atphat wrote:

wallypilot wrote: Just out of curiosity, do you have much mtn flying experience?

There it is again. Mountain flying experience. I couldn't tell you how much "mountain time" I have. Whenever I'm about to brief an arrival and approach I'll look at the jepp pages and I'll brief whether or not it's mountainous and minimum alts. Then I land.

so you seem to think it matters as well. Why?

Edit: cause you asked. If there is a major airport on the continent that has a mountain next to it, I've probably been there. Lots.

Look, just trying to get an idea of if these comments are coming from someone who actually knows or not. From what you say, you do...anonymous forum and all, I have no idea. But I'll tell ya I've seen differences among pilots that come from the flat lands and pilots that cut their teeth in the western side of this continent. Once you're into the airlines or a good bizjet operation, other than a few minor differences, I totally agree. Fly the approach to the numbers and it's the same every time regardless of terrain. However, a healthy respect for vertically developed terrain is what you, me and other higher experienced folks have developed. As for hiring a 2500 hour pilot who likely would not have the benefit of decades of flying experince or the robust training background like you, me, or Auxbaton on, I would say yes flying a PC 12 single engine aircraft in a mountainous region would benefit from someone who has done it before rather than someone like say a Flat lander PC 12 pilot that may have great IFR experince in the PC 12' but hasn't ever seen a rock higher than 500AGL. At the lower experience levels, the type of experience does matter. Turn the wrong way on a missed approach in T-Bay, not a big deal in terms of terrain. Turn the wrong way on a missed approach in Terrace and you're dead.

T-bay is probably a bad example it actually has a decent cliff your going to hit. One thing mountain flying doesn't give guys is non precision approaches where you break out at 3-400' agl. Chances are if you get low in the mountains it's on an ILS approach or the mins are really high. That said most places in the prairies you don't have much to hit but circling at a couple hundred feet in a snow storm has its own set of challenges.