(John) wrote in message . com...
I've been hearing very contradicting statements about helicopeter
jobs.

Some sources say that there just aren't any and the ones that are
there are very low. Say 20-30k a year. However, other sources claim
that pilots are becoming scarce, and that new pilots aren't coming
along quick enough to replace the vietnam era pilots as they are
retiring. Also that starting salaries are around 30-50k depending on
your source. And many sources i've found say the avg. helicopter
salary is 100k.

So what i would like to know is what does the job market look like,
how easy/hard is it to get a job as a comercial helicopter pilot. And
how much do they pay?

John
As an added story for you, and one that I have posted before, that
illustrates how a low time pilot can get a job and make "decent" money
with low time. He is from UK, came to visit our spray operation and
ask about work. He was quite proud of his private license and a total
of 65 hours in helicopters. We hired him as a mechanic and
loader/ground crew with a promise to let him fly with us as time
permitted. We were operating piston and turbine Hiller 12's. Over the
years season, he worked hard at near minimum wage and we did give him
some stick time going to and from work areas. He had the bug bad and
borrowed enough money to finish his commercial rating with Helicopter
Adventures in Concord. He came back to work for us and hoping to get
more time logged. I worked with him to show him the basics of spraying
as a pilot (he already knew the other parts) and we started to let him
fly the really easy stuff. He was still working for minimum wage and
didn't get all THAT much time but he was getting seasoned. The
following season, the boss let him fly more in the "C" model and began
paying him normal new guy spray wages, but still paid him lower for
the ground duty and wrench turning. He stuck with it, has been
spraying every year now, has crashed a couple helicopters, has been to
the AStar school and flies one of them on corporate gigs for a local
farmer. He is making about 45K now and happy with it. We nicknamed him
"Spanner" when he said thats what they call mechanics in UK and it
stuck. He is flying the helicopter shown on page 39 of Flight Journal
April 2002. That is at least one successful story I can relate.
Ol Shy & Bashful

If you are a helciopter pilot, why not share your story of what it
took to get where you are, and how much your salary happens to be.

It seems very difficult to find any reliable information about these
jobs.

Thanks,
JOHN