During the final stages of my IR at Air Alpha I was invited to an interview with DanCopter. I traveled with my friend Marius (doing IR with me) to their base at Esbjerg Airport and met with the acting MD and the Chief Pilot.
I was very impressed with the facilities and the work ethos they work by. I actually came along at a good time. Not long before the company went through a bad patch with big changes made by the board, unfortunately it wasn't soon enough and a number of good people had left the company.
I hear and have seen some of those people returning and the vibe that was once at DanCopter is returning again. I find it a very friendly and dedicated atmosphere- it will be a pleasure to work there.
My role will be of a First Officer (co-pilot) and will be eventually based in Den Helder, Holland once my training is complete at Esbjerg. I'm looking forward to the new adventure...and another country to live in.
So, once I had had three days at home in the UK after my IR, I returned to Esbjerg to start the technical course, MCC (Multi Crew Concept), CRM (Crew Resource Management), Water Evacuation and Fire training. The technical course was two and a half weeks long with a written test at the end. All four of us that were employed passed with high scores.
From there we started the MCC which involves how crew co-operate as a unit in the cockpit, it's a concept that is very unfamiliar to all of us after all our helicopter training being as single pilot. Instead of making a decision as one you must confer with your other pilot for an outcome. Ultimately it makes for a much safer and efficient cockpit. The CRM portion had a lot to do with people and how to deal with people of different types, the psychology that is involved.
The water dunking you can see pictures of in the Images section. This was training for evacuation in case of a ditching into the ocean and the aircraft rolling over. We covered also life raft operation and also winching by helicopter out of the water. Was fun training but not something I want to do for real in the cold dark waters of the North Sea!
The next day was fire fighting, distinguishing the different classes of fires and using the correct means to extinguish them, that was a lot of fun.
The next portion of the training was the simulator in Marseilles, France. Marius and I spent two weeks down there with Hans Erik (DanCopter Simulator Instructor) familiarising ourselves with the aircraft and running through emergencies one after the other. Engine failures, engine fires, system failures....the list is long. We completed our skills tests on the 26th May 2007- we are now type rated on the EC155.
The next chapter is the fun part. We now need to fly four hours doing circuits and deck landings and then we are signed off to fly with passengers. Our training doesn't stop, it's ongoing for a few months after but by then I can imagine I will be down in Den Helder by then.
I think DanCopter is a refreshing dynamic company that strives for quality in it's services, something I am really looking forward to being part of.
