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Lowtimer Milestones/contrail Minimum Requirements


Daz
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Good to hear your flying Daz!

Unfortunately the system is flawed and meeting the contrail hour requirements means a whole lot more that how well that individual can fly.

Meeting those mins means now guys will stay longer in a job that gives them hours like tourism and the guys working from the ground up doing bush work will be left in the dust.

The thing I see happening now though is guys who are flying tours are staying longer to meet hour requirements and then pushing the guys who are on the ground back a year or 2, not taking into consideration that before they were flying they relied on guys moving from tours to operational flying in a steady order and once the hours start coming in they forget everything.

I know everyone needs to lookout for themselves but I'm sure half the problem with getting low time guys started is that people start flying and forget what it's like to be a lowtimer. Other half is customer mins...

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From someone thats been there. I got a Bell214 endorsement at 200 Hrs, flew my first campaign fire at 500 Hrs was longline proficient at 1000Hrs.

 

I can honestly tell you that there is a HUGE difference in confidence, skill set and mechanical memory between 500 - 1000 - 2000 - even 5000 Hrs. Im surprised I was only in 1 accident back then that was pilot error. What Im trying to say is looking back at 500 Hrs I didnt know #### even though I thought I did. I dont even like to fly with guys under 1000 Hrs.

 

Keep plugging away, take every opportunity to learn new things, throw on the line and play. Listen to others with more experience the information is invaluable.

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Daz, there are a tone of different ways things could turn out all depending on who you meet, the way the industry turns, what company you're flying for now and who knows your company could acquire another or visa versa and the game all changes. Some things fall into place and others you need to chase in order to make them happen. Take everything you read here with a grain of salt because for every story of this guy needing this to get there, there's another story of the guy who got there without having what the other guy needed. Does that even make sense?

 

Here's the deal. Figure out what it is you want to do. What sector of the industry do you want to work in. What types of experiences you'd like to have along the way. What companies provide those opportunities. Where you ultimately want to live. Once you get that part figured out, go to the operators that fit the bill and ask the pertinent questions. Stay in touch and put yourself on their radar. Toss in a periodic resume even if you don't qualify at this second. Keep your name fresh on their brain. You may be 1500 hrs and a couple of endorsements away from working for them, but when the time comes they'll think...oh yeah that guy has wanted to live here and work for us for the past 3 years, lets give him a call.

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The saddest reality is not that 'the system' is flawed or unfair, it's that THERE IS NO SYSTEM!

 

Major users are consistently moving the goalposts, some now requiring 2000 hours RW PIC.

 

What was accomplished with the provincial forestry agencies in establishing, with the collaboration of HAC operator members, 'competencies' that have to be demonstrated as opposed to 'hours' requirements needs to expanded substantially.

 

The HAC Oil & Gas Committee, comprised of predominandtly operator members, is now actively working to produce a set of competencies which, it is to be hoped, will be accepted (yes, probably over a period of time) by the major users that are currently laying down the 'rules' that are every bit as hard on operators as the they are on pilots.

 

Their are many wise heads in the safety organizations of most of the big users, and they understand the issues, but have been handicapped by a lack of improvement from within our very own industry. It's unrealistic to expect them to initiate a solution for our problem, but they're prepared to consider anything that makes sense.

 

There are some good thoughts for individuals in the posts above, but what we truly need is MAJOR change, not bandaids. The US airline industry overcame these issues a couple of decades back by taking the bull by the horns as HAC is doing (and you HAC detractors out there are invited to tell us who else is doing anything of the magnitude that HAC has already done and is actively doing to help the industry at large, NOT simply for the benefit of the operators).

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