Becoming an heli engineer

beastie · Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 3:26 pm Post subject: Becoming an heli engineer

I was wandering if you could help me with some information as regards to getting into Helicopter maintenance. I'm a 43 years old mechanical maintenance engineer and have been working in the steel industry for the last 26 years.3 years ago I obtained my ppl(h) and thought it would be a good idea to combine my skills with my love of helicopters.
What I'd like to know is what qualifications would I require? And where would be the best place to achieve these qualifications?And would my previous experiance count for anything?
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PPL(H) -R22
SANDTOFT EGCF

TheI3rokenSpiral · Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 1:59 am Post subject:

Well it's a pretty good idea to obtain your A&P (Airframe & Powerplant Certificate) with the pilot license. If you are looking to save some money on maintenance costs or if you are moving towards employment it helps to know how the thing flies from the insides. There are schools that you can go to such as Embry-Riddle in Cocoa Beach, FL. Or you can work full or part time for a company that does maintenance. The problem with that is with the economy being crap it's hard to get hired on as an apprentice. Going the working route it requires 30 months of training for the A&P, or 18 months for either the airframe section or the powerplant section. After working for said amount of time you would need to go to a school, such as Baker's or King's Aeronautical school to obtain the license, which is a week-long crash course. Your previous experience in steel would only benefit you in knowing some about metal strengths and the ability to weld. As far as helping get an A&P, it really does nothing. Hope this info helps out!
Sean