Any SA315 LAMA flying in Canada
 

Hi LAMA pilots,
I am flying LAMA's Indian version (CHEETAH) in India. I want to know how many companies world wide and CANADA in specific are flying LAMA Helicopters commertially.
It's a superb Helicopter as far as High altitude flying goes. I have landed with it on the highest helipad in world in Siachin Glacier at an elevation of 19100 Ft. It's sevice ceiling is 23000 ft and I dared to land sucessfully at a helipad with Density altitude of 23000 Ft.
I want to establish contacts with as many LAMA qualified pilots as possible. Can anybody help??
Anybody interested in knowing about Helicopter Flying in INDIA is most welcome to interact.:cool:

helicopters in india
 

samavaitor,
would like to hear about flying helicopters in india. i work as a skiplane pilot in new zealand and have a heli licence. are there many opportunities for kiwi pilots over there? on the lama thing, don't know of too many lama's left flying in nz. southwest helicopters had one but sold it.

Lama
 

Hello Samaviator,

You might get more answers if you post on the Rotorheads section of Pprune.

Very few of these machines if any are flying in Canada...I remember an operator in Calgary (Western Canada) which had 2 not so long ago..one crashed and he might have sold the other one.

Regards,

Bell4can

Hello Samaviator/bell4can
 

I thought that there was an operator on Vancouver Island with a Lama, so I started looking and I found this:
http://www.western-aerial.com/equip.htm
According to their website and the 2004 Helicopters Magazine directory they operate 4 of them. Hope this helps.

There is a company in Vancouver that operates Lamas and Allouttes.

There name is ALC Airlift.

Do they still exist? I know they were involved with STARS Air Ambulance in Calgary and Edmonton.
They used to operate from Pitt Meadows and Calgary as well.

Any more info?

There are currently 6 shown on the Canadian Registry...

1 C-GACM Aerospatiale SA 315B Western Aerial Applications Lt 1999-07-28 2538
2 C-GTHC Aerospatiale SA 315B Thunderbird Helilog Ltd 2001-01-11 2572
3 C-GWAC Aerospatiale SA 315B Western Aerial Applications Lt 2002-05-28 2665
4 C-GWAO Aerospatiale SA 315B Western Aerial Applications Lt 2003-05-23 2386
5 C-GWAY Aerospatiale SA 315B Western Aerial Applications Lt 2002-05-28 2172-18
6 C-GXYM Aerospatiale SA 315B Dwayne Air (2000) Ltd 2001-04-24 2634

FYI, the site is located at ..TC Registry

Samaviator, are you involved with or do you know the good folks at Himichal HeliSkiing ? I understand that they were looking for a Ski and Altitude experienced 407 Pilot this spring to do a few weeks of crew relief work. I heard about it a bit late, but it would have been a great 2 week holiday from my regular job here in the Rockies:p

There are still close to 45 Llama's flying in Switzerland, about 60 odd in Italy, and France it's a bit hard to tell although there could still be as many as 50 operating.

Rumours of Turbomeca "possibly" discontinuing support for the Artouste 3B/B1 soon.

They still have a "niche" that a B3 can't quite fill. The various military units, Gendarmerie and Border Patrols still or very recently operated the Alouette III, so there is a lot of support available for them although at a price.

Roberts Aircraft in the US can still build you a virtually "new" Llama.

http://homepage.mac.com/johngbicker/...pter/lamas.jpg

Hello samaviator,

I totally agree with you with the lama, and I've enjoyed a lot since I have been flying helicopters....sadly enought, in this part of the world, this marvelous helicopter tends to be repleaced more and more by the "B3" squirrel.
I havn't flown aerial work that much these past years and I'm only logging few hundred hours on the "B3" but I stiil feel more confident with this good old Lama.
My colleagues who currently operate on aerial work jobs, who where Lama lovers, usually admit they prefer the "B3" now, it's also the same for engineers.....
Anyway, I remain faithfull to the Lama.