Yes, my statement is a gross over simplification! But…we are not talking “from zero to hero” here…are we? Maybe I’m missing the point! I’m not saying that you become a longline production pilot immediately after attending an external load course or something similar. What I am saying is that everybody who has the basic skills to hover a helicopter can - after putting some effort into it - fly external loads. How good, precise and productive you’ll be certainly depends on how much effort you put into it and how talented you are. There are some exceptionally talented longline pilots, a whole lot of average guys and certainly a few guys who should better be doing something else but long-lining out there.
And I completely agree with you Fun Police, if a company scores a job and wants a non-longline pilot to do it, the company should work out a deal with the customer or train that pilot within the company. THAT of course reduces the companies profit and we all know what that means!
Indeed…”Another fascinating piece of the rotary wing aviation world!”
Shawn:
“3 to 5% of pilots can make good long-line production pilots.” I’m curious how that number came up? I really don’t want to offend anybody here, I’m just curious!!!
And…I still believe that you can achieve almost anything you want in this industry! You can start out on an R22 and become a Captain on a S76 - screaming down an ILS approach or fly a Skycrane - pulling logs off the hill or anything else you can imagine.
It’s just a function of how much hard work and training you put into it. That, combined with a little bit being at the right place at the right time makes a lot possible.
The Sky is the Limit. The only limits you will have are the ones that you place on yourself!
Back to the original post now! Where and how does “The Flashing Blade“ get his longline training? Where and how did all those “old” experienced pilots like “FunPolice” gain their longline skills? We all started somewhere and nobody entered the industry with thousands of hours production longline experience. All of us had to work long and hard to get there!
I was lucky that the company I worked for at the time just told me to go out and practice a bit before they sent me on my first “non-production” job!