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how can i become a commercial helicopter pilot and still attend a 4 year university?

Art is my passion and I would love to major in art, but from further research I have found that my only options are either teaching or involve a computer. I would like to avoid computers if possible. I also need something active that won't put me behind a desk. Becoming a commercial helicopter pilot sounds interesting and I've seen photography incorporated into it in aerial photography. Does anyone know a way I can do this and attend a 4 year university also? Oh and my boyfriend is in the military.. I'm not interested in the USAF.

Public Comments

1. If you have the time and money you can do it easy. Get your dad to give you 70K or get a loan, go down to the local airport that has helicopter flight training and learn there. Learning to fly shouldn't get in the way of school, but if you have to do one before the other, I'd get that degree first.
2. It's possible if you have the funding. Let me go over a few considerations. As Alloy Boy said, your college education must be the highest priority. There will be plenty of time for flight training later if need be. In fact, I almost want to just recommend that you finish college completely and then start flight training so you can do your flying in one complete and consistent period. If you are starting and stopping your training as your school work comes and goes, it will end up taking longer and costing you more. Consistency is the key to successful and efficient flight training, and if you are in school full time you will often find yourself skipping lessons during busy school times. It is theoretically possible to do both concurrently, but you will need to sit down and come up with a detailed game plan before you start. You really need to be able to fly at least twice per week, plus do some ground study each week. This will add a significant burden to your school schedule. It will be up to you to decide, but you might think about reserving flight training for summers, or perhaps take fewer college courses per semester to accommodate your flying. Definitely avoid taking on too much at all costs. If you do, then BOTH your art classes and your flying lessons will suffer. It would be better to take say 5-6 years and finish both properly than to jam in to 4 years and end up having high stress and poor performance. When it comes to a career, it is possible to combine photography and flying. A friend of mine does just that. He owns his own aircraft and does photography as well as other commercial operations. The only thing I would say is that a lot of aerial photography isn't particularly artful. In fact for him I think the photos are just a way for him to make money while flying rather than being a creative outlet. All of the photo flights I have done have been for construction sites or real estate properties. You might think you would get to take some shots of cool buildings or nature scenes, but all I ever got to do were dull industrial buildings. I know there are people out there who do much more interesting stuff, but that was my experience. In other words, it is possible that you will be limiting your creativity depending on what kind of photography you do and in what area. Another thing is that you always have two people, a pilot and a photographer. At any given time you are either doing one or the other, and most photographers are not pilots and vice versa. So, for example, I have never done any of the pictures. They have actually been challenging from a flying standpoint because they are inevitably right next to the local international airport so I am always dodging airliners, communicating with the tower, staying out of the death curve, maintaining control of the aircraft in a tight circle around the site, monitoring the wind, and of course looking for a place to land in case of an emergency. It is a nice change of pace from teaching idiot students. That is the fun of it from the pilot side. Meanwhile most aerial photographers are not pilots. Instead they contract with a local helicopter company for flight time. They also do other photography as well. This might actually be a way for you to be active and creative. The career of a pilot is active, but you may want to ask yourself if it is really for you. You don't necessarily have to go to flight school to get into aerial photography (although you certainly can). There is also always the possibility of just getting your private license and flying on the side. Anyway, sorry for the long and wandering answer. Check out my general answer about civilian flight training for many more details about that. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AgomlMrbEezv1AETlL8ZKb3sy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20090629182957AA2T9cF&show=7#profile-info-3i90pOWVaa Good luck!