Helicopter Training

[Fire Eyes]

I had an excellent experience at my flight school and had (and continue to have) a positive relationship with them so I was pretty surprised that I received almost no leads for possible jobs from them when I was walking away with my license in hand. Before commencing, I'd been led to believe that most (if not all) former graduates had industry jobs. This was a huge exaggeration and I know of only a handful of my fellow 'graduates' who are actually flying in the industry 5 years on. Basic brain skills and smooth hands are essential during (and after) training but your sheer will to fly and inability to give up even facing great odds with no money, big debt and backstabbers everywhere will be what ensures you actually get to use your CHPL...and your armour. And 5 years on, things are looking pretty good and I can avoid most of the shady characters now....

[pilot5]

Get used to it!! Its not a professional industry, respect, confidentiality etc.Maybe once was, but today there are only a handful of companies that are actually worth working for.

 

P5

[Icewind]

There is nothing new under the sun........

 

If I recall correctly it was in the 1990's that Transport Canada released information regarding a study on how many new pilots got jobs and stayed in the industry.

 

Approximately 1/3 of newly licenced pilots never got work, approximately 1/3 lasted up to 5 years and only 1/3 were in the business longer than 5 years.

[Twin Helix]

So I was out and about the other day and I happened to pass by a heli school which I could only describe as bustling, and it got me to thinking...while a flying school is a business and businesses need paying customers to exist, isn't there some ethical obligation that says they should be slowing down with the current state of the industry?

 

Minimum, I hope these folks are making it abundantly clear to prospective pilots what a rough industry this is becoming...beyond that, I think a case could be made to shift focus from producing more 100 hour pilots to helping get exisiting guys/girls trained up on practical things like vertical reference, remote operations and the like. Obviously it's a lot easier said than done, but we don't seem to be doing ourselves any favours as an industry.

 

So that's todays hornet's nest, I poked it first, who's next?

[Bif]

Ooh ooh! Now do unions!! Or work visas!

[Twin Helix]

Ooh ooh! Now do unions!! Or work visas!

Too easy.

[Daz]

So I was out and about the other day and I happened to pass by a heli school which I could only describe as bustling, and it got me to thinking...while a flying school is a business and businesses need paying customers to exist, isn't there some ethical obligation that says they should be slowing down with the current state of the industry?

 

Minimum, I hope these folks are making it abundantly clear to prospective pilots what a rough industry this is becoming...beyond that, I think a case could be made to shift focus from producing more 100 hour pilots to helping get exisiting guys/girls trained up on practical things like vertical reference, remote operations and the like. Obviously it's a lot easier said than done, but we don't seem to be doing ourselves any favours as an industry.

 

So that's todays hornet's nest, I poked it first, who's next?

 

Well, seeing as we're (metaphorically) kicking fresh turds on a hot day...

 

You've got the license, the great attitude and strong work ethic, and you've landed yourself a ground job with a good reputable company. They pay you fairly, treat you well, appreciate your efforts, and so have vowed to give you a little training and even your PPC.

 

BUT... once you have that PPC, you're limited to ground runs and the occasional maintenance flight because high client minimum requirements preclude you from building any significant time. Where do you go from here?

 

I hear-tell that back in the day the place to build your first 1000 hours was in the oil and gas industry, however these days the minimums there generally *start* at 1000 hours. Outside of sightseeing and maybe tuna boats, where are low timers flying these days?

[R0T0R]

PC EC135 flight simulators...couldn't resist.

[hybrid]

Well, seeing as we're (metaphorically) kicking fresh turds on a hot day...

 

You've got the license, the great attitude and strong work ethic, and you've landed yourself a ground job with a good reputable company. They pay you fairly, treat you well, appreciate your efforts, and so have vowed to give you a little training and even your PPC.

 

BUT... once you have that PPC, you're limited to ground runs and the occasional maintenance flight because high client minimum requirements preclude you from building any significant time. Where do you go from here?

 

I hear-tell that back in the day the place to build your first 1000 hours was in the oil and gas industry, however these days the minimums there generally *start* at 1000 hours. Outside of sightseeing and maybe tuna boats, where are low timers flying these days?

Darren, you are proof that a good attitude, hard work and perseverance will eventually pay off. Where will you get your first 1000 hours? It will likely be a grind, but it is like a heavy train . You start off moving very slowly, but once you start to get some momentum the speed picks up quickly. Maybe a client will let you fly with 500 hours. In BC in 2003 during a fire flap a couple of guys were hired by BCFS with under 500 hours. They were running out of pilots because they were all timing out, so the company convinced BCFS they were fine for specific tasks.

 

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see there is a lot of grey hair out there, eventually new guys will have to be brought up into the industry. The only reason that hasn't happened is because of a stagnant economy, good luck guessing how that will play out.

[shakey]

Well as I see it Darren you seem to be OK with work visas being handed out like candy, so in a sense you are shooting yourself in the foot when it comes to where you are going to build your time. I've now adopted the attitude of "its not my problem anymore seeing I have several thousand hrs and work for a great company". I sure wouldn't waste my money today on training but that as well is not my problem. Well gotta go flying in circles taking pictures for a client who wants 2000 hrs minimum pad to pad.