Picking An Ame School

[212wrench]

Sorry but I did the time wrong as well. Blonde moment, comes from spending the day golfing and going to the beach. One perk of the Okanagan. You spend 48 weeks in Vernon and 14 in DC for a total of 62 weeks. One thing to mention is NLC Dawson has the lowest tuition in Canada, total is around 6500. You probably cant get in in Sept, you can"t in Vernon but Feb is usually open in DC and almost full in Vernon.

[johnson4]

Do you work @ the vernon school 212wrench?

[lamanated]

I went through Sait and can recommend it, as it gives you alot of things you use later on, but the electronics section was second to Northern lights, SAIT had little training aids for electronics.If they something like Heathkits for you to use as they were teaching, you would get it quicker, Northern lights was definitely a rotary school.. the School in NS I'm leary of ,as I dont see the students learning a third what SAIT taught you.....

[chopterlol]

.

[johnson4]

NLC is sure getting the votes. Vernon would work really good for me as well, my uncle had a room for me to stay in 45km away in Kelowna.

Can anyone comment on the day to day/week to week work load?(regardless of what school) I'm just curious to know if I can add some part time work and income during the school year.

[ThreePer]

I didn't work my first semester and I think that was a good choice. At NLC they use the first semester to "cull the herd" so to speak and because everything is so foreign (it was to me anyways) you need to stay on top of it and work hard to keep up. The last 2 semesters I picked up a part time job to fill in for the student loan I spend on Whiskey and gas. Not together of course....

[Geordie]

NLC at Dawson is the best way to go if you want to focus on rotary wing aviation. The instructors are top notch and most of them have a bush background so you get all sorts of "extra" information from them that will come back to help you at some point in the field. NLC offers type training on various helicopter airframes and power plants out of the same building used for the AME basic training which means that you get exposure to lots of AME's that can become good contacts when you are looking for work as an apprentice.

As one of the other posters mentioned, the first semester of the NLC program is used to wash out all the riff raff that do not belong in aviation... stay focused for that first semester and you will do just fine. Dawson can be a bit of a hole but its not all bad, just do your best to avoid bar fights with the rig pigs and try to have some fun with the local farmer girls . Oh and make sure you have a bunch of loonies saved up to throw at the girls participating in the local art show just down the road from the school.

[johnson4]

Thanks for all the input guys. Because of all the personal contacts/resources in Calgary and Vernon it has become a toss up between those two. I've sent in applications now so we'll see what happens.

[johnson4]

Heres another question... Sort of on topic:

The NLC website says " Footwear having CSA safety-toe protection with soft soles for climbing on aircraft." ( http://www.nlc.bc.ca/programs/allprograms/aircraftmaintenanceengineeringbasictraining.aspx )

 

I've never seen a work boot advertise "soft soles", what exactly should I be looking for here? Working on a concrete floor all day has to be a consideration too. What are you guys wearing?

[Elvis]

Dakota shoes are soft soled with CSA approval

 

I get mine at Mark's Work Wearhouse