Is This A Flying Position

[Freewheel]

Any pilot who thought they would get their licence and jump into the PIC seat right out of school didn't do their homework. These ground positions are where most of us start. The fact is it is a test. There are many reasons why this occurrs but one of the main reasons is Aircraft owners want to make sure that they have the right attitude before they let them fly away with their million dollar aircraft and souls onboard. Given that most accidents are PDM related this seems like a reasonable approach. The fact is there are many many low time pilots available and competition for jobs is stiff; you can't blame any business owner for wanting to ensure the best people fly their helicopters.

 

Of course good hands are important, but let's face it, most low time pilots are at about the same level of skill. That's not the case when it comes to ATTITUDE. Once you fly away with the aircraft you are the boss and often the only company representative. You are required to make crucial time sensitive decisions.You also don't always have an AME with you.

 

It also never hurts to be "mechanically inclined" when operating in the remote canadian environment. Discussing/Troubleshooting with an AME over a sat phone is not uncommon. It might also help you identify an issue that someone less mechanically inclined might not.

 

We can all relate to the plight of the low time pilot. To those of you with the right attitude, keep your chin up and good luck!

[just looking]

I think we can all agree. Everyone has to start somewhere. The odds of going direct entry are slim to zero. Hard work never hurt anyone. What i had an issue with is the job posting said 100 hour pilot. Obviously the owners understood what i was getting at as they changed the ad to ground crew position. Any 100 hour guy truly trying to get a start in this industry would and should apply that i agree with. Kudos to this company and anyone giving low timers a break to try and get some stick time.

 

Enough said about this.

[Maury]

I am just going to throw this out there.

Name me one other profession where after doing whatever schooling they needed to get a license or accreditation, are then told that they have to do something that has absolutely nothing to do with their training. Do you think that someone that is trained as a heavy equipment operator is going to get on the end of a shovel for the first three years of his career. Obviously he will not be doing specialized work or on the heaviest or newest equipment, but I can guarantee you that there is no way he is going to be digging a ditch to see if "he has the right attitude". Do you think your doctor spent years, days, or seconds parking cars at the hospital before interning? How about a professional engineer? You can bet they wouldn't let a "newbie" build a bridge, but they sure as **** wouldn't expect or even think of asking that professional to do something that has nothing to do with his chosen profession.

You will not find this bull in any other industry, and to have people claim that this is just the way things are, is patently ridiculous.

 

[HeliRico]

I am just going to throw this out there.

Name me one other profession where after doing whatever schooling they needed to get a license or accreditation, are then told that they have to do something that has absolutely nothing to do with their training. Do you think that someone that is trained as a heavy equipment operator is going to get on the end of a shovel for the first three years of his career. Obviously he will not be doing specialized work or on the heaviest or newest equipment, but I can guarantee you that there is no way he is going to be digging a ditch to see if "he has the right attitude". Do you think your doctor spent years, days, or seconds parking cars at the hospital before interning? How about a professional engineer? You can bet they wouldn't let a "newbie" build a bridge, but they sure as **** wouldn't expect or even think of asking that professional to do something that has nothing to do with his chosen profession.

You will not find this bull in any other industry, and to have people claim that this is just the way things are, is patently ridiculous.

 

 

Amen. !

[Freewheel]

Like I said there are MANY reasons why this occurrs. One other would be that there are only so many jobs you can send a 100 hr pilot. Even if you wanted to send a low timer straight to work, Many clients won't even let a 1000 hr pilot work for them.

 

Another might be that TCs licensing requirements are less than the international standards so employers are required to expend significantly more time at getting them operationally ready. Maybe the licensing requirements should be increased to the ICAO or fixed wing standards. That would reduce the amount of pilots being licenced I'm sure.

 

How about the fact the industry has been so slow that many 5000 hr pilots aren't working. Should an operator be sending low time pilots and leaving their experienced aircrew at home? That doesn't work because they need experienced aircrew when it's busy and they'd jump ship..,

 

I get your point...and it sucks when you're the low time guy, but unfortunately it has always been that way. The other industries, you discuss: the demand for inexperienced workers is higher. I'd say 1 in 10 pilots gets a job; do you disagree?. Is that the case for heavy equipment operators? If so I'd suggest that owners in that industry might be doing the same thing.

 

If you've got some proactive suggestions that would change this, please share. Maybe we need less pilots being licenced by so many FTUs. They are clearly being licensed faster than they can be brought into the industry. This isnt something that individual operators can change, so they just do hat is best for their organization...as any responsible business owner would do.

[Freewheel]

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that schools and TC are giving commercial licenses to pilots with 100 hrs Flight time, and 80 hours air time.

[R0T0R]

Ha! I was waiting for that!!

[Freewheel]

With all due respect there are sone other glaring differences with the industries you are comparing to:

 

In 2011, there 72000+ physicians (and many argue that is not enough), with about 2000 new physicians graduating that year.

 

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/canada-boasts-record-number-of-doctors-but-is-it-enough/article5340309/?ref=http://www.theglobeandmail.com&service=mobile

 

In 2008, there were 3200+ commercial Heli pilot licences in force (with a good portion of those pilots not flying professionally), yet we issued 348 commercial pilot licences in that same year. There was also an additional 994 ATPLs

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20100702044606/http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/standards/general-personnel-stats-stats007-2304.htm

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20100702040139/http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/standards/general-personnel-stats-force-2303.htm

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20100702044601/http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/standards/general-personnel-stats-issued-2297.htm

 

This is also an informative document. 2010 HR Report on Commercial Pilots in Canada from Canadian Aviation Maintenance Council. Note the challenges facing the helicopter industry; sound familiar?

 

http://www.atac.ca/web/images/atac/files/HR_Report_on_the_Commercial_Pilot_in_Canada-Final_version.pdf

 

I don't have data for Heavy Equipment operators...

 

On the licensing side of things in aviation:

 

Commercial Pilot Licence Airplane in Canada requires: 200 hrs Flight Time

 

Commercial Pilot Licence Helicopter UK/ France requires: 155 hours Flight Time.

 

Commercial Pilot Licence Helicopter Canada requires: 100 hours Flight Time.

[Freewheel]

Oh and a physician goes to school for a minimum of 7 years (with an average medical school debt of 170,000.). I got my CPL in 5 months.

[Darksidelogger]

I am just going to throw this out there.

Name me one other profession where after doing whatever schooling they needed to get a license or accreditation, are then told that they have to do something that has absolutely nothing to do with their training. Do you think that someone that is trained as a heavy equipment operator is going to get on the end of a shovel for the first three years of his career. Obviously he will not be doing specialized work or on the heaviest or newest equipment, but I can guarantee you that there is no way he is going to be digging a ditch to see if "he has the right attitude". Do you think your doctor spent years, days, or seconds parking cars at the hospital before interning? How about a professional engineer? You can bet they wouldn't let a "newbie" build a bridge, but they sure as **** wouldn't expect or even think of asking that professional to do something that has nothing to do with his chosen profession.

You will not find this bull in any other industry, and to have people claim that this is just the way things are, is patently ridiculous.

 

 

 

How about logging....

Lots of loggers started out on the end of a 1" choker, the dumb end of a tape, power saw long before they ever touched a machine

 

Heck some of the logging pilots out There Now A Days started setting chokers or driving the super B that hauled the blocks away

 

Nothing to do with being a pilot but the experience gave them an opportunity to understand the operation from the ground up and more than likely made them the best at what they do

Just the way it works

DSL