New To Australia

[Guest LTGICCCCG]

Hey all,

 

I've arrived in Sydney two weeks ago and am keen to get back in the air! I am Canadian, with a CPL and Instrument and Instructor ratings, 330 hrs TT. Plan is to head out to Bankstown and ask a lot of questions, pick up a few books and start cramming.

 

Would appreciate a few words of advice - what is the best way for a low-timer to get into a small turbine? In Canada the quickest way is to work the ramp for between 6 months to 2 years and then move into a FO position. I understand that here this may not be such a great option, is this option even being offered by the local carriers?

 

Cheers!

 

 

[mnewbery]

Access Aviation use a number of turbine planes for skydiving e.g. C208 all over the east coast. A company like Australian Sky Dive Company uses their services. How that works and who hires the pilot I don't know. RFDS (air ambulance) uses King Air 200s and 300s plus Pilatus PC-12. Rex uses the SAAB 340 (they also own and operate a line pilot training school in Wagga-Wagga) but I'm not sure that counts as small.

 

http://www.rex.com.au/cadetpilot/Default.aspx

 

Mmmm. Dunno. You could become an air ambulance nurse?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Flying_Doctor_Service_of_Australia (see the fleet list)

 

Qld Government did once advertise for a King Air 300 FO but that was a while ago.

 

Brindabella Airlines uses BAE J41 and Metro III (Both TPE331 engines I think). I've been a passenger for Brindabella and a student in their flight school in Canberra. I have also met the boss person Jeff Boyd in the hangar there.

 

For some free career advice, you could do worse than contacting Malcolm Poulton at Goulburn Flight Training Centre and having a chat. Corporate Air have a maintenance hangar at Goulburn too so it would be beneficial to hand deliver your resume there ... never know who is going to be around and who is going to fly what where.

 

Hint: Malcolm can tell you a little about Brindabella Airlines.

 

Lots of aerial application work too but you WILL be started on pistons first and it will take years or someone retiring to move to a turbine.

 

Just a brain-dump. I'm sure others will chime in. I don't know anything about the Sydney Basin as far as turbines go.

 

 

[68volksy]

A good point of contact might be Teraya Miller or Albert Fleming at CASA also? They're the NSW Aviation Safety Advisors and travel the state talking to all the operators up to Qantaslink/Rex. Their contact details are on this website: http://www.casa.gov.au/scripts/nc.dll?WCMS:STANDARD::pc=PC_91317 . You'll see details for the advisors all around the country also.

 

These guys are the "friendly" side of CASA - they have no delegations or anything and are employed purely in an advisory/educational role. They should at least be able to provide some clues as to where to start looking and are very approachable.

 

 

[TAA Patrick]

Appreciate the info guys - once I have the Aussie license I'll follow up with the individuals, always good to have an actual name vs. going in blind. Hoping to find a solid 'ramp to cockpit' path, up in the tropics. The CASA guys sound like they will have a lot of useful info as well.