PETER PETERS

Peter Peters graduated from Bristow Academy in 2008 and now works for Heli Holland Offshore.

“After ten years of being a professional fire fighter in Holland I decided to switch careers and do what has always been in the back of my mind: become a commercial helicopter pilot. In the summer of 2007 I moved to Titusville, Florida with my wife and two daughters (4 and 7). I wentthrough the combined JAA/FAA course with the class of JAA 22. The students in this class were really fantastic and I made friendships for life. After my graduation from Bristow Academy I completed a twin engine Instrument Rating. In the mean time I had had a couple of job interviews and a couple of days after completion of the IR I got the news I was offered a job as co-pilot with Heli Holland Offshore. It couldn’t have worked out better. All the pieces came together.

I am based out of Den Helder Airport De Kooy, but occasionally out of Amsterdam Heliport. I fly the EC 155 B1 and the company is exactly the way I pictured it would be: pretty small (I’m their sixth pilot), informal and a good team. The job involves flying passengers and freight to oil rigs. My first Dutch flying experience was unforgettable: taxiing and taking off from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol; ranking as the world’s 3rd largest by international passenger traffic. When we were hovering in front of the Air Traffic Control Tower we waved at the ATC which seemed pretty unusual to me. It only took a couple of seconds for the tower to respond in Dutch by radio: ‘What a beautiful helicopter you’re flying!’. Needlessly to say I was smiling from ear to ear. Here I was, just graduated, flying an EC155, and receiving compliments about the looks of our helicopter from a very busy ATC. Cool!

Despite the pretty late stage in which I decided to change careers (at the age of 37), and the impact on my wife and daughters by moving to another continent, all four of us would do it all over again and make the exact same decisions. My advice to future helicopter pilots is to stay positive and believe in your own capabilities. This is a life time experience!”