What are the requirements to become a life flight pilot?

Question

Also, what is the salary like?

Answer 1

On paper, my company requires that you have 3500 hours under your belt. Realistically, my aviation manager won't look at anyone with less than 5000 and most of our pilots are at 7000 plus.

They are union and work 6 days (0700-1900), then 6 nights (1900-0700) and then have 6 days off. They are salary with rare OT figured in and depending on OT and years with the company, the salaries range from 80k-120k a year.

I work for the biggest medevac company in the world. I know some are more relaxed on thier requirements. We also, in this region, fly twin engine heli's so duel engine experience is needed. We are strict VFR - no IFR, but again, that is because of the area we are in. Our cali ships are obviously IFR ships.

We just started using NVG's too.......WAY cool :)

Answer 2

Don't know about the salary, but minimum requirements are that you have a Commercial Helicopter Pilot's certificate with instrument rating. One company that I did some consulting work with required that their pilots have at least 3000 hrs helicopter time and a goodly percentage of that in turbine helicopters.

Answer 3

Ali's description of the job requirements is very good. That's the type of company and job you would look for after at least 10 or 15 years of flying experience. There are many air ambulance companies that require less, but most will want at least 2000-3000 hours, which might take you at least 3-5 years of flying experience to obtain.

You can find some pay scales of certain companies here:

http://www.helicoptersalaries.com/

To work as a helicopter pilot at all you will need a commercial pilot certificate and an instrument rating. To accomplish these will require at least 150 hours of flight time. Usually people get their instructor certificates as well so they can instruct to build experience. It usually takes about 1000 hours to get a job flying offshore (to oil rigs in the gulf of Mexico) or tours. These jobs will be your first opportunity to fly larger aircraft, and they will allow you to continue building experience towards the requirements mentioned above.

There are many civilian flight schools throughout the US, but they are very expensive. Consider the military as well.

You can find schools near you on the following websites:

http://www.sacusa.com/1directory/states....

http://www.verticalreference.com/helicop...

You can find more information about the helicopter industry in general on these websites:

http://www.verticalreference.com/

http://www.justhelicopters.com/

You can read my usual schpeal about helicopter training here:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Good luck and have fun!

Answer 4

salary is 6.50 an hour

Answer 5

From the life flight pilots I've talked to it's a VERY hard life. They work them to death. You have to REALLY love flying and helping people to do it.