Our exciting future sailing on calmer waters.
I would like to thank all those who today joined together and decided to put aside their differences and withdraw their posts on this thread, following a misunderstanding about Australian schools and some training providers. We are working hard behind the scenes to get several other posts removed, however, time differences may delay this for a few days.
Allow me to offer you a friendly tip: Contributors to Rotorheads aren't fools and it's a big mistake to treat them as if they are. There was no 'misunderstanding'. There were clearly expressed, unambiguous and strongly held differences of opinion.
So you're 'working hard behind the scenes' to get people to withdraw critical posts? I'm sure potential students deciding where they should spend their hard-earned savings or large expensive loans will be most grateful to you. In this forum, we've always found a free exchange of views to be more helpful than cleverly orchestrated PR jobs. Perhaps neither you nor Mr Becker have noticed that, in discussions about Oz schools, there have been a number of complimentary comments about the Becker school. Most schools seem to take compliments and criticisms as they come, the rough with the smooth.
Personally, I would like to thank Neville Dawson, Mike Becker, Graeme Gillies and many other caring individuals who have helped us achieve a dignified outcome, in the best interest of our industry. Neville (Heli-Ops International) and myself have made a promise to each other to promote our industry in the best way we can in our specialised and different market areas.
Welcome to the forum. In your absence, Neville Dawson has been vigorously promoting the Australasian helicopter industry on this forum for years. And indirectly, by their helpful contributions to various topics (not just Oz/NZ topics), so have a large number of valued Oz contributors, and a valued but disappointingly smaller number from New Zealand. Can we assume you'll now be contributing to other non Oz/NZthreads? Or will you simply monitor the threads to try to ensure only a rosy picture emerges of all schools in your area of responsibility, and that no critical comments appear? That won't help potential customers make a decision, but perhaps that doesn't matter to you. Seems a bit rough on the schools which have earned their good reputations.
Interesting you should name Graeme Gillies. He played no part whatsoever in this discussion, but that didn't stop Mr Becker writing to me suggesting he was one of those behind the critical posts. And, although I didn't see the now-deleted post during the (UK) night, GG's protest suggests someone launched a personal attack on him and his wife!
To answer the question first posed in this thread, there are 23 schools in Australia and 14 in NZ. All are different and each will suit different people. Just as we marry different types of ladies and don't all buy the same cars. See a previous post on HAA offer to provide free a directory of schools in the Australasian area.
Directories are of little value save to provide contact details. They don't help potential customers differentiate between good schools and schools to be avoided. The value of threads which discuss the pros and cons of various schools is that people can read conflicting opinions and form their own views. Credit people with the intelligence to distinguish between objective comments and those motivated by personal animosity.
Further the original query asked about instructor training. It doesn't really matter where you train; there is a dreadful shortage of instructors in both Australia and NZ. If you are a CFI or a Grade 1, then stand aside because you will be rushed with offers of employment.
It doesn't really matter where you train? What a startling proposition! Perhaps the HAA area is unique? Everywhere else in the world there are good and bad schools, good and bad instructors, schools which give students a fair deal and schools which rip them off.
Future CASA legislation means the pending introduction of Safety Management Systems, which will create even more shortages of instructors in the long term. In Australia the average age of a pilot is 48 and an even worse figure is the age of an engineer about 54. So as these old farts retire (I am one); then the career ladder will have many empty holes in the next decade.
World Helicopter Fleet
The civilian helicopter fleet numbers about 26,000. Australia has 1,200 and New Zealand 580. By comparison the USA has 12,200, Canada 1,700, England 950, Japan 831, France 800 and Germany 700. Our nearby neighbours such as Malaysia and Thailand have about 80 each. China, only recently allowing general aviation to exist, only has about 130 machines. The first privately owned aircraft in China was an R44!
Australasian helicopter fleet
Over the past eleven years our helicopter fleet has grown from 649 to 1,200. SE helicopters by almost 90% and ME helicopters by 700%. Over half of the Australian fleet is piston engined. Robinson has 470 of which 390 are R22s. There are over 100 Bell 47s. We also have an expanding twin fleet. Most NZ machines are single engined turbines. Pistons are rare in PNG.
Rules of thumb.
Although helicopters make up less than 10% of the Australian fleet, we fly about 15% or more of the hours, mainly due to the mustering industry. Also, we have only 10% of the Register, but we have 20% of GA accidents – RW is double the FW rate, a fact that needs to be addressed. Private, agricultural and firefighting accident rates are very high – about three times higher than the charter rate. Mustering helicopters crash twice as often as charter operators. Surprisingly, the training accident rate is half that of mustering. Our SAR/EMS night accident rate is extremely high, based on hours flown, and was the topic of a recent HAA Conference at Newcastle, NSW.
RW twins come of age.
Due to the dramatic increase in number of emergency services, this segment has fared the best. (In fact, 700% growth in eleven years.) With over 80 twins in Australia and about 30 in NZ we have more twins than the military. There are about 32 emergency services in Australia and 17 in NZ. Many of these bases are upgrading from SE VFR to IFR twins with night capable search systems.
Greener pastures?
Without upsetting those helicopter operators living south of a line Sydney-Canberra-Adelaide, there has been a strengthening drift to the north. Although NSW has fewer helicopters than Queensland, they have more pilots. Cattle mustering and tourism is a growth industry and these are drawing more to the north. The Queensland government has targeted aviation training and maintenance as a political good thing and you only have to visit the Australian Aviation facility near Brisbane Airport, located near to the Australian Aerospace and Helitech complexes to see real development. Not convinced? Hire a car and drive to Redcliffe, Amberley, Oakey, Caboolture, Caloundra, Maroochydore and Airlie Beach and see what is going on everything is fresh, more vibrant and hope is in the air.
Fire fighting – hot and cold.
Victoria and NSW have vastly different approaches to fire fighting. The Victorians have long term contracts with a few operators and funds them to be on standby even when times are wet and soggy. This brings stability and maybe a higher level of training and readiness.
To overcome the vastly larger geographical area of NSW, the RFS has many contracted operators on standby who only get paid when things are getting hot! Although this enables a bigger coverage of the state at a lower cost, the down side is stability for a contractor and a lower standard of operation until the season settles down. (Pilots and crews have to be called in from other jobs.) We must not overlook the impact of these operations have on our bottom line. In two years the NSW RFS spent $168 million. Last season $100 million – 103 aircraft (20 FW) and $8 million in fuel, as an example. As a result of this many unviable operators were kept breathing by the fire season. Some even stretched their financial limits and bought more equipment in anticipation of a repeat this year. As the rains continue to fall, I wonder how many are taking stress medication.
Would you like to name those 'unviable operators' just in case potential students/employees don't realise the risk they'd be taking by embarking on training or moving to work with them?
Thanks once again to those who have rallied today, and may tomorrow's dawn bring you rays of sunshine and success!
Rob Rich,
President
Helicopter Association of Australasia
The Australian helicopter industry has an excellent reputation on this forum, thanks to the many regular contributors from your part of the world. I wonder if your efforts to stifle discussion, and your blatantly 'promotional' post, have served to enhance or diminish what the Oz regulars have achieved indirectly by their consistently top class contributions to a wide variety of topics.
You must have a very low opinion of the intelligence of potential recruits to our industry if you don't credit them with sufficient intelligence to distinguish between posts which contain reasoned, objective criticism and posts motivated by personal animosity.
Heliport
Moderator