Some Advice
Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 11:47 am
Good evening from sunny South Africa!
I would like to get your guys advice on a few things:
I live in Cape Town, South Africa and would eventually (sooner rather than later) like to emigrate to Canada. For various reasons. I hold a (ICAO) South African Frozen ATPL (CPL/IR/ME with ATPL Theory Exams passed). I'm hoping to do my ATPL flight test early next year. Once I have my ATPL, I'm thinking of converting it to a Canadian ATPL.
I was going to go to Vancouver and do this with ProIFR, but after reading a few posts, I saw Brampton Flight Centre in Toronto. Is this school still any good? I would prefer to go somewhere in Toronto or thereabouts as I have an aunt that lives in Windsor, ON...which is apparently around a four hour drive from Toronto. Also, airfares from Cape Town to Toronto are quite a bit cheaper than to Vancouver.
My plan is to come to Canada for about a month. I'm assuming this should be long enough to write the three exams and do the two flight tests. (VFR twin and IFR twin) I have to do these two tests as I don't have 50 twin PIC hours. The flying school where I instruct only has singles unfortunately.
I would like to do the conversion in about two...three weeks maximum. I don't think I'll struggle with the flying as I would have recently flown a twin for my ATPL Test and I stay current with IF procedures (I teach it). When I finish, I'd like to do a bit of exploring to see what (some of) Canada is like. The biggest difference so far for me by looking on Google Earth is that you have no walls separating your house from the street!! That's almost unheard of in South Africa!
Now, once I have the Canadian ATPL, what are the chances of landing a job...realistically. At the moment I'm guessing non-existent because of the economic downturn. I think Canada was hit harder than South Africa. Although, I only plan on doing the conversion late 2010, so maybe it would turn around a little by then? I would love to fly for Air Canada Jazz (As would probably the whole Pilot community in Canada...haha)
It seems the Airlines in Canada have very high hour requirements. So does South Africa. Here, we normally (Unless you're very lucky) have to go fly in deepest darkest Africa. It seems the equivalent there is to go fly in the Northern Territories? I would rather do that than fly in Africa. In Africa, the people, food, water, weather and insects are all trying to kill you! I'm guessing in Canada it's just the weather?
I could do an Instructors Rating as well? Unfortunately my South African Instructors Rating is not valid in Canada, but I only have to do half the required hours to get a Canadian Instructors Rating. I hold a Grade 2 (GRII) Instructors Rating (GRIII being the lowest and GRI the highest) - I'm guessing it's the equivalent to your Class III or Class II.
Lastly (Thank goodness) - Will I be able to get a job over there if I don't hold Perm Res Status (Landed Immigrant)? As it stands, I don't meet the required points of 67, but if I get an offer of employment, I qualify for Perm Res Status. So it's a bit of a Catch-22 situation.
Thanks in advance for your time and help.
Cheers,
I would like to get your guys advice on a few things:
I live in Cape Town, South Africa and would eventually (sooner rather than later) like to emigrate to Canada. For various reasons. I hold a (ICAO) South African Frozen ATPL (CPL/IR/ME with ATPL Theory Exams passed). I'm hoping to do my ATPL flight test early next year. Once I have my ATPL, I'm thinking of converting it to a Canadian ATPL.
I was going to go to Vancouver and do this with ProIFR, but after reading a few posts, I saw Brampton Flight Centre in Toronto. Is this school still any good? I would prefer to go somewhere in Toronto or thereabouts as I have an aunt that lives in Windsor, ON...which is apparently around a four hour drive from Toronto. Also, airfares from Cape Town to Toronto are quite a bit cheaper than to Vancouver.
My plan is to come to Canada for about a month. I'm assuming this should be long enough to write the three exams and do the two flight tests. (VFR twin and IFR twin) I have to do these two tests as I don't have 50 twin PIC hours. The flying school where I instruct only has singles unfortunately.
I would like to do the conversion in about two...three weeks maximum. I don't think I'll struggle with the flying as I would have recently flown a twin for my ATPL Test and I stay current with IF procedures (I teach it). When I finish, I'd like to do a bit of exploring to see what (some of) Canada is like. The biggest difference so far for me by looking on Google Earth is that you have no walls separating your house from the street!! That's almost unheard of in South Africa!
Now, once I have the Canadian ATPL, what are the chances of landing a job...realistically. At the moment I'm guessing non-existent because of the economic downturn. I think Canada was hit harder than South Africa. Although, I only plan on doing the conversion late 2010, so maybe it would turn around a little by then? I would love to fly for Air Canada Jazz (As would probably the whole Pilot community in Canada...haha)
It seems the Airlines in Canada have very high hour requirements. So does South Africa. Here, we normally (Unless you're very lucky) have to go fly in deepest darkest Africa. It seems the equivalent there is to go fly in the Northern Territories? I would rather do that than fly in Africa. In Africa, the people, food, water, weather and insects are all trying to kill you! I'm guessing in Canada it's just the weather?
I could do an Instructors Rating as well? Unfortunately my South African Instructors Rating is not valid in Canada, but I only have to do half the required hours to get a Canadian Instructors Rating. I hold a Grade 2 (GRII) Instructors Rating (GRIII being the lowest and GRI the highest) - I'm guessing it's the equivalent to your Class III or Class II.
Lastly (Thank goodness) - Will I be able to get a job over there if I don't hold Perm Res Status (Landed Immigrant)? As it stands, I don't meet the required points of 67, but if I get an offer of employment, I qualify for Perm Res Status. So it's a bit of a Catch-22 situation.
Thanks in advance for your time and help.
Cheers,