Originally Posted by
RWJackOfAllTrades
There is an argument for employing an experienced crewman with 1000hrs of crewing plus a bare CPL vs a 1000hrs VFR pilot from a more secluded part of general aviation...operationally, who would perform better? I personally would prefer the crewman next to me. Nothing against the 1000hr guy or gal who could probably fly basic VFR stuff better than the crewan, but would not have that operational or IFR or CRM experience. Food for thought.
As for training a crewman, it takes quite a bit to train someone in overall operations. Winching is not as easy and straight forward as some people would think, having seen some crewman I have worked with get people in and out of some very tight spots in very trying conditions. Overall, its the operational experience which is so hard to get and it takes time to get that...time that a co-pilot off the street would take years to obtain.
RW,
Comparing a 1000hr crewman with a 1000hr VFR pilot is not a compelling argument. As I said in my previous post, why do you need to hire a co-pilot with only 1,000hrs who can only fly basic VFR? There are pilots available for the position with 2000 hours or higher. Some of these pilots even have instrument ratings with IFR experience. Also, some of these potential pilots even have multi-crew experience, perhaps in a similar EMS operation. Either way, everyone is new to the operation at some point. Some will learn and adapt quicker than others. You say it will take a co-pilot off the street years to obtain operational experience. I say this depends on the previous experience of the pilot among many other personal traits.
You seem to value operational experience over flying experience. Of course, ops experience is very important. However, the biggest task of the pilot is flying the aircraft and there is much more to flying than just being able to move the controls and read the gauges. What about the years it takes to obtain the pilot skills necessary for this type of work?
My personal opinion is pilots should be hired to perform pilot duties and crewies should be hired to perform crewie duties. Each is equally important to the operation. However, the jobs are very different and appeal differently to each person. If the crewies wanted to be pilots, wouldn’t they have gotten a license by now? My understanding is they are required to pass a few theory exams already. Also, I’m sure there have been opportunities to log 412 hours. Maybe, just maybe, they enjoy being a crewie for all of its challenges and have no interest in being a pilot. Are the crewies who have no interest in being a pilot going to be forced to go through flight school? That’s not a smart move.
Rock