Q: What can a Commercial Helicopter Pilot Licence holder expect to earn?

I have a number of options for the use of a recent inheritance, one of which
is to fullfil a lifetime desire to fly choppers.
What could a Helicopter Pilot expect to earn, flying in Australia?

I realise this may be a little like asking, "How long is a piece of string?"
(A: twice as long as half it's length) but there must be some ballpark
figures available.

Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Trentus

U wanna fly people round Vegas or other sites for 10 minutes at a time? U
wanna drop HVAC units on roofs or lay cable in the middle of the forest? U
wanna fly heavy with water looking for hot spots while looking out for a
heavy fixed wing that is looking for the same hot spot all the while your in
haze so thick you have to use your IFR training book to write your last will
and testiment? Or do you just wanna sit around an airport all day waiting
for that fat SOB Exec to get done with his meeting? Your choice 35k to 135k

Zim
I kan fli but I kaint speel, what the hell kinda bozo's are still on the
ground?

"Trentus" wrote in message
...
I have a number of options for the use of a recent inheritance, one of
which
is to fullfil a lifetime desire to fly choppers.
What could a Helicopter Pilot expect to earn, flying in Australia?

I realise this may be a little like asking, "How long is a piece of
string?"
(A: twice as long as half it's length) but there must be some ballpark
figures available.

Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Trentus

"centurion_of_evil" wrote in
message ink.net...
U wanna fly people round Vegas or other sites for 10 minutes at a time? U
wanna drop HVAC units on roofs or lay cable in the middle of the forest?
U
wanna fly heavy with water looking for hot spots while looking out for a
heavy fixed wing that is looking for the same hot spot all the while your
in
haze so thick you have to use your IFR training book to write your last
will
and testiment? Or do you just wanna sit around an airport all day waiting
for that fat SOB Exec to get done with his meeting? Your choice 35k to
135k

Zim
I kan fli but I kaint speel, what the hell kinda bozo's are still on the
ground?

Thanks for that,
As it happens I discovered our wunaful guvmnt has decided to put up the
"award rates" for helicopter pilots on the internet.
http://www.osiris.gov.au/html/awards/8/H0036/top.htm if your interested.
There are some odd conditions, such as employer having to provide
loss-of-licence insurance, and a minimum $180,000 life insurance policy for
the pilot. Even "camping" allowances for pilots having to camp out while on
a flight.

Here in Australia, all professions have an "award rate" or basically a
minimum wage and conditions.
So having had a look at the above award, I'm now bitterly disappointed, and
starting to wonder whether there are seriously better things to do with a
recent unexpected inheritance than spend it on a CPL (H)
The minimum wage was around $34,000 which is only $6 grand more than what I
made last year as a cleaner (janitor for the US readers) and rises to about
$48,456. Now bearing in mind these are $-Aus not $US, those are very poor
rates considering a cleaner gets only slightly less (mind you even
"cleaners" here are now having to do an "apprenticeship" of a couple of
years, the governments idea to bring industry wide standard skill levels)
Considering the cost of the licence will be around $40,000, it could take,
at worst case scenario, up to 6.66years to get the money back over doing my
current job.
Yet to do a $10,000 IT degree, with guaranteed placement afterwards, would
leave me $30,000 to spend, and get me at least the same minimum wage, and
most likely a hell of a lot more. But then, consider - LOOK DOWN ON PEAK
HOUR from a chopper, or be PART OF PEAK HOUR on the way to the office.
Hmmm.... look to the skies, here I come.

Trentus

Wow, You Blokes have that kind of structure for all work fields? It seems
to put the USs "at will" employment to shame, Government mandated work
contracts, Im calling my Congressman.


"Trentus" wrote in message
...
"centurion_of_evil" wrote in
message ink.net...
U wanna fly people round Vegas or other sites for 10 minutes at a time?
U
wanna drop HVAC units on roofs or lay cable in the middle of the forest?
U
wanna fly heavy with water looking for hot spots while looking out for a
heavy fixed wing that is looking for the same hot spot all the while
your
in
haze so thick you have to use your IFR training book to write your last
will
and testiment? Or do you just wanna sit around an airport all day
waiting
for that fat SOB Exec to get done with his meeting? Your choice 35k to
135k

Zim
I kan fli but I kaint speel, what the hell kinda bozo's are still on the
ground?

Thanks for that,
As it happens I discovered our wunaful guvmnt has decided to put up the
"award rates" for helicopter pilots on the internet.
http://www.osiris.gov.au/html/awards/8/H0036/top.htm if your interested.
There are some odd conditions, such as employer having to provide
loss-of-licence insurance, and a minimum $180,000 life insurance policy
for
the pilot. Even "camping" allowances for pilots having to camp out while
on
a flight.

Here in Australia, all professions have an "award rate" or basically a
minimum wage and conditions.
So having had a look at the above award, I'm now bitterly disappointed,
and
starting to wonder whether there are seriously better things to do with a
recent unexpected inheritance than spend it on a CPL (H)
The minimum wage was around $34,000 which is only $6 grand more than what
I
made last year as a cleaner (janitor for the US readers) and rises to
about
$48,456. Now bearing in mind these are $-Aus not $US, those are very poor
rates considering a cleaner gets only slightly less (mind you even
"cleaners" here are now having to do an "apprenticeship" of a couple of
years, the governments idea to bring industry wide standard skill levels)
Considering the cost of the licence will be around $40,000, it could take,
at worst case scenario, up to 6.66years to get the money back over doing
my
current job.
Yet to do a $10,000 IT degree, with guaranteed placement afterwards, would
leave me $30,000 to spend, and get me at least the same minimum wage, and
most likely a hell of a lot more. But then, consider - LOOK DOWN ON PEAK
HOUR from a chopper, or be PART OF PEAK HOUR on the way to the office.
Hmmm.... look to the skies, here I come.

Trentus

"centurion_of_evil" wrote in
message link.net...
Wow, You Blokes have that kind of structure for all work fields? It seems
to put the USs "at will" employment to shame, Government mandated work
contracts, Im calling my Congressman.

Yep, but bear in mind, we don't generally have "tipping" so a waitress - for
example - is on at least $10p/h,
more with "penalty rates" for weekends, nights, holidays, etc. But doesn't
generally expect tips, which waitresses
in your country just about live on. We give tips here only for exceptional
service. Waiters, porters, taxi-drivers, etc.
All have an "award wage" which is generally a fair wage, but tips are not
equated into their earnings.

So if I do my CPL(H), unless some really rich American wants me to fly
him/her somewhere, I won't be expecting a big tip for the trip.
Bummer!!

Trentus




__________________________________________________ ______________
This part left in place for the context for those who haven't followed the
whole thread.
__________________________________________________ ______________

"Trentus" wrote in message
...
"centurion_of_evil" wrote in
message ink.net...
U wanna fly people round Vegas or other sites for 10 minutes at a
time?
U
wanna drop HVAC units on roofs or lay cable in the middle of the
forest?
U
wanna fly heavy with water looking for hot spots while looking out for
a
heavy fixed wing that is looking for the same hot spot all the while
your
in
haze so thick you have to use your IFR training book to write your
last
will
and testiment? Or do you just wanna sit around an airport all day
waiting
for that fat SOB Exec to get done with his meeting? Your choice 35k t
o
135k

Zim
I kan fli but I kaint speel, what the hell kinda bozo's are still on
the
ground?

Thanks for that,
As it happens I discovered our wunaful guvmnt has decided to put up the
"award rates" for helicopter pilots on the internet.
http://www.osiris.gov.au/html/awards/8/H0036/top.htm if your interested.
There are some odd conditions, such as employer having to provide
loss-of-licence insurance, and a minimum $180,000 life insurance policy
for
the pilot. Even "camping" allowances for pilots having to camp out while
on
a flight.

Here in Australia, all professions have an "award rate" or basically a
minimum wage and conditions.
So having had a look at the above award, I'm now bitterly disappointed,
and
starting to wonder whether there are seriously better things to do with
a
recent unexpected inheritance than spend it on a CPL (H)
The minimum wage was around $34,000 which is only $6 grand more than
what
I
made last year as a cleaner (janitor for the US readers) and rises to
about
$48,456. Now bearing in mind these are $-Aus not $US, those are very
poor
rates considering a cleaner gets only slightly less (mind you even
"cleaners" here are now having to do an "apprenticeship" of a couple of
years, the governments idea to bring industry wide standard skill
levels)
Considering the cost of the licence will be around $40,000, it could
take,
at worst case scenario, up to 6.66years to get the money back over doing
my
current job.
Yet to do a $10,000 IT degree, with guaranteed placement afterwards,
would
leave me $30,000 to spend, and get me at least the same minimum wage,
and
most likely a hell of a lot more. But then, consider - LOOK DOWN ON PEAK
HOUR from a chopper, or be PART OF PEAK HOUR on the way to the office.
Hmmm.... look to the skies, here I come.

Trentus

"Trentus" wrote:

recent unexpected inheritance than spend it on a CPL (H)
The minimum wage was around $34,000 which is only $6 grand more than what I
made last year as a cleaner (janitor for the US readers) and rises to about
$48,456. Now bearing in mind these are $-Aus not $US, those are very poor

Have you considered a CFI license? Over here, a lot of guys get that
before going all out commercial. That way, other people are paying
you to get more hours in a helicopter. I don't know anything about
the license structure over in AU, but I assume its similar.

Yet to do a $10,000 IT degree, with guaranteed placement afterwards, would

Guaranteed placemment? I hope that this is correct, but here in the
states, an IT degree is currently one of the worst possible degrees
you can get. There are no jobs once you get it and you are considered
too old to do the work when you hit 30 years of age. Of course,
you'll never here that bit of truth from any school. This applies
advanced IT degrees as well.

I suggest that if you are looking for a carreer change that you first
look in the newspaper and find what fields are actually hiring. Where
I live, the medical field takes up the largest percentage of
employment ads. The IT field, when listed at all, takes up the
smallest.

Good luck.

Dennis.




Dennis Hawkins
n4mwd AT amsat DOT org (humans know what to do)

"A RECESSION is when you know somebody who is out of work.
A DEPRESSION is when YOU are out of work.
A RECOVERY is when all the H-1B's are out of work."
To find out what an H-1B is and how they are putting
Americans out of work, visit the following web site
and click on the "Exporting America" CNN news video:
http://zazona.com/ShameH1B/MediaClips.htm

wrote in message
...
"Trentus" wrote:

recent unexpected inheritance than spend it on a CPL (H)
The minimum wage was around $34,000 which is only $6 grand more than
what I
made last year as a cleaner (janitor for the US readers) and rises to
about
$48,456. Now bearing in mind these are $-Aus not $US, those are very
poor

Have you considered a CFI license? Over here, a lot of guys get that
before going all out commercial. That way, other people are paying
you to get more hours in a helicopter. I don't know anything about
the license structure over in AU, but I assume its similar.

Pardon my ignorance, I'm only just beginning my enquiries into this field,
what is a CFI licence?

Regarding the IT degree, I was using that to put the costs in perspective.
The IT industry over here has also died, people once on $128 per hour, are
now back to
$35k - $40k annual. I just meant that if I wanted to use the money for a
career change there were
better places to put it. But a career change isn't my main goal, though it
would be nice.

And thanks for the advice, I greatly appreciate all the helpful input I've
recieved from this group.

Trentus

"Trentus" wrote:

Pardon my ignorance, I'm only just beginning my enquiries into this field,
what is a CFI licence?

No problem. A CFI is a "Certified Flight Instructor". Over here,
once you have one, you can teach others learning to fly and get them
to both pay for you and the helicopter. The hours you and your
student accumulate count in your logbook toward your total hours. The
helicopter hours are the most expensive part of getting a license.

Regarding the IT degree, I was using that to put the costs in perspective.
The IT industry over here has also died, people once on $128 per hour, are
now back to $35k - $40k annual.

People over here with an IT degree are back to $0 annual or are
working at McDonalds flipping burgers. Of course, that's a whole
other story.

My personal goal with getting a helicopter license is simply to have
fun. If I can one day get a job flying, that would be wonderful, but
I'm not betting the farm on it. If you examine the evidence, you will
find that, for the most part, helicopters are not really practical
unless you own one. If you have to rent one, you have to drive to the
airport where they keep them and fly from there. If you had a fixed
wing license, you'd have to do exactly the same thing.

Dennis.

Dennis Hawkins
n4mwd AT amsat DOT org (humans know what to do)

"A RECESSION is when you know somebody who is out of work.
A DEPRESSION is when YOU are out of work.
A RECOVERY is when all the H-1B's are out of work."
To find out what an H-1B is and how they are putting
Americans out of work, visit the following web site
and click on the "Exporting America" CNN news video:
http://zazona.com/ShameH1B/MediaClips.htm

The Flying Instruction route is a common entry point however the research I
did into this did throw up one point that's worth bearing in mind. In
Australia you can get a HCPL with 105hrs, but need 400hrs to be able to
instruct.

So you need to factor in those additional 295hrs when looking at the costs
to get to CFI.

At least that's how I understand it.

r.

Have you considered a CFI license? Over here, a lot of guys get that
before going all out commercial. That way, other people are paying
you to get more hours in a helicopter. I don't know anything about
the license structure over in AU, but I assume its similar.

Pardon my ignorance, I'm only just beginning my enquiries into this
field, what is a CFI licence?

From someone who's been around the block a few times, if you pick
training and a profession based solely on what it pays, you're doomed
to miserableness. If you don't love, or at least like a lot what
you're doing, you may as well go straight to hell, do not pass "GO"
and do not collect the $200. More pay is way less desireable than
doing something you love to do. I finally got bored with my sign shop
after almost 13 years, sold it and am now almost halfway through a
course in nursing so I can work with kids, something I first thought
of about 35 years ago. The next oldest student in my class is 18
years my junior and I'm 40 years older than the youngest one. Save
working for starving wages, do what your heart tells you. Don't let
anything stop you or anyone talk you out of it. There'll be struggles
and hard times, but in the end, you'll be much richer than the guy
that slugs it out at a job he hates for 40 years in order to get a
pension......that may or may not be there when he expects it. Just
had an ex-sister-in-law that stayed devoted to ATT in Chicago for over
22 years, commuting over 90 miles per day via car and train one-way to
get there. She would have been eligible for her pension in a couple
of years and was looking forward to it. "Sorry, we're closing the
department. Here's a couple months pay and good luck in your job
hunt." (Sound of door slamming behind her). She gets diddly, because
the pension "benefit" was completely company funded, so she had no
vested interest in it at all. That sounds good when you're first
hired; a free pension. Her pension was worth exactly what she put
into it....zilch.

Ken J. - Sandy Eggo




wrote in message ...
"Trentus" wrote:

recent unexpected inheritance than spend it on a CPL (H)
The minimum wage was around $34,000 which is only $6 grand more than what I
made last year as a cleaner (janitor for the US readers) and rises to about
$48,456. Now bearing in mind these are $-Aus not $US, those are very poor

Have you considered a CFI license? Over here, a lot of guys get that
before going all out commercial. That way, other people are paying
you to get more hours in a helicopter. I don't know anything about
the license structure over in AU, but I assume its similar.

Yet to do a $10,000 IT degree, with guaranteed placement afterwards, would

Guaranteed placemment? I hope that this is correct, but here in the
states, an IT degree is currently one of the worst possible degrees
you can get. There are no jobs once you get it and you are considered
too old to do the work when you hit 30 years of age. Of course,
you'll never here that bit of truth from any school. This applies
advanced IT degrees as well.

I suggest that if you are looking for a carreer change that you first
look in the newspaper and find what fields are actually hiring. Where
I live, the medical field takes up the largest percentage of
employment ads. The IT field, when listed at all, takes up the
smallest.

Good luck.

Dennis.




Dennis Hawkins
n4mwd AT amsat DOT org (humans know what to do)

"A RECESSION is when you know somebody who is out of work.
A DEPRESSION is when YOU are out of work.
A RECOVERY is when all the H-1B's are out of work."
To find out what an H-1B is and how they are putting
Americans out of work, visit the following web site
and click on the "Exporting America" CNN news video:
http://zazona.com/ShameH1B/MediaClips.htm