Originally Posted by
A37575
Why all these "turbine" hours? You can hop into an Elite synthetic trainer for $120 an hour and learn how to start a Kingair engine in a few minutes. In another life the RAAF had two Viscounts based at Canberra where pilots who had only flown pistons we were checked out after 5 hours dual and those aircraft had four Rolls Royce Dart turbines. 600 flying hours later and no problems with starting and flying "turbines". In a further "other life" RAAF fighter pilots hopped straight into single seat Vampires (one turbine) and these pilots only had 250 hours!
It doesn't take an ace to fly a small turbo-prop aircraft likea Kingair or PC12. So why all the demand for hundreds of turbine hours before the RFDS will look at you?
Guess for the same reason why the RAAF would not put a 250 hr pilot with 5 hours total turbine time and instruction in a RAAF King Air to fly to a remote strip in the middle of the night with zero notice and time to flight plan through heavy icing conditions to be greeted by unknown terrain, rain, low cloud, flares and an unpaved runway to pick up the PM, trying to "see hear and avoid" RPT, charter, aerial work, and private operators while you descend OCTA, while in-flight conduct diversions to other unplanned destinations for other higher priority operational reasons, refueling the aircraft, gathering met and notam information, whilst calling the BOM on the satellite phone to get them to issue a TAF as your new unplanned destination and alternates don’t get forecasts issued late at night due to the only insane people driving around those areas being RFDS, and then having to hassle ATC again for those newly issued TAFs, do the fuel calculations as your now informed by the doctor that your new passenger must ride with a sea level cabin, not enough fuel, another diversion, here we go PAL not working again, call ATC get the local police out to turn the lights on, more fuel and still not back home yet.
That does not happen every night when working for the RFDS, but it does happen. You need to be able to step up to the plate when required, people are depending on you.
For your information the doctors and nurses that also work for the organization are some of more highly trained and experienced people in their fields, the qualification requirements and experience levels for those people in their professions would be equivalent to what they ask of pilots in their terms.
The RFDS cargo and mission is important, they want the very best candidates. If you were in need of the RFDS services one day, I am sure you would want the same.
They are a medical service, not an air force, not an airline, not a charter company, and definitely not a flying school. They are a good bunch of guys and girls working very hard to provide a medical service to regional and remote Australia.