Flying high

Howard's career tips

• Don't give up! The attainment of a helicopter job will be well worth the effort.
• Stay on top of new technology.
• Focus on the task you are performing on the job and keep everything in perspective.
• Love what you do.

Howard McCallum, CareFlight helicopter pilot

Why is being a helicopter pilot different to other types of career flying?
Helicopters offer a greater variety of flying opportunities. All of them are very satisfying in their own way. Many of the types of flying are involved in community support in one way or another: defence, police, customs, air ambulance, rescue, fire fighting, humanitarian and disaster support, etc. And the variety in commercial work is huge: instructing, tourism, survey, marine pilot transfer, oil/gas rig support, photography and film, mustering, heli-skiing, logging, Antarctic support, fish-spotting, load-lifting and more.

What sort of person makes a good helicopter pilot? ?
One who is keen to do well in a very technical and demanding environment; someone who can take in a variety of information and process it to come up with a decision that is appropriate for the situation, particularly with changing weather or if you have a fuel critical situation, where you need to make decisions fairly quickly. Good hand-eye coordination and spatial orientation are essential and a good comprehension of maths and basic physics definitely helps!

What are the career opportunities? ?
The opportunities for helicopter pilots are as big as the world. Once you have a commercial helicopter licence (which can take four months full-time), there are several directions you can take immediately or with some further training: charter, tourism, instructing, mustering. And, of course, there is always the military option, which is the path I followed for 31 years. The Army or Navy will pay for your training and give you amazing opportunities. In the civilian world, the amount and variety of flying you have done will determine your seniority.

Is the job everything you thought it would be? ?
It is a little different from what I was expecting as NRMA CareFlight now concentrates on the Head Injury Trauma Service while the straight out rescue missions are usually undertaken by other organisations. Nevertheless, there can be fewer jobs more satisfying than being a part of the team that helps people survive life-threatening injuries or situations.

What are the tough bits? ?
The really tough part of this job is being up close to people who have suffered some major trauma — both physical and emotional — and still having to carry through with your mission without the emotions affecting your performance.

What's the greatest lesson you've learnt on the job? ?
That there is always something to learn and that the human capacity to survive incredibly difficult situations is truly remarkable.