rotorspeed

Dang that last post ended up being long. sorry for that! i'm goin on to a different thread!

I don't want to be a stick in the mud and you guys seem to have some history that i don't want to know! Anyways, Full On you said that you had 4 guys on the "canyon" ? I assume that is a tour of some sort. good job getting students involved! Was that a part time summer only gig. How many hrs did they get and is it a full time year round thing or an every summer thing or do the next years newbies only do it? . Do you have more tours for the 20 grads per year? The other 2 guys got jobs doesn't work out to 80% job placement in the industry. As per my previous post, it doesn't demonstrate how 80% of the graduates get to that 250hr instructor time. Hey, i am all for flight hrs in tours or whatever but the sustainable jobs is as an instructor in the US with tours or ferry flights as little "bites" of the employment action. No real solid work comes until 500plus hrs so the faster you get there, the less it hurts the pocket book! With so few jobs in Canada where do all of these low time newbies end up? Green Arc, you seem to think that most, (did you say 90%?) never fly again? You may be right, I don't see the numbers. last night, I contacted my buddy that i spoke about . One of the Red Eagle ( i don't know which branch) instructors ( a former student) had accumulated 1500 hours or so and was hired by a Canadian company called "Mustang Helicopters" out of Canada and is working in Eastern Montana and Wyoming. Also, the Canadian Red Eagle instructor is a Canadian!!!!! Sounds like they hire their grads as it should be. So the system works despite flaky pilots who don't know how to work hard. like the guys who wouldn't take the jobs up there. It happens all of the time. But there is a huge demand right now for experienced pilots. The US system has a process to get pilots from the 150hr commercial to flight instructor ( under 200hrs) and get pretty steady basic work and build up time. Now, don't let anyone say that a new instructor is the be-all-end-all. Some guys are lousy at that and those guys fly around ranches and coral cattle or count wildlife etc. or fly left seat on a news chopper when they can. That will always be the case but schools don't hire those who don't perform under the direction of the mega hour experienced chief pilots. Sure some are better than others. Sometimes its a personality thing. All instructors are qualified for sure and taught from the very begining that they will someday instruct. thats just the way it's done in the US. Every school has low time instructors and high time ones and it all works out the same. As for the $ thing that Full-on was talking about, those rates on Red Eagles site are par for every place i have seen in the US. The Canada branch was even more expensive. I don't see why it is so expensive up there in Canada especially with only 25 or so schools, but what ever. I cant speak to politics or monopolies or whatever the reason Canada rates are more but it does seem like lots of training goes on, few jobs, and big $s. As for Ships: love those 300's! Those 300C's or CBIs make for easy learning and most people get licences (initially must get private before going to commercial) in 45-50 hrs. Then if they decide to stop there, they are at least rated and can rent anywhere in the US and stay current and even grow in experience. You don't have to live with an instructor in the left seat all the time to gain valuable experience- you are after all go'in places and dealing with helicopter performance and limits.etc. Bi annual flight reviews require a instructor to firm up skills and identify any bad habits that we all get once in a while. and i still grab one if i feel rusty or before i fly something unfamiliar of course and get some hours and emerg. procedures. There are those "others" who just need more time but if they are at 75 hrs and still not at least a private pilot, going on will likely not happen. In this economy, which is turning around, and the demand for pilots, and the reciprocal nature of this small industry that those who want the work can get it. The US market is very very large and as i said , Canadians get work in the US or with their school, if they want it. I can't imagine wanting to pay more for the same thing when it comes to training though. Mountains are mountains, plains are plains, coasts are coasts, fog is fog, high is high no matter if there is border between them. Don't forget Alaska for cold and weather ops either or the Northern plains of the US either, or the Rocky Mountains in the US. Looks like Canadians students got a tough road to haul - but it looks like y'all don't have too. Anyway. Good luck to all you newbies! and to you guys that are looking at heli's as a career, don't let anyone try to scare you away from this school or that school -they all have to conform to the same standards. Do your homework and find one that fits your learning style and your personality - it will be, the hole in your wallet that will be the pain in your butt when you are done and are trying to pay that off while getting low time instructor pay. Those first 1200 hours are really rewarding and you really grow alot! just keep going!

What are all of these guys doing right our of school with 100hrs? The US guys get 150hrs and become junior level flight instructors within 200 hrs. you guys need 250 to instruct right? but there's like 25 flight schools for helis there? are they hiring 20 guys per year from you to do that? what about the other schools students.How do these guys get those extra 100 hrs and then where do they work with so few schools? The US students get hired by their school or one of hundreds of others or do tours. The process is to get them flying/working soon after the commercial license. There has been no problem with Canadians getting jobs in the US. Getting referrals is not the problem here. the market is 50 times that of Canada just do to the amount of people alone. You can get a Canadian conversion license just as easily as an FAA conversion. Many instructors and commercial guys in Canada have both. Many US guys have both. One gal from up there got her US conversion and is working flying tours in Maui or Kauai so my buddy tells me. an ex-Vietnam vet started Helijet. It seems all very reciprocal to me. Good for you to give referrals, that is how it should be. But you have no monopoly on that. that is expected and done in the States also and in a far larger market. It may probably be more needed for such a few jobs available in Canada Granted!. Down in the US, the amount of jobs are simply more. Again the newbies are flying in the States at 150 hrs - again what are those 20 guys doing in their jobs right out of school? how many flying hrs do they get per year? how many stay in the industry. Those numbers don't add up to me. No offence really, all the power to them. i just don't see numbers. i don't even see 20 jobs listed for low time pilots in any magazine. How do they do this? I can't see them flying, surely? If this is the case then i should have converted my license and my 300hrs at that time, and gone to Canada! The training is the same mostly. The published standards are identical for what i have seen and experienced. People coming to the US are pretty rusty from lack of recent hrs - totally expected and vice versa i'm sure. so that's by no means a marker to judge. Just sayin..

Those guys at Red Eagle are not new comers by any means. only one incident in 14years is a good history. don't let anyone sell them short. they have 2 bases of ops. they own schweizers (awesome!!) both CBI and S300C, a 206, H500, Bell 407, and are taking delivery of a new 429 EMS config in a matter weeks I hear. These guys have 7 instructors, 5 for helicopters, run tours, wildlife counts, police SAR, mountain rescue and hi alt recovery (with 407) and will be running the new HEMS 429. Oh and get this they have a staff guy who is certified for training night vision there!!! One of my buddies is an instructor there and he has only about 2200 hrs compared to the other high time instructors and he loves the place and man are they busy! They also always seem to be up-beat too. For the prices, who needs a sim? getting over the feelings of disorientation cant be accomplished in a sim in any amount of hrs. With the US license you dont need a night rating - it's included. but still would be tons cheaper if you need those hrs and get PIC hrs to boot! Like all things: buyer beware. So if you can get past the verbal jousting between these other guys - i say give-em a call or go to one of their bases. Won't that really clear up any concerns? Also, 80% hiring rate? that's like 40 pilots placed per year. I've never even seen that many jobs available in Canada for low time guys - a drop in the buck for the USA market though. maybe that's where they all end up ! Its sure easy enough.