Working With Forestry

[pilot5]

I would be interested in getting some feedback on any solutions that help deal with forestry aviation experts / personel that enables a care free relaxed work environment that promotes safety. Would also be interested in hearing stories from pilots and individual experiences. Good or or not so good.

 

 

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

P5

[2007]

There is a US company called Brett that make some great baseball bats....both wood and composite. Might want to give them a try.

[pilot5]

Don't think that's a proper solution or solution. :shock:

 

P5

[WTF_was_that]

The bats for you. A brick wall will also work....

 

here, ill save you lots of time regarding safety. Forestry is spring loaded to answer "Its Pilot discretion"

 

 

[Skids Up]

Do your job safely and properly, fly your machine with ALL limits.

 

 

End of problems

 

[FREDDIE]

Do what they want. Don't tell them how to do their jobs. Do your job safely as per what skids up says.

[3BX2]

Do what they want. Don't tell them how to do their jobs. Do your job safely as per what skids up says.

 

 

EXACTLY. By telling them a better or more efficient way to do the job, it just pisses them off !

 

BUT #1 .... be SAFE !

[helidriver68]

hmmm where to start ,

 

they know their business and enough of yours to tell you when to go for fuel , how much you should be able to carry for the machine you are flying , if the winds are too strong or not , if you should be able to land on that mountaintop or in that confined area they also know that they can ask your company to replace you if they dont like you .

 

if you dont feel comfortable or think maybe you might be not pushing your personal limits because the LAST GUY DID IT . they dont care they just get the next company to come do it .

remember there is always someone that will push the envelope just to prove a point , so that they can prove something .

 

I know my limits , it keeps me alive .

 

forestry ,ya there is lots of rules and lots of unwritten ones too , each district has there own set as well , each province also has its own rules , never compare one province with another , they hate that because its their province ,and the way they do it, is best , lol never ever tell them different or youlll get on the shi t list lol

 

rules seem to change as the situation changes , Bring Cash is bad for this . ( note the capitals )

 

your on a rotation if your local , but if your on the sh it list they always seem to find a way to skip you or to avoid flying with you , even if its not you personally but the previous pilot or manager ,

best thing to tell you is same as the boys above ; fly to the best of your abilities, dont get talked or pushed into something that YOU AS P I C dont like or feel comfortable doing, dont feel bad if you cant do it ,usually you can do it tomorrow , if you cant do it tomorrow , dont loose anysleep over saying NO. - MOST OF THE TIME ITS JUST TREES anyways not worth losing your life or the machine or your career over , STAY WITH IN THE LIMITS of the a/c , keep your mouth shut , take everything they say with a grain of salt , and keep the meter running , fill out the forestry ticket to match the journey log , if ever audited its you that will get blamed not the owner of the company . so keep them tight .

remember to get the satilite tracking access turned off after your hire with them , they watch where all the machines are , and if there is 5 heli `s sitting close to them , they wont hire or man up , why pay if its available for free.

I ve walked into my buddies forestry office lots of times and let him brag about this heli is here and that one there , not flying since they landed 3 days ago , or this one just left ontario we will pick it up when it gets closer so we dont have to pay for positioning , ect ect , the worse thing anyone can do is let forestry have access to the whereabouts of their fleet , when on hire - fine

when contract is over - so should the satilite access till the next hire ,

companies are just cutting their own throats on this .

 

 

 

[pilot5]

hmmm where to start ,

 

they know their business and enough of yours to tell you when to go for fuel , how much you should be able to carry for the machine you are flying , if the winds are too strong or not , if you should be able to land on that mountaintop or in that confined area they also know that they can ask your company to replace you if they dont like you .

 

if you dont feel comfortable or think maybe you might be not pushing your personal limits because the LAST GUY DID IT . they dont care they just get the next company to come do it .

remember there is always someone that will push the envelope just to prove a point , so that they can prove something .

 

I know my limits , it keeps me alive .

 

forestry ,ya there is lots of rules and lots of unwritten ones too , each district has there own set as well , each province also has its own rules , never compare one province with another , they hate that because its their province ,and the way they do it, is best , lol never ever tell them different or youlll get on the shi t list lol

 

rules seem to change as the situation changes , Bring Cash is bad for this . ( note the capitals )

 

your on a rotation if your local , but if your on the sh it list they always seem to find a way to skip you or to avoid flying with you , even if its not you personally but the previous pilot or manager ,

best thing to tell you is same as the boys above ; fly to the best of your abilities, dont get talked or pushed into something that YOU AS P I C dont like or feel comfortable doing, dont feel bad if you cant do it ,usually you can do it tomorrow , if you cant do it tomorrow , dont loose anysleep over saying NO. - MOST OF THE TIME ITS JUST TREES anyways not worth losing your life or the machine or your career over , STAY WITH IN THE LIMITS of the a/c , keep your mouth shut , take everything they say with a grain of salt , and keep the meter running , fill out the forestry ticket to match the journey log , if ever audited its you that will get blamed not the owner of the company . so keep them tight .

remember to get the satilite tracking access turned off after your hire with them , they watch where all the machines are , and if there is 5 heli `s sitting close to them , they wont hire or man up , why pay if its available for free.

I ve walked into my buddies forestry office lots of times and let him brag about this heli is here and that one there , not flying since they landed 3 days ago , or this one just left ontario we will pick it up when it gets closer so we dont have to pay for positioning , ect ect , the worse thing anyone can do is let forestry have access to the whereabouts of their fleet , when on hire - fine

when contract is over - so should the satilite access till the next hire ,

companies are just cutting their own throats on this .

 

 

 

Interesting take on forestry knowledge of the use of helicopters. I suppose a parallel can be drawn.

 

I personally have gone to the doctor for surgery 3 times. The next time I should probably tell the doctor how exactly the surgery should be performed, despite the fact that I have no formal training in medicine, yet my experience having surgery qualifies me to make these decisions?

 

I have also been to court a few times, My lawyer who is trained in Law is obviously not as qualified as I am to make and understand legal decisions.

 

 

I guess what I am getting at is that either the pilot is considered a professional responsible for the decisions that he or she makes, yet despite these qualifications there is an overriding sense of expertise by forstry despite no formal training to affect decisions. It's awfully confusing or is the profession not regarded with the same degree of respect and accrued knowledge compared with other professions.

 

Which begs the question. Is it actually a profession at all. There is certainly common use opf terms like " be professional"

 

Seems that there is some inconsistency. I could be wrong though, wouldn't be the first time.

 

I know for sure that I trust that my engineer to know his stuff, as I do not have the training he does to be able to affect decisions of maintenance. Thank goodness he has this knowledge.

 

What bothers me is that some times when working for forestry it's like you are constantly walking on eggshells. I don't know if this has a direct effect on safety. Would it be better that the pilot is certain that his decisions will be respected and word not get back to head office that could affect his return or job? A pilot who is nervous about losing his job or being reported for say a late radio call due to poor reception or such, could invariably be focusing on self preservation instead of safely doing his job???

 

P5

[Iceman]

I have never had a problem in Alberta, BC or Quebec with forestry personnel respecting my decision as PIC. Our job as professionals is to make those decisions and stick by them, I've found that the IC or whomever will back off when told a pad, hover exit etc is not SAFE. Having nice new gel cell ear pads installed on the passenger headsets improves their mood as well