Pesticide Applicator Licence

[Toni]

Hi there!

Just wondering if someone of you can give me some advicements about geting a Pesticide Applicator Licence to improve possibilities of employment for low time pilots ?
Is it worth to get that licence or not???
For me it sounds quite strange and dangerous, that low time pilots get a job first on the ground mixing pesticides and then getting (still as low time piolots) the chance to do some hours flying around with chemical products !!!!!

Anyway got my books a couple of weeks ago and I`m learning that stuff!!!! :

Thank`s for you`r replys in advanced ,

Toni

 

[sharky]

Which provincial licence are you getting? Some provinces will recognize other prov's tickets, sans exam, for a small fee. In ON if you get a high enough mark on the exam, you will not have to renew for 5 years. BC does not have an 'applicators' licence per se, but a 'forestry general' This will not generally give you reciprocity in other provinces as an applicator, but an applicators lic. in another prov will give you BC's 'general' ticket.

The ticket is worth getting if you want to go after spray companies for summer work. Some may not even consider you without it. The work is fun, but normally seasonal. I would imagine the larger companies may keep some of their more efficient groundcrew year-round. I did 3 seasons of spray/groundcrew before I even thought of flying. Kind of considered it a paid vacation.

Good luck.

 

[DGP]

The chemicals are the last thing to worry about...flying a spray job with low time is a sure way to be in the next vortex ....any comments ask CTD!

 

[Toni]

I`m getting the licence for Alberta !I`ve heard that years ago it was an open book exame!!not anymore!!!!

Yes it would be nice if CTD can give some advicements or just his point of view!!!!

Thank`s

 

[sharky]

The company I worked for, as well as others I've heard of don't mind putting <500 hr pilots on spray (properly trained...) They considered it a good way to build time; no pax, and you've only got the trees to impress. Production-wise...they weren't expecting any miracles for the first few seasons.

 

[firehawk]

Get the licence it may be your only way into some of these companies that do hire low timers, I did the program in 95 and spent a summer on the ground crew
mixing and fixing ops gear, it is the way to go, The chemicals are not a big deal.
You will learn valuble information by being around the aircraft and the operation.
I really dont think a company is going to throw a low time guy into spraying with out the proper training if at all.
The way these companies look at it, is it gives them the chance to look at you
and how you work on your own and with others. keep smiling keep thinking and have a good attitude is my advise. It can be a demanding job working the ground crew, Long hours and dont ever try and make yourself look better then others, everyone can see through that crap, I worked with a few and they still arent fliyng to this day.
You prove yourself there and you will hopefully be the next candidate to fly.
Good luck. Get the Alberta licence and I believe you are also good for B.C. 2 BIRDS ONE STONE.

 

[N.O.E.]

Spraying is great and like firehawk said, be the quiet guy/girl who works the hardest and doesn't do the bitching and you'll be the one in the cockpit or boxoffice next. The hours are great and the chemicals aren't a prob, and the flying like all other heli jobs is a blast. Go Alberta ticket and work hard.

 

[Charles W.]

Well my first job was aerial application in a J3 Cub in the tobacco fields of S. Ont.

I had 250 hours total time when I started my aerial application flight training.

I was the first in Ont. to get the aerial app. license #0001

I went throught usual fleet of fixed wing aerial app. mounts and then in 1964 switched into rotary wing on a Hu 300.

It was beyond doubt the best flying job I ever had, just loved it.....however a family to raise moved me into more permanent flying.

So total time is not relevant, its training and using common sense that determines your fate.

Hey CTD does common sense exist in aviation? I mean why would anyone with common sense even get involved?

Dr. Chas W.

 

[donnybrook]

And now for another point of view. I'm probably off base here, but I'm pretty sure the whole applicators licence as a way in to flying thing was largely due to Northern Mountain's spray program a number of years ago. Back then I had my BC applicator certificate, but it didn't help at all. Of course I'm not trying to discourage anyone just because it didn't help me personally, but you might want to check out a few spray outfits to see if they hire low timers as pilots, before you plunk down the cash. However, if you are just using the spray groundcrew job to make contacts, and you don't mind spending the money, then it is probably an excellent idea, just don't be disappointed if it doesn't lead directly to a flying job...

 

[Rotorhead]

I started out with the BC "Forestry General" Certificate and the Alberta equivalent. As for the BC course, I snuck into a training program in Prince George that was put on for anyone willing to pay the price. At the time, it was a one week program put on by Sylva Management Services out of Kamloops.

The Alberta Progam is a lot more intense. If memory serves me correctly, there was an "aerial", as well as a "Forestry" Certificate. The correspondence course is offered by the Athabasca College.

Canadian Helicopters Western and Northern Mountain used to get a lot of people through the system this way. Putting a new "recruit" into possibly the worst job on the planet is a good way to weed out the whiners. I was pig-headed enough to drive the old five-tonne and mix chemicals for two or three summers. They (CHW) finally sent me off to Penticton and put me through one of the last full mountain and ops courses (76 hours). Patience pays off, but the main thing is to do your job, keep your equipment clean and quietly sit in the corner and watch the others complain. You will get your turn in the cockpit.

As for the chemicals, by far the most dangerous chemical we dealt with was the Jet fuel. Northern Mountain had some scary chemicals to deal with in South America with fungicides and insecticides. In BC and AB, we used Vision which is identcal as Roundup used by farmers. It is a Glyphosate salt that is absorbed through the leaves, dehydrates the target plant. It doesn't kill anything downhill as it is neutralised by soil. Some farming products I have seen flow downhill killing everything until it hits the watertable. As you can guess, those are rarely allowed to be spread by aerial application.

 

[Rotorhead]

As for the flying, the first summer, we were paired up with a senior spray pilot and followed his/her lead. I was very lucky to get an aircraft equipped with the Thru-valve boom system and was responsible for doing the boundaries (bag-lines) and other machines would come in and do the broadcast interiors of the blocks. Doing the thru-valve work was very much like longlining a waterfall across the blocks. Really forced you to be multi-tasking and precise in your flying.

It is a great way to start out. You don't have pesky passengers distract you. You take off gross weight all day long and work out of anything from log pads to paved runways. (Working out of Whistler one summer was the best, paved airstrip at Pemberton.)

Best of luck to anyone trying to get into the industry. There are lots of days when it will seem no use, but believe me, hard work will pay off.

RH

ps: The photo below is a mountaintop somewhere near the Kenney Dam on the Nechako Watershed, south of Houston, BC.

 

[Toni]

Thank`s a lot for your replys !!!
Now I will study with more motivation !!!
Hope it will work out !

 

[CHEVY II]

Ps: You may want to endeavour to learn a little about an Ag-Nav <_<

For those who don't know what it is...It's aviations answer to the world renowned Etch-A-Sketch :blink: Keep your head up and watch the wires

 

[Rotorhead]

Good old Vern Zelent...

 

[Toni]

Hi There !

Thank's for the replies!
I got my spraying ticket for Alberta !!!!!!!
Besides the big companies like Alpine ,Canadian,Highland,Western Aerial etc,anybody else spraying ?

Thank's

Toni