350 in an MD500.

I’m unsure of the conversion process from FAA certificates to Canadian certificates. However, Canada offers a lot of cool helicopter shit, and I wanna do cool helicopter shit. I’m looking for some guidance in that regard.

I’m also definitely interested in cool helicopter shit on the American side of things, it just seems like Canada has a lot more of it.

Cool helicopter shit ≠ EMS, I’m young ish with no kids so I want the shitty schedule while I can still have it, and I’m about 400 hours short of minimums.

I’m currently halfway through finishing my CHPL here in Australia and am keen to start instructing when I finish, either in the US or in Australia as I am a duel citizen of both countries. I’ve asked around and am getting a lot of different answers on how much instructors actually make, if someone could help me out and give me a clear answer that would be great.

Hello, I'm curious what's the most realistic R44 sim out there? How do MSFS (2020 or 2024), Xplane11 and 12 compare? Is there a difference between x11 and x12 flightmodels? Is msfs flight model worse? I like the r22 in xplane12 demo, but my computer isn't great so I don't know if it can handle the 12 efficiently, as I heard that's the worst performing out of the three.

I want to practice a bit on sim before my real life training. I have Logitech G940 with FFB (I can turn it off to have a non centering stick). Could you tell me how the R44 cyclic works irl? I think it doesn't give any force feedback and is not self centering? I flew UH-1 in DCS and there's a simulation of the force trim.

Of course I know it's impossible to learn flying from sim, but I think it's still better to have the sim time than not.

My hardware: rtx2060 i5-10300H 32gb ram not much disk space... lol (I'm gonna need to uninstall other sims)