Daz

This one - just for the description the ad copy. Guaranteed to give your engineer the cold sweats! https://www.mec.ca/en/product/4012-405/Crunch-Multi-Tool

Actually, strike that; I can't seem to upload the file to a PM. Here's an attachment of a .csv file I exported from my CHIRP app - not sure if it's generic or specific to my Baofeng UV-5R. Also, I have it sorta geared towards recreational use here in southwestern BC. There's the LAD channels, WX Radio channels, all the resource road frequencies, forestry repeaters for this corner of the province, and a few other local repeaters. Some of the frequencies I found online so I can't vouch for their accuracy. At the very least you might be able to use this as a template for your own customized CHIRP file. Hope this helps! - D. SW BC Radio.csv

Sure. Check your PMs! Sorry for the long delay in getting back to you...

I have a Baofeng UV-5R, which is the cheaper version of the UV-82 ($35 on Amazon!). The Baofengs are great value, there's a pretty solid online community supporting them, and they're cheap enough that if it gets trashed, you're not out a whole lot of money. That said, they have the reputation of being a real pain to program manually. I highly recommend downloading the CHIRP program (free open-source software; see link) and getting a programming cable. There's a bit of a learning curve getting started (cheap $4 knockoff cables can be a bit finicky getting the drivers to work), but there's tons of info and support on the CHIRP site. The program allows you to tweak all the radio settings, plus you can build and edit a big ol' frequency list (or several) on your laptop which you then upload to your radio. Pretty handy if you want to have a coupe different frequency lists for different flying/recreational scenarios. Good luck and enjoy your new radio! - Darren http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Home

Where did/do y'all get your flight suits from? I live in Vancouver but I spend most of my summer days working in Vernon, so online/mail-order is probably my best option. Thanks in advance, Darren

Company I used to work for had a cool customised 55gal drum that could be longlined and had a hatch on the bottom and some clever rigging that utilised the remote hook release to trigger the drop. If I recall correctly, the drum itself was set up to hang off the longline hook frame with a few short slings, and a hatch at the bottom of the drum which was held closed by a slightly longer sling attached to the hook. Hitting the hook release dumped the hatch and set loose up to 50 gallons of golf balls all over the green. Pretty sure they didn't fill the whole drum...

532 hour lowtimer here. My 2¢ based on my own experience: There are a couple companies out there that bring on lowtimers in a ground role - you will spend most of your time answering phones, sweeping, fueling, painting, cleaning trucks and machines and so forth. In return, they'll eventually get you PPC'ed (and even a type endorsement in certain cases) after a year or two of hard work. With that PPC, you'll have a crack at ground runs, maintenance and ferry flights, and if you're lucky maybe even the odd revenue job. You'll learn tons, meet some great folks and maybe even make a few connections that'll help you years down the road. The downside of this is that even with your PPC, your main role will still be ground work as most of the clients that these companies fly for require at least 1000 hours. Expect maybe 50 hours flight time per year. Another chance might be the tourism companies Heisenberg mentioned. As I understand it, one company often brings on one or two ground staff per season, and they do eventually get flying after a year or two. Competition is VERY stiff for these jobs, and IIRC they didn't even bring on any new hires this year as they retained all of last year's staff. I spent last summer working for the 'other' guys east of Canmore, and while I don't know how it went in prior seasons I do know that things have changed from a few years back - you no longer pay for your own training. All of us working there last summer already had at least two or three hundred hours under our belt when we started there, and we were paid a base salary plus flight pay right from day 1. I hear LR Helicopters does get lowtimers flying the traffic machines, but I'd bet they would pick from their students first. I'd still go pay them a visit if I were a new grad. Outside of that, I don't have any ideas. I do know that it's tough and it isn't getting easier anytime soon. I've accepted that for the forseeable future, I work in a seasonal low wage job that's friggin' awesome when (and if!) I get the chance to do it. Luckily, I had 20 years of the same thing in the ski industry, so I've had practice at being poor . Also luckily for me, my girl is a registered nurse, so at least one of us has a steady income... As always, these are my experiences, not everybodies, so buyer beware, YMMV and all that. One thing for sure is that you definitely won't find anything by not looking - you still need to go meet people, shake hands, deliver resumes and network. Never give up! -Darren

I hate it when I sneeze just as I'm about to land. Seriously though - glad all are OK. D.

Happy Solstice to all my fellow heretics. To brighter days ahead! - Darren

Yup - pretty crowded in there. Purged a bunch of old messages; should be better now.

Upon re-reading my own post I feel i should clarify that I'm not trolling for jobs; I'm genuinely curious. I *like* where I'm flying right now - I'm flying lots, learning TONS, and the views are amazing

It's been a while since I poked the beehive, so here goes Are Contrail minimums of 1000 or 1500 hours still the norm, or are things changing? Where I used to work, one of our Contrail clients would accept 750 hour pilots to fly for them on a case by case basis. I hear-tell of another Alberta based company that can use 500 hour pilots for their Contrail clients. I've been flying in the tourism end of the business for the past few months, and I've just passed 500 hours - is this a meaningful landmark anywhere else in the industry these days? No reason, just curious. Discuss! - Daz

5-per, Have you tried on a Gallet 250 with the smaller shell? I have a little peanut noggin and I measured my head seven ways from Sunday - everything pointed to a small shell for me. But, I tried on a co-worker's small Gallet and it was much too tight - in particular, it felt too short front-to-back and made a pressure point right on my forehead. I ordered the large shell, used most of the padding and it fits perfectly. A friend ordered the Gallet 350 in a small shell without trying it (he just went by his head measurements) and he wound up returning it for the same reason as above. Happy helmet hunting, Darren

Very tragic news. Didn't know him personally, but he's friends with many who are close to me. My thoughts are with all affected. - Darren

I'm not sure about Air Nav Pro and Android - everyone I work with uses either an iPad Mini or some sort of Garmin. - D.