Originally Posted by
Keith Westfall
As a retired Commercial Helicopter pilot of 35 years, 7 years in maintenance before that, (fixed wing and helicopters) and a private pilot licence before all of that, I'm thinking it will be a steep hard climb. Can you do it? Of course you can. But having the money to do it is just a small part of it.
NOBODY will 'want' you for a number of years (more than a few!) and not only hours (poorest judge of a persons skill and ability) but EXPERIENCE. And that takes a while.
You sound like you are a successful business banker, but that doesn't mean you will be a good aviation employee. It is a different world...
I thoroughly enjoyed my years in the industry, but when I decided I was done, I was done, (and don't miss it!) Sounds a lot like you in the banking world.
If you have the desire and the resources to do it, do it. It is an experience like no other. And to those who say (and believe me I heard it many times) that it unsafe and dangerous, it is unbelievably more safer than you driving to work everyday. You just need to make good decisions (weather, loads, other conditions etc) on the job, because the choices are more critical and sometimes not so many chances for a do-over.
At 47, you are competing with a lot of younger people with sharper and quicker reflects, in a fast changing environment.
But you can learn to fly, and you can get through the many endorsements to build up your qualifications, but the sad thing is, is that potential employers are probably not willing to invest in your short career. It costs a lot to keep crews current and trained, and you will be lacking the many years f experience that they would prefer to have.
But good luck! I wish you well and hope it works out for you.
klw
ps- if a flight school tells you that 'all' of their pilots get hired, and that they have the best connections, just remember: their ONLY ROLE is to teach you how to fly and take your money while doing it. A lot of them don't have their own operations that hire, and the sad reality is, they cannot guarantee your future...
Keep us posted.