External
Load Training
Many job opportunities involve carrying external
loads, and the skills and techniques needed to perform sling-load
operations require careful, advanced training.
Vertex Flight Academy's External Load Course
provides the training necessary to give you a competitive
advantage with prospective employers. This course content
will prepare you for the real world of long-line helicopter
operations.
Your training in external load operations
will begin with ground training on the basics of external
load operations including the use of visual references in
flight, rigging, safety, hazards, preflight for external load,
techniques and how to respond in an emergency. After you have
become familiar with the theory behind the mission, it is
time to put that knowledge to the test.
Most students are proficient in external
load operations in 10 to 15 hours of flight. You will take
our cargo-hook equipped Schweizer 300C helicopter to our sling
load training area and begin learning the specialized maneuvers
required for this type of operation. Using 25 foot, 50 foot
and 100 foot lines, you will learn maneuvers including take
offs and approaches with a load, flying the line, arrest techniques,
pick ups and set downs of a load, rapid deceleration with
a load and precision movements. Most of your training will
be in an open area, but there will be a few hours of confined
area training.
Once you have become proficient in safe external
load operations you will receive an external load training
endorsement in your logbook.
While this course will not guarantee an external
load job for the newly rated commercial pilot, it offers benefits
for future employment. Once you have built sufficient flight
time to work commercially in turbine helicopters, your external
load training will help you stand out among your peers with
similar hours but no knowledge of external load operations
or experience. This course is also very beneficial to the
high time commercial pilot seeking an introduction to external
load before seeking that external load job such as fire fighting,
logging or construction.
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