Any advice for a Noob?

[212wrench]

"NAME THE COMPANIES. NAME THE COMPANIES WHO OFFER THE WORLD TO NEWB AME'S, OR ANY AME. DESCRIBE THE HOURS YOU WORKED, THE PLACES YOU WORKED TO EARN THIS "100g" A YEAR."

For one, Wildcat Helicopters has apprentices in Australia.

I worked for a major helicopter operator in Canada for over 18 years. Worked in Western Canada and the Western US on helitack. Have BH06, BH22, BH23, BH12 endorsements. Worked 2 on 2 off, Spring and Fall in the Hanger. Averaged around 22 weeks a year away from home, again no longer than 2 weeks away at any given time. Worked Heliskiing in the winter, skiied for free. Have a great wife, two great kids, live in the Okanagan, and my life is great.

BY the way, if your life sucks, why do you even think we care!!!

[chowda]

I know guys who work at both alpine and wildcat and none of them make the money with the shifts u are talking about. a buddy at alpine is going thru a nasty divorce because of all the time he was away and he was away a lot. he wasnt makin a hundred a year either and he has been there more than ten years. my other friend was at wildcat going to austrailia and he quit because of the long travel and rotations. he for sure was not making that kind of money either because he would have told me. he likes to brag and he was not bragging about wildcat. he has been working on helicopters for almost ten years. i think u are sugar coating a little bit.

[Schimunga]

rh350--how many years have you done this 100 g/year with a month on/month off? How long have you lived in Thailand? Seems like you have a good gig there.

[rotorhead350]

rh350--how many years have you done this 100 g/year with a month on/month off? How long have you lived in Thailand? Seems like you have a good gig there.

Currently on a 6/6 rotation where I am now, been doing this sort of rotation or similar for about 10 years now both overseas and in Canada and only in the past 3-4 years has it been a $100g/year thing. In fact the first one was working in Canada with VIH. I've been living in Thailand for almost 3 years now and if you ask me it's the best gig out there.

rh350

[Schimunga]

rh350--right on that you got that contract that you love. Hope it works out for you in the long run. As much as I liked working on helicopters I couldn't handle being away. There are always that elusive contract that makes it worth while. Good luck over there.

[azimuthaviation]

My 2 cents as being fairly new to the industry: First off the wages are lousy, thats agreed. But theres opportunities to make money too. Dont expect to get rich off your biweekly cheque. Its not goin to happen.

Secondly: My advice is to take the course. If you want to be a mechanic afterwards go ahead. You work 10 months a year and go to school for two months a year, maybe three depending wat province/trade school. If you take the BCIT course the "wonderful" opportunities to be a plumber or mechanic will not be affected. You will however have gathered a lot of knowledge in many areas that you otherwise would not have, and those are all very transferable.