Career Change: How To Become A Helicopter Pilot AFTER 40 Years Old! 

started to fly part time at the age of 38 while working my full time job (aircraft mechanic) after retiring I now fly full time EMS, started at the age of 58 and have been for 3 years now and still going strong

I'm 40 and will turn 41 in March 2023. I'll have all my certifications completed in less than a year from now with around 230hrs rotary and 490TT across fixed wing and rotary. I figure even if I grind super hard, it'll probably take me about three years before I move up to a decent income helicopter job vs instructing or flying tours in a R44. So that puts me at 44 years old. That gives me a good 20+ years of respectable income doing something I love, which is flying. I'm not mad about that even if I'm not making the kind of money airline pilots make. I think the type of flying will be a lot more fun. Plus I suppose if I ever decide to switch over to the airlines, I'll still have my ratings on that side as well. Being dual rated has its advantages.

There is a dude in Canada that says I’m too old at 59, with me prove him wrong, I’m in great physical shape, watch me push the limits!

Hahaha... Starded at 60, passed at 62. As long as you validate your medical.

Thanks for the HEADS UP!!! I'm 67, I start next year when I am 68. Something I wanted to do my entire life, learn to fly a helicopter. Private use only, no need to do other. Retired, made really smart investments, now what do I do? *FLY!*

If you want it do it! We only have one life so why not make it a go! The worst thing can happen is you have met your life goal with aviation and have certificates! Its the same with anything, as long as you dont try its impossible to really know! I have a friend that begun on helis at 50 and is now chief flight pilot in a inland aerial work company. I belive being a cfi as a career would be beneficial with some years under the belt, for one to be dealing with humans…🤷🏼

Very relevant for me, I think...I'm 51 and half way on the other side of the globe...

Hi Davin! Thanks a lot for your Videos which really inspire me to enter this career even I am 52 and is going to be 53 soon.

Nah, it took me 41 years to get here, I'm here thou 😃 🚁 #SkyBaum

Great video, what study material do you recommend? I am a fix wing pilot and would love to do my heli licence…

Cool!

Hey Devin, excellent points. I'm always happy to see CFIs that are interested in improving the lives of their students, not just building time to "get to the next step." By way of sharing, here's my short story with suggestions for older people. I started flying helicopters at 41. I'm now a commercial certificated pilot in my mid 50s. GOAL -- What is the goal? If it's having fun enjoying flying, that's perfect. If it's being a taxi driver, try Lyft/Uber and see how much you like it before you pay $300-$600/hr. If it's to become a corporate pilot for an executive, see who you know who will hire you because otherwise that's not happening. Tour pilot? See "taxi driver" above. Gulf Coast ferry pilot? See above. EMS pilot... if youre ok with being on-call 24x7 several days at a time that's viable, but it will cost you to get turbine time, instrument rating, possibly NVGs, and no home life. The key here is to figure out where you want to end up, then focus on getting there. COMMs -- You can get free practice by listening to e.g. LiveATC.NET or buy a cheap scanner and listen to your local airport. Start with the low-traffic channels like Ground, Clearance/Delivery, ATIS/AWOS, etc, then migrate to approach control (TRACON) and finally Tower. Listen enough and you can envision what someone will say next. That makes radio work easy. If you have an amateur radio license (I do) the phonetic alphabet and radio rules (always say your callsigns) are easy. NAV -- Start navigating in your car or smartphone to your local supermarket. Try different routes and watch it recalculate the route. Learn to follow the route on the NAV even though you know how to get there. HEALTH -- As we age there are factors. Ensure your general practitioner/primary care physician keeps you on meds that are FAA Aeromedical non-disapproved (sorry for the double negative, but that's how it is). These rules change so regardless of your class of medical certification, check semi-annually to ensure you're compliant, and have your GP/PCP switch out noncompliant meds for compliant ones. Insulin used to be a nono, and now it's ok for class-3. Anti-allergy drugs used to be OK but now Zyrtec is disallowed but Allegra and Claritin are allowed. There are many other examples. SSRIs used to be disallowed, but now if you are off of them for 30 days you're good to go, etc. PHYSICAL -- When you get older you don't move as quickly. Pace your maneuvers so that you're not trying to do what your body simply can no longer do. Focus on the EPs because everything else is a choice. EPs are not a choice. If you can do a perfect auto every time to a fulldown (there are schools that focus on fulldowns, not auto-to-hover) then that skill will help confidence. MOTTO -- Practice a motto. The "meh" one is "safety first". Sure, safety is first. In driving to the airport... in preflight.... in flying. Have something more meaningful. Mine is "nothing happens quickly." I'm not Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and I don't fly helicopters from one building into another. It takes a good 20-30 seconds to pick up to a stable hover with no noticeable yaw or drift. It takes as much to equally set down. Nobody faults you for taking time to do it right. HAVE FUN -- My favorite flights have been cross-country ferry flights -- the planning is almost as much fun flying the plan! My favorite aircraft thus far have been a AH-1F Cobra gunship and a B06-LIII LongRanger. Worst weather ever was wind 20G38 and traffic on the road was moving faster than we were. If you can't find fun and joy it doesn't matter if you're under 40 or over 79... I gave up my other hobbies (motorcycles, car racing, SCUBA diving) for helicopters and still love it. TMI? ;-)

some of us don't experience high stress in the cockpit

The two schools I’m thinking about is Loa and SUU ( Utah ) Planning to go for commercial, and likely would have to do full CFI to pay for hours. What do you think of those schools

Where to look for a helicopter school? Can you recommend a school around NYC?

i am 40 turning 41 this year and i been trying since my late 20's 30's go get a heli job and nothing.....oh well so get through and some dont...too many politics involve and favarism....

I’m 55 years old is it too late to be helicopter pilot?

So after you get a CFI will anyone hire you with 150-200 hrs?

How to become a helicopter pilot after 40,,,,,have lots of money lol