Australia [Archive Copy]
Join Date: Nov 2002
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Number9
You asked why get a particular endorsement when it is only a few flying hours on a particular aircraft.
Its simple really. In the top end you won't be the only pilot in town looking for work and if a company needs a pilot, the guy who is endorsed on their aircraft will get the job every time. And generally if they need a pilot to start Wednesday morning they won't start looking till Tuesday afternoon
You asked why get a particular endorsement when it is only a few flying hours on a particular aircraft.
Its simple really. In the top end you won't be the only pilot in town looking for work and if a company needs a pilot, the guy who is endorsed on their aircraft will get the job every time. And generally if they need a pilot to start Wednesday morning they won't start looking till Tuesday afternoon
Join Date: May 2003
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overpitched: Sorry, I should've made myself more clear! 
What I was a little confused about is that I was getting the impression that, if whilst you're working towards doing a CPL(H) and happen to log hours in two different types of aircraft, there is either some strange cost (be it in hours or in money) anomaly. Guess I'm looking into to it a little too deeply! 
Flying Lawyer: Hm, never heard of that before! I think I'll consult Google for a little while..
What I was a little confused about is that I was getting the impression that, if whilst you're working towards doing a CPL(H) and happen to log hours in two different types of aircraft, there is either some strange cost (be it in hours or in money) anomaly. Guess I'm looking into to it a little too deeply! Flying Lawyer: Hm, never heard of that before! I think I'll consult Google for a little while..
Join Date: Feb 2002
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Number9..
If you do your commercial licence a lot of your questions will be sorted out along the way but for the sake of conversation..
Obviously it depends on where you are applying for a job but to turn up in blue slacks anda white shirt for a job interview in the top end may not help your cause at all. Neither will irex or atpl.
If you get a job they will more than likely send you to a camp with 3-5 other pilots for extended periods of time with very little outside support. They will want to know that you are hands on and independant. More than likely the skills they will be looking for will be more along the lines of.....
can you survive without tv, radio, hot water and power
can you get on with 4 other pilots for long periods in isolation
can you fix a generator
can you cook
can you empty a chemical tiolet
can you drive a 7 tonne truck thru a flooded river
A suit and tie doesn't say yes to many of these questions and I think irex and atpl (to some employers in the bush) says I just want to get my time and get out of here.
And I wouldn't worry too much about how much time you might spend in the middle of nowhere because you may find like a lot of pilots do that it is a great life and the flying is the best you will ever do.
From what I have seen staying on the coast or in the city and getting good hours is like getting rich quick, everone knows someone that has cracked it big but in the end nothing works like work.
If you do your commercial licence a lot of your questions will be sorted out along the way but for the sake of conversation..
Obviously it depends on where you are applying for a job but to turn up in blue slacks anda white shirt for a job interview in the top end may not help your cause at all. Neither will irex or atpl.
If you get a job they will more than likely send you to a camp with 3-5 other pilots for extended periods of time with very little outside support. They will want to know that you are hands on and independant. More than likely the skills they will be looking for will be more along the lines of.....
can you survive without tv, radio, hot water and power
can you get on with 4 other pilots for long periods in isolation
can you fix a generator
can you cook
can you empty a chemical tiolet
can you drive a 7 tonne truck thru a flooded river
A suit and tie doesn't say yes to many of these questions and I think irex and atpl (to some employers in the bush) says I just want to get my time and get out of here.
And I wouldn't worry too much about how much time you might spend in the middle of nowhere because you may find like a lot of pilots do that it is a great life and the flying is the best you will ever do.
From what I have seen staying on the coast or in the city and getting good hours is like getting rich quick, everone knows someone that has cracked it big but in the end nothing works like work.
Join Date: May 2003
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Red Wine: Thanks! Looks interesting.. if only in a Soviet space-era kind of way. 
that chinese fella: Have done, thanks! Will reply in a couple of seconds.
overpitched: Cheers for the info. I understand what you mean with regards to the suit & tie being suitable in the city but probably not up in the top-end, so no problems there. In terms of the indepdence thing, I don't think I'll have any issues - I actually work in west Africa at the moment and so are pretty used to all that by now. Except for the chemical toilets, we just dig holes in the ground..! The ATPL and/or IREX thing is a bit trickier though, I think to some degree I'd like to have them before I went up but didn't really think far enough to realise whether it'd cause me dramas or not..?
that chinese fella: Have done, thanks! Will reply in a couple of seconds.
overpitched: Cheers for the info. I understand what you mean with regards to the suit & tie being suitable in the city but probably not up in the top-end, so no problems there. In terms of the indepdence thing, I don't think I'll have any issues - I actually work in west Africa at the moment and so are pretty used to all that by now. Except for the chemical toilets, we just dig holes in the ground..! The ATPL and/or IREX thing is a bit trickier though, I think to some degree I'd like to have them before I went up but didn't really think far enough to realise whether it'd cause me dramas or not..?
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Heli schools in Australia
Hi
I was wondering if there is a good heli school in Australia. I'm thinking of joining HAI in USA, but since most of my family live in Australia it could be nice to take the course there.
Tnx
schk
I was wondering if there is a good heli school in Australia. I'm thinking of joining HAI in USA, but since most of my family live in Australia it could be nice to take the course there.
Tnx
schk
Join Date: Aug 2003
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I'll help cut down some of your workload 
Although there are plenty of schools in Australia, most Europeans end up at (no particular order):
Jandakot Helicopters, Perth
Professional Helicopter Services, Melbourne
Chopperline, Caloundra (Queensland)
Becker Helicopters, Maroochydoore (Queensland)
You ask any pilot and 9 times out of 10 they think they got the best training at their school. Doesn't help you much as they probably only trained at 1 school anyway; not much to base an opinion on.
For what its worth, I was more than happy with Chopperline and I haven't heard a bad word about them (and it wasn't the only school I trained at).
The locals always eat at the best restaurants, look where the locals (read:Australians) learn to fly.
Do your homework well or you might end up getting bit in the butt
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Take note that you need almost 3 times as many hours to become an instructor in Australia than in America, but you can get a very handy 2 year working visa if you go to America
Although there are plenty of schools in Australia, most Europeans end up at (no particular order):Jandakot Helicopters, Perth
Professional Helicopter Services, Melbourne
Chopperline, Caloundra (Queensland)
Becker Helicopters, Maroochydoore (Queensland)
You ask any pilot and 9 times out of 10 they think they got the best training at their school. Doesn't help you much as they probably only trained at 1 school anyway; not much to base an opinion on.
For what its worth, I was more than happy with Chopperline and I haven't heard a bad word about them (and it wasn't the only school I trained at).
The locals always eat at the best restaurants, look where the locals (read:Australians) learn to fly.
Do your homework well or you might end up getting bit in the butt
-----------------------
Take note that you need almost 3 times as many hours to become an instructor in Australia than in America, but you can get a very handy 2 year working visa if you go to America
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aus training
I know this has been done to death and there is already an existing thread for the training subject but....
here I am in a similar situation a kid in a candy shop with a bag full of money....now which flavour????
I am a firm believer that a quality teacher has a better chance of producing a quality student DESPITE the school they are both in.....I realise that the low hour CFI also needs to build hours but given the choice if there were two instructors both of similar TEACHING ability but of differing FLYING EXPERIENCE I know who I would rather sit beside...most certainly the guy with 10000hrs+ in the log book who has flow hot and high in a variety of types all over the world not the guy with one third as much time in half the types only in circuits and tourism work. Bang for you bucks so to speak. Once again I stress that both are quite capable of teaching the student safely. And once again I realise that all CFIs need to build hours but....approx $350/hr+ will be spent for every hour of my training how much experience can I buy here in Australia for my $350??
Maybe a better question to ask in relation to training is-
WHAT INSTRUCTOR (ie which specific instructor NOT just the school) SHOULD I GO TO FOR TRAINING - Jo Blogs ex-offshore master, Fred Nerk the semi-retired longline/utility guru
now I realise that not all students personalities will mesh with instructor personalities
This idea has been touched on in the training in NZ forum but not sure if it has been thrown around amongst the aussies.
So with this thought in mind my I throw things open to the forum
feedback in the form of instructor names greatly apprectated if you feel so inclined....
me again...or PM me if you would rather do it this way
cheers
here I am in a similar situation a kid in a candy shop with a bag full of money....now which flavour????
I am a firm believer that a quality teacher has a better chance of producing a quality student DESPITE the school they are both in.....I realise that the low hour CFI also needs to build hours but given the choice if there were two instructors both of similar TEACHING ability but of differing FLYING EXPERIENCE I know who I would rather sit beside...most certainly the guy with 10000hrs+ in the log book who has flow hot and high in a variety of types all over the world not the guy with one third as much time in half the types only in circuits and tourism work. Bang for you bucks so to speak. Once again I stress that both are quite capable of teaching the student safely. And once again I realise that all CFIs need to build hours but....approx $350/hr+ will be spent for every hour of my training how much experience can I buy here in Australia for my $350??
Maybe a better question to ask in relation to training is-
WHAT INSTRUCTOR (ie which specific instructor NOT just the school) SHOULD I GO TO FOR TRAINING - Jo Blogs ex-offshore master, Fred Nerk the semi-retired longline/utility guru
now I realise that not all students personalities will mesh with instructor personalities
This idea has been touched on in the training in NZ forum but not sure if it has been thrown around amongst the aussies.
So with this thought in mind my I throw things open to the forum
feedback in the form of instructor names greatly apprectated if you feel so inclined....
me again...or PM me if you would rather do it this way
cheers
Cool as a moosp
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charlie s charlie has some good gen here. I have flown with two of those companies and visited a third. Very professional operations.
One point to note about Australia as has been mentioned before is that although it is a big country, the helicopter industry is a village. Everybody knows everybody elses business, so it doesn't take long for a shonkey operator to get found out.
CASA don't always get there first, it is often the lack of students and the high insurance costs after a couple of prangs that kills the dodgey schools.
To charlies list up there I would also add a new company in Bankstown, Helicopter Transport and Training who are doing everything right. Professionalism in spades, and the price is fair.
One point to note about Australia as has been mentioned before is that although it is a big country, the helicopter industry is a village. Everybody knows everybody elses business, so it doesn't take long for a shonkey operator to get found out.
CASA don't always get there first, it is often the lack of students and the high insurance costs after a couple of prangs that kills the dodgey schools.
To charlies list up there I would also add a new company in Bankstown, Helicopter Transport and Training who are doing everything right. Professionalism in spades, and the price is fair.
Join Date: Feb 2004
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autorotate, captain lai hai and dynamic component,
why the negatives about beckers?
i did my training there and had great fun flying and when not flying.
have you guys had issues with mike? i know some people do
just wondering as i hear a lot of negatives although i never experienced any.
cheers
why the negatives about beckers?
i did my training there and had great fun flying and when not flying.
have you guys had issues with mike? i know some people do
just wondering as i hear a lot of negatives although i never experienced any.
cheers
Join Date: Jul 2003
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I'm with Chopski on this one. Becker's were excellent in my time there. Good instructors and no broken promises and that includes all the info on JAR training and competetive rates. Cant ask for any more than that. Would some of you detractors like to substantiate your comments or are they just petty personal digs?
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Unless you sample the delights of more than one flight school you can end up happily pottering back off to Europe none the wiser. Many Europeans are so taken in by how cheap a particular school is in relation to back home that they don't really compare it to other schools in Australia. This is especially true of a flight school with a very good marketing scheme.
I've said it before, locals eat at the best restaurants. Look at international/national student ratios at the school you want to go to and if the national component is seriously lacking perhaps wonder why. As Moosp said, " Australia ... is a big country, the helicopter industry is a village"
YBMC - interesting signin, given the circumstances
I heard about one regular ppruner that used some old school techniques to resolve their particular dispute
Although the quality of training maybe comparable at most schools, when you are dropping 10s of thousands of dollars in trade to an operator perhaps business ethics come into the equation
I've said it before, locals eat at the best restaurants. Look at international/national student ratios at the school you want to go to and if the national component is seriously lacking perhaps wonder why. As Moosp said, " Australia ... is a big country, the helicopter industry is a village"
YBMC - interesting signin, given the circumstances
I heard about one regular ppruner that used some old school techniques to resolve their particular dispute
Although the quality of training maybe comparable at most schools, when you are dropping 10s of thousands of dollars in trade to an operator perhaps business ethics come into the equation
Join Date: Feb 2004
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charlie s charlie & autorotate,
agreed not the time or place for people to air problems with certain individuals.
just inquisitive as to why those with problems with said individual are so negative about him?
if it is bussiness dealings then fair enough, but were trying to give some advice to schk about good and bad schools!!
like i said before had a great time there both at and away from school. so if it's personal bussiness dealings then either get them sorted out or don't!
have to agree though the ybmc sign in was coincidental!!!!!
agreed not the time or place for people to air problems with certain individuals.
just inquisitive as to why those with problems with said individual are so negative about him?
if it is bussiness dealings then fair enough, but were trying to give some advice to schk about good and bad schools!!
like i said before had a great time there both at and away from school. so if it's personal bussiness dealings then either get them sorted out or don't!
have to agree though the ybmc sign in was coincidental!!!!!