Any Airborne Energy Grads Out There?

[100ft]

jackson,

 

The AFT add-on training might be likened to turbine training at the end of a 100 hr program. It of course costs a little more but you must decide if it might pay off or not.

 

John at AFT is sold on the reliability and performance of the Robinson 22 and 44 so chooses to offer the 44 endorsement c/w sling, bucketing, mountain exposure to round-out the licensee's skill set a litlle and to remove some of the surprise down the road when one of his graduates is on the job and suddenly asked to longline a load ect ect.

 

I can say that the mountain flying (bush camp) and 100 ft line each greatly contributed to my confidence in flying as well as removing some of the unknowns I anticipated encountering down the road. You know these additional skills have been added to my resume as well.

 

John does not feel comfortable sending minimally trained students out the door so really prefers not to flog a 100hr course. Another example of this are his type endorsements. If you as a lowtimer are counting on an endorsement for 3-5 hours of flight time, John will likely send you away. He prefers to provide something at little more comprehensive (ie. 10hrs+/-) to be certain the student is going to survive their next 100hrs of work.

 

I am happy having chosen to pay the extra $ for these specific skills.

[action jackson]

here's another question... was anyone who trained with them able to get a student loan?

i've heard that only accretited schools can offer them.

[100ft]

The school would have to have PPSEC (private post secondary......) designation by the Provincial gov't as far as I know but check with the student finance board on the amount available. When I inquired the amount available for flight training was roughly $4100.00. I have not met anyone who has ever bothered with that financing for a $40-60K CPL program. It just doesn't seem worth the effort.

 

On the plus side, CPL flight training throughout Canada is considered post secondary tuition for income tax purposes; as long as the flight training unit is a flight training unit by Transport Canada standards.

[412driver]

it depends which province you live in that determines the amount you can receive via student loans. i believe alberta tops the list at around 22k so very worthwhile investigating the possibility........

[duf]

AFT is now called OK (Okanagan) Mountain Helicopters...

Last time I checked they were waiting to be 're-accredited' for PPSEC due to a name change technicality

They are also on my short list (but I need that PPSEC!!!)

Check out their site, great videos!

[maxtorc]

Converted from a fixed wing to rotary awhile back when it was aerial recon, John and Graeme. great instuctors would recomend those two for anyone. John is very organized and will get you done within budget and on time, he did with me and that was no easy task, (are not all aircraft to run on with a slight flare??). last I heard graeme was gone onto something new, mark was there for a while and last heard he was at BC heli and since moved about. Airbone as I understand does not have a flight school at this time though Okanogan might now be affiliated last I heard they were seperate entities. Wherever these three are you would be wise to hook up with any of them and pursue your goals.

Cheers fellas!

[proheli]

Thanks for the kudos maxtorc, was great working with you. John now runs his own school--Okanagan Mountain Helicopters along with instructor Chris Randolph.

John did my instructor training in Whitecourt and I worked with him there for just over two years. In a word his training was "superb" and it has carried me forward as an instructor/professional pilot to this day.

The guys up in Kelowna are dedicated to their craft and apply a no-nonsense approach. They know of what they speak and are some of the best "Robbie" instructors in the country.

Good luck to all of you in your endeavours and remember to do your homework before dropping all that kahuna!!!

Oh and max I'm back in YVR flying a 76.

[mtnhopper]

Trained in kelowna with John & Mark Mostly John awsome instructor,good pilot and great helicopters. When I trained though they were still in bed with airborne so the chances of getting a job were good. All three of use that trained there got hired that spring by Airborne. I got help with money through H.R.D.C, wich was a big help and the cool thing was that if I got a job afterwords I didn't have to pay the money back.I was in logging before, and was sick of not working when it rained or we always were waiting for permits or other issues, so I went and seen them and they helped me out greatly they said if I got a job or proved to them that I was trying hard to find one then I never had to pay the money back, mostly of the prospect of them never having to see me on U.I again. Well It all worked out well but they did need to see if John was an accredited school And he was, so with the papers through thay gave me the money and away I went. Hope this helped :up: