Entering my 33rd season of flying...thought I had seen it all...

[CM119]

39 minutes ago, freck said:

Yeah the incentive is that most don't have families here in Canada so they will work 365 days a year. The difference here in Canada is most come here as lower hour light/intermediate guys/girls that want VR experience and most Canadians in Oz are medium/heavy guys/girls that are actually highly experienced and really well paid with a half on half off schedule. Apples and oranges really.

So it’s cheaper is what you’re saying.  Got it.  365 day / yr work schedule doesn’t sound very appealing lol

[Whitestone]

3 hours ago, freck said:

Yeah the incentive is that most don't have families here in Canada so they will work 365 days a year. The difference here in Canada is most come here as lower hour light/intermediate guys/girls that want VR experience and most Canadians in Oz are medium/heavy guys/girls that are actually highly experienced and really well paid with a half on half off schedule. Apples and oranges really.

This is EXACTLY why it gets my teeth on edge when i hear one of those down under guys on the radio or at an airport/fire base.  It's the guys who come up here with "1000" hours of cattle mustering (nobody EVER checks and that's what they count on) and take an entry level/low hour job away from a Canadian citizen.  I have no problem if a company is looking for medium or heavy drivers or guys with special skills and they can't fill the seat but when you hire guys just to save a buck, you are in the end only cutting off your nose to spite your face, Canada looses all around.

[DGP]

Just about as good as US pilots that can build time... ie with 100 hrs they can get a job as an instructor to build time...what up with that sh#t! You can't do that here in Canucastan!

[DGP]

You want to slide south of the border to work you need an faa ticket which reguires you to have an ifr ticket...correct me if I am wrong. Back in the day when I had 100 hrs I tried to go to Aussie land...was told to bugger off!

[Whitestone]

13 minutes ago, DGP said:

Just about as good as US pilots that can build time... ie with 100 hrs they can get a job as an instructor to build time...what up with that sh#t! You can't do that here in Canucastan!

Imagine, instructing with 100 hours...  Talk about the blind leading the blind!  My list of favorite instructors includes Bob K (RIP), Bob L, Rocky S and Marty C, all great guys who could teach without berating/belittling and you walked away having learned something not feeling like you just survived a war with PTSD. 

[DGP]

Way back in time when the earth was green I tried getting a job down in LaLa town flying traffic reporter...they said ...hey you get here you got the job...no one ever asked about a green card. Well when I asked what they were paying it was like they thought I should be paying them...end of that dream!!!

[Pool pilot]

18 minutes ago, Whitestone said:

Imagine, instructing with 100 hours...  Talk about the blind leading the blind!  My list of favorite instructors includes Bob K (RIP), Bob L, Rocky S and Marty C, all great guys who could teach without berating/belittling and you walked away having learned something not feeling like you just survived a war with PTSD. 

Here is a couple more great instructors... W. Thompson..... D. Wood.... mind you.... with D. Wood..... you walked away to go...."look it up"..... and as for Marty....  well that is just fun times as you learn.

[BJP]

1 hour ago, DGP said:

Just about as good as US pilots that can build time... ie with 100 hrs they can get a job as an instructor to build time...what up with that sh#t! You can't do that here in Canucastan!

Canucastan...baa haa haa 🤣 

[BJP]

1 hour ago, Whitestone said:

Imagine, instructing with 100 hours...  Talk about the blind leading the blind!  My list of favorite instructors includes Bob K (RIP), Bob L, Rocky S and Marty C, all great guys who could teach without berating/belittling and you walked away having learned something not feeling like you just survived a war with PTSD. 

I agree that Canadian Jobs for Canadians first, but you have to give credit, where credit is due...I wouldn't have the minerals to instruct right after flight school. At the end of the day, flying is really the art of aiming at the ground and missing it. Most of those FAA instructors only end up doing instructing or EMS in Canada anyway...let them have it. Flying with two in the cockpit seems natural to them. Aussies, Kiwis and Sarfies are the ones in remote camps...all speak good English, and I have yet to meet one whose ego precedes them. Work their *** off. And they are always the ones who get the hotties at camp or nearest town. 

But, on the flip side, I don't think it's easy for them to leave their homeland to pursue their careers because their country won't support them...

But then, us having the time on fires, mediums etc, seeing the world and getting paid handsomely because we have paid our dues in this racket, we should be thankful to those countries that accept us. We sound funny to them too. 

My irk was flying into Quebec, a part of Canada, and only hearing French on the radio, or making English transmissions with a french accent full of "uh"'s every 3 words...Didn't help my situational awareness at all trying to figure out their position. Canadas first language is English.

 

[freck]

2 hours ago, Whitestone said:

This is EXACTLY why it gets my teeth on edge when i hear one of those down under guys on the radio or at an airport/fire base.  It's the guys who come up here with "1000" hours of cattle mustering (nobody EVER checks and that's what they count on) and take an entry level/low hour job away from a Canadian citizen.  I have no problem if a company is looking for medium or heavy drivers or guys with special skills and they can't fill the seat but when you hire guys just to save a buck, you are in the end only cutting off your nose to spite your face, Canada looses all around.

I worked for a company that had a foreign fella  show up with no work visa maybe a 1000 hrs under his belt of herding tuna. He stayed in the crew house, ate their food and worked a month for free until they got all the paperwork in order. They gave him an A star endorsement and he went on to fly his bag off for 2 seasons while the lower hour Canadian guys sat. He left with his experience and money to spend elsewhere.

  That's the stuff that chaps me. If I weren't a low hour guy at the time myself I'd have thrown the company under the bus.

I don't fault the guy he was just looking out for number one, which I have come to realize after 20 years in this industry you need to do. The companies that abuse the system need to be taken to task.