food chain from regional airlines, business aviation units, and helicopter operators. One big driver of the shortage is the wave of older pilots
Civic Helicopters recently trained
Dohee Mun (left, with Candise Tu), who
planned afterward to work as South
Korea’s first female
helicopter CFI. (Civic Helicopters Photo)
retiring, which pandemic-provoked employee buyout offers and deteriorating work conditions accelerated. Helicopter pilots generally don’t face a mandatory retirement age (Civic Helicopters founder and CEO Chin Tu turned 75 last year and flies several days a week as assistant chief flight instructor for the company), but retirement considerations nonetheless hover over helicopter pilots’ career decisions. And the airlines have lured helicopter pilots with higher flight crew pay, signing bonuses, and other attractive benefits.
applicant backlogs have stifled domestic demand, forcing financially assisted students such as GI Bill recipients to wait for training slots. “One of the biggest hurdles right now for domestic
students” is the difficulty in financing training, says Hillsboro Heli Academy’s Jared Friend. Tere are options. But, says Candise Tu, “Most of what we’re encountering is people paying out of pocket themselves.” Tese are among the reasons flight schools pursue
international students. Based at Carlsbad’s McClellan–Palomar Airport (KCRQ),
Civic Helicopters has been training students since Chin Tu bought a flight school there in 1986. Civic is an FAA Part 145 repair station, a Robinson and Schweizer dealer and service center, and a Part 135 operator of aerial photography, local transportation, and tour flights. “Te vast majority of our business, however, is flight training” under Civic’s Part 141 flight school certificate, Candise Tu says. Civic has a fleet of five Robinson R22 Beta IIs, two R44
Raven IIs, two R44 Cadet “glass” IFR trainers, two Schweizer 300Cs, a Bell 206B-3, a Bell 505, and an FAA-approved FLYIT helicopter simulator. Over 37-plus years, the company has trained local students; pilots from local, state, and federal agencies; and a variety of international students. International students make up a third of Civic’s business,
with the focus on a contract with South Korea’s Hanseo University. Under the agreement, Civic trains that nation’s prospective military helicopter pilots. “Te Korean contract is pretty substantial,” Candise Tu
notes. “We’re doing anywhere from 25 to 30 students a year.” International training became a concern for Hillsboro
Heli Academy toward the end of the last decade. Te com- pany had been training international students almost since its founding in 1980. Part of Hillsboro Aero Academy based just outside
Portland, Oregon, Hillsboro Heli Academy has trained students from more than 55 countries on its fleet of Robinson R22s and R44s. “Our goal has always been to set up our graduates for their future,” Friend says. “We’re not really in the business of ‘get ’em in, get ’em out’ and wish them luck on their way.” But the school began to hear from alumni who had
Teaming Up to Aid Students Te promise of quick entry into an aviation career is one element driving helicopter flight training demand. Other factors include the worldwide growth of air ambulance services, aerial firefighting, and remote tourism and the growing need for greater border-control capabilities. In the United States, however, tight financing and
36 ROTOR MARCH 2024
trouble getting approved to fly upon their return to Europe after building flight time and experience through US jobs. “Every single one going home to Europe had to try to figure out themselves how to get their licenses converted,” Friend recalls. “What school do they go to when they get back [home]? Who do they talk to?” Friend and his colleagues flew to meet with European companies about how to help. One was RotorSky, whose
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