I hope this is the right area to post. I just completed my instrument rating and will start my commercial training soon but I'm trying to get an idea of where I want to go. The thought of being an air ambulance pilot appeals to me and I'm wondering if there are any out there that could tell me a little more about it. For example, the kind of hours required to even be considered for hiring, how often you fly, pay, etc. Thanks in advance for putting up with my silly questions!
Without knowing better myself, I would think most Air Ambulance pilots would come from other commercial pilot jobs and have many hours. Not sure how many newly minted pilots go straight into that type of flying. My guess is best to go typical CFI, then regional right seat route to build hours. Who knows, you might decide to captain passenger or cargo transport, at least you will have the hours as foundation to make choices.
I've done air ambulance flying for many years-- the last few as a backup for a local operator I've been associated with for a long time. We use two pilot crews, and our copilots are not necessarily all that high time-- it's not uncommon to have a 1,000 hour CFI in the right seat. I would suggest instructing for at least that, however. It can be a fun job. Not a great time builder-- we work shifts, and often don't fly at all in a shift. When we do fly, it's usually a relatively short flight-- maybe 1.0 or 1.5 out and back. So you may only fly 15-20 hours in a month. It can be grueling, depending on the trip. There is nothing like getting sent out to the middle of nowhere at 2am, hanging around a cold airport for an hour in the rain, and then heading back home. Not much fun, to be honest. But there are plenty of trips which are rewarding, and there can be great cameraderie with the other pilots and the med crews. A different sort of air ambulance flying is long distance air ambulance. This is usually done in Learjets, and involves bringing people home from overseas, or taking them back home overseas. That sort of flying can also be rewarding, although typically the schedule isn't very friendly. The hospital based program I work with has set shifts, with known days off, etc., so it's pretty nice. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll try and answer them!
