Canada Jaunt

[NeilBetts]

Hello all and once again thanks to all out there who've helped me with my many questions over the last year. Just one more favour!!! Am off to the great white north next week for a good old job expedition. Am aiming around the British Columbia area (god it's big!!) and have a list of all those helo operators. Would be very grateful for anyone who might know of leads for a job that might suit an eager, hard-working low-timer such as me!! All advice greatly accepted!! my e-mail is [email protected] and hope to here from you all. .Thanks Neil

[Steve76]

Gidday Neil,. .Well your biggest hurdle is going to be the work permit. If you do not have one you better have a plan to obtain one, because no operator is going to look at you without one. They are pretty hard to come by.. .You must have your conversion completed before heading off to see an operator. Make sure you have a turbine endorsement and sometimes a NVFR rating is an asset.. .If you don't have a plan to get your conversion, go to helicollege in Langley BC. This guy is a shark but you WILL pass the conversion. Make sure you get all the costings for your ground school and question him on them. They even charge for the water and coffee.... <img src="rolleyes.gif" border="0"> . .If you need accomodation in Langley ask for it through this thread and I will get back to you. Accomodation is very very hard to find in Langley but I know the most affordable places.. .Once you have your ticket and visa, check out VIH on Vancouver Is for the local Vancouver area. Apart from them there are very few opportunities in Vancouver area. Head North. The further north the better your chances..... .In Alberta there is an operator call Airbourne Solutions. they have a massive fleet with heaps of R22 and R44 + turbines. Haunt these guys as they take a lot of Kiwis and Aussies.. .Good on ya for the effort. Just make sure you have a plan for the work permit. <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

[HelosRfun]

NeilBetts,

If you have 1,500 TT + there is a job ad on <a href="http://www.canadianaviation.com" target="_blank">www.canadianaviation.com</a> in BC or ALberta. Click on forums, and it's either under job seekers forum or helicopter forum. I think they want A-Star time also.. .As far as work permits go, your prospective employer has to do the paperwork. Immigration will not let you do it, the employer has to. It would probably help if you get your CPL(H)-TC as it pretty much assures any prospective employer that he isn't wasting his money by bringing you up, filing all the useless gov. paperwork, etc.... .Personally, I got an employer to do the paperwork, then when I got there did the full conversion the first week (written, oral, medical, checkride, ppc, radio license, etc...). .From my observations, Canada is FULL of Flight School Mill turnouts (100-150 hour helo pilots). Canada is really hurting for EXPERIENCED helo pilots. I did fires last season. There were more foreign pilots than Canadians! (Aussies, Kiwis, Yanks, Isrealis, Frenchys, Germans, Norwegians, Finns, Dutch, etc...). .What passes for EXPERIENCED helo pilots in Canada and that in the U.S. are totally different. In Canada, I would say 1,000 + hours should do you just fine. U.S., until recently, 2,500 - 3,000 Hours +. .Anyway, good luck. B.C. seems to have the majority of operators. Lots of wild flying.