Certified Mountain course

[DGP]

It seems that every job out there today at least in the far left wants pilots to have a cmc. I am sure that this is a requirement these days for BC forestry...not sure why as many years ago nobody had a certified course but hey I don't make up the rules. I was out west looking around for work back in the mid '80s and ended up in the office of a large company who I will not mention names but they are still around. I said I would work for them if I got some mountain training and was told ...hey you got thousands of hours...you will figure it out I am sure.Is this just a money grab like most other requirements? I got most of my training the old fashion way....there's the job...getter done!

[Pinnacle]

My understanding BC forestry want an approved mountain course and any HAC approved course will cover that.

Under the HAC guidelines its only 5 hours (or to competency) with 8 hour ground school (see screenshot and link below)

http://www.ihst.org/portals/54/repository/Practices-Mountain Flying.pdf

 

 

[DGP]

Seems like a lot of smoke and mirrors. When it says to qualify for an hac cmc you need some previous mountain experience and then goes on to say 1000 hrs of mountain time...dah....so if you had 1000 hrs of mountain time it seems to me you should be teaching the course not buying a course...imho! Somebody explain that....5hrs plus ground school equals probably around 5 grand. If you want a real mountain course that might make you safe to fly with and this is what is the real issue is...safety..well you are looking at over 20 grand. I would say and I mentioned this to a friend that went out west and took a mountain course....the 5 hr one... that if I was looking for a pilot to fly in the mountains I would probably not hire a guy with a 5 hrs  mountain course. I would hire someone without the course that had actually flown and worked in the mountains...not necessary 1000 hrs....that is a lot of overkill folks. But hey I already said...what do I know. So who is pushing for these qualifications...I have to agree that it is a way to thin out the resumes. I won't be wasting money on a course....I have flown mountains ....and as I said on here before...Baffin Island has mountains....thanks for the feedback.

[Pinnacle]

2 hours ago, DGP said:

Seems like a lot of smoke and mirrors. When it says to qualify for an hac cmc you need some previous mountain experience and then goes on to say 1000 hrs of mountain time...dah....so if you had 1000 hrs of mountain time it seems to me you should be teaching the course not buying a course...imho! Somebody explain that....5hrs plus ground school equals probably around 5 grand. If you want a real mountain course that might make you safe to fly with and this is what is the real issue is...safety..well you are looking at over 20 grand. I would say and I mentioned this to a friend that went out west and took a mountain course....the 5 hr one... that if I was looking for a pilot to fly in the mountains I would probably not hire a guy with a 5 hrs  mountain course. I would hire someone without the course that had actually flown and worked in the mountains...not necessary 1000 hrs....that is a lot of overkill folks. But hey I already said...what do I know. So who is pushing for these qualifications...I have to agree that it is a way to thin out the resumes. I won't be wasting money on a course....I have flown mountains ....and as I said on here before...Baffin Island has mountains....thanks for the feedback.

The top part of the form says training pilot requirements which is the 1000hrs mountain time you are referring to

[Diaper_Pin]

2 hours ago, BrokenTools said:

I have put a lot of consideration into a mountain course and I honestly cannot justify the money. I think a persons head space and personal judgement goes a long way, if your in the mountains and it doesnt feel good or your not comfortable, just dont do it. I would rather say no to an area or find an alternate and get home alive.

My $0.02

Save your money. BCFS work for the most part is a like a private club. If they don't know you or haven't flown with you etc. You'll have a hard time getting hired on with or without a mountain course.

There are a number of companies in your neck of the woods that have some great training and chief pilots. Who will teach you the basics of mountain approaches and what to watch for etc. 20 hrs. is over kill, even 5 would be a stretch. This training could easily be combined into your PPC training.

Spend your money on putting a face to the name. So much of this industry revolves around personality. Flying can be taught; working and getting along with clients is another skill all together.

IMO: being level headed, professional and forward thinking. Will get you the mountain training through your employer. As you become an asset to them, they will in turn will invest in you.

It's a two way street, at least in theory.

[Heliian]

If you intend to fly in the mountains or even the hills, take a course.  Find the cheapest one, the info will be the same.  Never stop learning.  It does help on a resume too.

 

[DGP]

When I was working on Baffin I was staying in a village at the south end of Baffin. In the flight sup there is a warning to pilots to not try landing at this airport unless you are very experienced as the danger level is extreme. It has 2 wind socks at either ends of the runway and those socks never point in the same direction. I had some real fun working out of there I will tell you. I had a 206 on bags doing sediment sampling.Going out was bad enough as you needed a full jag of fuel on board and that included the range extender...2 passengers and a little bit of gear.I had the ship parked midway down the runway so usually I would take off to the south east as the runway slopes down hill in that direction.It kind of reminds me of the airport in Katmandu. So coming back with little more than 20 gallons of fuel you would think it would be a piece of cake...you would be wrong. The wind always picks up late in the afternoon and I will tell you it was brutal getting on the ground. I had to overshoot the landings many times. There are some pretty good hills around the runway...towers all over the place and throw in some power lines just for more fun. I was working on the ship one day and a Twin Otter was coming in to land from the south east.It was the same plane that I had come in to replace the pilot on the job that I was doing.Well I was watching him and the wind sock did a 180 just as he was on final so he had gone past the sock and couldn't see what had happened. He stalled that plane about 20 ft off the ground.and fell onto the runway.He had tundra tires on so when he hit he bounced back into the air when he was right over top off me... I thought I was a deadman when he hammered on the throttles and took off again.I went and changed the shorts. A few days later I heard that those guys got killed trying to drop off a load of fuel for the job I was on...flying on Baffin is an eye opener for sure!

[DGP]

This is the ship sitting at the strip in Lake Harbour and 45 miles west.

[old]

Why is this thread in maintenance?

[twinstar_ca]

Good question, old.... fixed now...