GreatSlave Helicopters

beechy · Post by **beechy** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 7:54 pm

Hey,

Was wondering if anyone has had any dealings with greatslave helicopters? I have heard that if you pay for the license conversion they will likely hire you once you pass the tests. was just wondering if anyone had tried this out, if it worked out....is it worth the money? Can you make enough to survive flying helicopters? you know the usual questions.....thanks for any input

sky's the limit · Post by **sky's the limit** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:31 pm

Beechy,

First off, getting a job flying helicopters is MUCH more difficult than it is flying airplanes, if it's something you're just playing with - don't. Save your money.

If you are serious:

Great Slave does have a school, and while I don't work for them, I am familiar with most of the details. The enrolment in the school is limited, usually 12-15 students each winter, and with the industry humming along like it is, they have been hiring a fair number of Grads each year. Each student used to get a ride and interview with the CP near the end of the training, with the best half dozen(ish) being given work. I imagine they are still doing it that way.

Once hired, don't expect to be out flying 500hrs in your first summer. The pay for low-timers is not great, but usauly far better than what low-time FW pilots will make. Once you get your time and more importantly, SKILLS, built up, the money comes MUCH faster than in FW.

Heli training is not easy, I converted after 4000+hrs, most of it in the bush, in the mountians, and it was challenging to say the least for the first while. If you have no bush or float type work under your belt, you may as well be starting from scratch, as you'll have never built the related skills - if you do, you'll have a good head start. Put a 100+ft long-line on the thing, and you may as well try learning to walk all over again!

It is a lifestyle job, and with large outfits like GS, you will probaly be on seasonal rotaion, usually 28 on 14 off, or up to 42 on and 5 off(CARS Mins). You are away for long stretches, and not in nice hotel rooms most of the time. GS does most of their work in NWT/NU, in tent camps, and the like, so be prepared.

There are many guys who have a license, 100hrs, and have been looking for work for YEARS. The school WILL tell you industry has never been better, and while it is going well, it's doing so for those with experience. Flying helis is not about logging hours until you get to the next machine - you have to build flying skills or you just can't do the work. Pilots get run off jobs frequently in a day or two if they can't hack it.

Anyway, a long-winded response for a short question, but it costs money, time and effort, so you better have the facts going in. That said, it's the best thing I ever could have wished for, and am having a great time, making good money, and working with a really good bunch of people.

Good luck, and a quick phonecall to GS will answer all your questions.
STL

beechy · Post by **beechy** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 9:08 pm

Thanks for the info it is much appriciated! I do have a bit of float time about 100hours, and i am tossing around the idea because of the seasonal type work schedual and the type of work that you'd get to do. It seems like it would be challanging and rewarding at the same time. Plus i would rather put out, by which i mean borrow, the money while i am young. Again thanks for the info and quick response!

rotorfloat · Post by **rotorfloat** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 11:32 pm

Last I spoke to the CFI at GSH, they only accept students that they would hire, kind of leaning away from the puppy mill style. And they have no piston trainers anymore, just 500s and jetrangers, so you come closer to putting a 6th digit in your flight training budget.

But, back to the beginning, if you're accepted for training, I guess half the battle's won...

w squared · Post by **w squared** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 6:33 am

I'm still in the process of accumulating the $$$ for my CPL(R), so I've been doing lots of homework on various schools.

Rotorfloat is 100% correct. The GSLH school (at Springbank just west of Calgary) only has turbines. They'll charge you $800 an hour for a 206. That means minimum $80K if you're ab initio, minimum $48K if you've already got a CPL for fixed wing.

I can certainly see their logic in only operating turbines as trainers - they want to hire their students, and they don't operate any pistons in their fleet. But that's a LOT of money.

sky's the limit · Post by **sky's the limit** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 8:24 am

So they got rid of all thier pistons eh? That certainly weeds out the number of applicants.

Training from scratch in the 206 has it advantages I guess, but I'm sure they aren't enough to warrent that kind of cash, even if they do offer you a job you'll be paying it off forever. There is something to be said for pounding aroung in the piston trainers, especially the 47 and 300, you learn a lot.

Interesting though.

STL

low n over · Post by **low n over** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:12 am

And the conversion is a 60hr min. If your not 'johnny on the spot' with all the lessons it'll cost ya more. I got on with a chopper company a week outta my conversion, two years later and I'm finaly out of the fixed wing department on a R-22.

Better than workin the ramp.

No regrets

Hudson · Post by **Hudson** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:03 am

Is it easier getting hired if you have a fair amount of fixed wing time or does it even matter?

sky's the limit · Post by **sky's the limit** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 12:38 pm

Yes it matters, but depends on the time in question. If all a person has is pavement to pavement stuff, no, it doesn't matter much.

If you have a good bush/mountian type background either on floats or off-strip wheeled/ski stuff, it transfers very well as you already have the rough mindset to asess wind, landing areas, altitude, etc etc. Lots of low-level type work is an advantage as well, knowing the environment is important(game survey/capture, photography, fire mapping etc).

The biggest thing is the ability to read the wind, direction/strength and how it flows around and over terrain. This is the primary skill in rotary flying, particularly in the mountains. Fixed-wing pilots outside of the bush really have no need for these skills, and will have to learn from the beginning. The ex-bush guys will be much further along, but still with much to learn.

STL

sky's the limit · Post by **sky's the limit** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 4:19 pm

One comment on camp life:

In the last 24 hours, two lunches and two dinners, I've had Roast Beef, Salt Beef, Curried Beef, and Corned Beef... No shit, next week must be chicken week.

STL