New York City
Who are you flying for currently?
I am a Pilot at Zip Aviation in New York City
Where are you flying and for what company?
Flying in New York City and all around the Northeast United States for Zip Aviation.
What type of work are you doing now?
Charter flights. The primary job is taking people from airport to airport. The primary route I personally fly is from KJRA-KJPX. (West side Manhattan Heliport- East Hampton airport on Long Island). However, we do all sorts of interesting flights. Another really common flight is from people's backyards to a major bravo airport for them to catch a flight. In addition, I also do HAA (helicopter air ambulance flights) from hospital to hospital or hospital to airport. These are organ and doctors-only flights, not patients.
What kind of helicopter(s) do you fly?
I fly a Bell 407 as my primary aircraft. Occasional flights in a Sikorsky s-76.
What do you find unique, challenging, or fulfilling about your job?
There are 2 things that are very challenging about my job and most helicopter jobs.
The weather. When you are in flight school it is very easy to make go or no-go decisions in regard to the weather. There is very little pressure to make the flight happen. However, with 135 and commercial work, there is quite a lot of pressure to make a flight happen. The challenge does not come when the weather is really good or really bad; those are easy choices to make. The hard calls to make are when the weather is marginal. Where it is within legal, company, and your own personal limitations however it is really not ideal but technically doable. It is something that you are constantly working on and doing the best you can to make the safe and correct operational choice.
The second very challenging part of my job is very specific to New York City operations. On the island of Manhattan, there are 3 heliports. West 30 st heliport (kjra) Downtown Manhattan helicopter (kjrb) and East 34 st heliport (6n5). When making approaches to these heliports, you are very often taking a tailwind for both approach and departure. There is genuinely zero other path into and out of the spot. Taking a tailwind is the wind condition I would say 80% of the time. In flight school, we are taught to never take a tailwind and always try to find a headwind or at least a crosswind but that is not an option in these circumstances. Learning how to safely operate and make an approach and departure with a tailwind and max gross weight was quite a mind shift change and was very challenging and is still difficult with nearly 500 hours in this environment.
Another thing that is unique about my specific job in the New York City area is that I land at 3 of the busiest airports nearly every day. On most work days I am doing charter flights in and out of John F Kennedy (KJFK), LaGuardia (KLGA), and Newark Liberty (KEWR). When I left MLH I had a bit of Class Bravo experience but truly not a lot. Coming into New York City, I get to land at an extremely busy airport with major jet traffic all day every day. It is challenging and complex but like anything in helicopter flying, with time it truly becomes second nature.
Was there anything in particular that you learned at MLH that made you especially ready for a situation you have encountered since attending?
I land at 3 of the busiest airports nearly every day. On most work days, I am doing charter flights in and out of John F Kennedy (KJFK), LaGuardia (KLGA), and Newark Liberty (KEWR). When I left MLH I had a bit of Class Bravo experience.
Do you have any other comments or suggestions for those just beginning in the industry?
Being a helicopter pilot is the single greatest thing I have done thus far in my life and I wouldn't change a thing about it. I feel incredibly grateful and excited every day to do this job. Flying helicopters has humbled me and made me very nervous at times but shown me how to learn and keep making myself better and safer every time I step into the seat.
