408

[Guest 1cloud]

looking for pilots Flying full time with the Canadian Forces Reserves, good or bad move?

[Huddy]

depends what your looking for.

 

Don't know if the program is still open for non ex-reg force pilots at the moment.

 

Your an officer first, pilot second. historicaly about 80% of heli-cop pilots fail instrument or low level nav. Could be a huge waste of your time, Basic training [13ish weeks] heli ground school in portage [2 weeks] Sea Survival [1 Week] Aero Medical [1 week] Basic Survival [1 week] Wings on a jetranger [depends on aircraft/instructor availability, I got my wings after flying the jetranger for two and a half months as I was available full time. others have taken over a year.

Griffon course [could be 4 months or you might never get qualified because you have a civvy job and can't commit the time required for it to sink in. You'll be a drain on the squadron and they'll focus there attention elsewhere. could be long waits for the courses mentioned too.

 

With all this you have to look at pay rates. Officer cadets get about $96 a day before tax. When you get your wings you'll be a Lt for three years starting at $151 a day. And even though your full time, as a reservist you don't qualify for post living differential which is $678 in edmonton at the moment.

 

I joined and love it. Hard not to when you go from a R-22 to a 206 [cool] then a B-412 [sweet] and then get sent Chinooks. I've been full time since I joined, so as to get qualified as fast as possible. Now thinking about reg force, but who knows.

 

Good luck

[Huddy]

$678 a month that is.

 

also Reserve pay is typicaly 85% of reg force pay.

 

Cheers

[Shooter]

It's a good move... as long as you have the right motivation. The reserve helicopter program has been abused in the past by guys just joining until they have the muti-engine rating and/or instrument rating then leaving. There's nothing that pisses off the reg force pilots more than someone taking up all helicopter time, training and resources then contributing nothing back.

 

And by contributing I hope you plan on going to Afghanistan, because that's where 408 is right now.

 

That said there have been a few reservists who bring value to the squadrons and go on missions, taskings, deployments etc and free up some of the reg force guys to spend a few more days at home.

 

My point being, make sure you think about this as a long term plan rather than a cool part time job.

[Mark_]

How many hours can you expect on average Huddy?

 

Mark

[Huddy]

thats a tough one. it varies greatly for individuals in the squadron. 125-400 hours in the last 365 days is sort of the spread. depends on many things. however with deployments things can go gangbusters. a buddy of mine flying chinooks with the RAF was doing a +100 hrs a month in the sandbox.

 

Nice thing is that regardless of how many hours you fly the pay stays the same, with annual raises and lots of benifits. deployments are tax free with added incentives.

 

cheers

 

 

 

 

 

[49 Merc]

Shooter.

I have a few questions,maybe you can answer.

 

If you go full time reservist,what are the contract lengths?

Are you required to get a University degree if you decide to make a career of the reserves?

And if you do bring value to the unit by commiting,and serving multiple contracts.Do they take care of you by providing a pension after 20yrs service like the Regs.

 

Just a few questions that I could think of.

 

Thanks

 

49merc

[49 Merc]

Huddy

 

 

"historicaly about 80% of heli-cop pilots fail instrument or low level nav."

 

Why is the failure rate so high on the IFR? Just wondering,,Hundreds of low time fixed wing,and helicopter pilots do it every year in the State and Canada.Why is it harder in the military?

Just curious.

And what is the low level Nav?

 

Thanks

49merc

[Huddy]

class A reserve is 4 days to 14 days a month casual.

class B is full time in Canada. contracts can be a couple weeks to couple years. you can actually get out of them with 30 days notice.

Class C full time training to deploy or deployed out of Canada. reg force pay. locked in for duration of contract.

 

A degree was not a requirement when i joined two years ago. pensionable at 30 years of service, the regs are 25 now.

 

I think the failure rates have to do with the civilian heli industry producing mostly VFR bush guys who do their jobs **** well. sure there are some civy guys doing IFR offshore and medivac, but their mostly at a level in their careers where they wouldn't consider the reserves. to be considered you need something like 500 tt heli with an IFR rating. Guys may get the IFR but don't have alot of experiance on it. The training program with the reserves throws you right into the Heli syllabus where all military pilots get their wings, though for reserves they've skipped initial portage and Moose Jaw where they'd have gotten into IFR flying the way the military wants it done. It can be tough to unlearn things and try to do stuff the military way.

 

low level nav, navigating to specific points for a specific time at 15 feet in the griffon [with a map]

 

 

cheers

[49 Merc]

Huddy

Thanks for all the info,very helpful.You mentioned you have been in for two years.

Do you see yourself doing 25 years in this organization? I'm asking because i've talked to a few Canadian forces pilots,fixed wing,and rotory,and they gave the impression that it was a "not so great of an experience".Not a lot of flying,politics,ego's...

Just wondering your take on it.

 

Thanks again

49merc