Aerial Application Training

On completion of our Aerial Application Training Program the candidate will have the required skills and knowledge to safely apply chemicals and fertilizers using a liquid spray system and spreader bucket.  

Candidates wishing to apply chemicals by air will be required to hold an Aerial Applicator Certificate issued by each Province they will be applying chemicals in.  To be certified in an other province a regulations difference exam must be completed.

We recommend that you start by being certified in the Province of Alberta.  Lakeland College offers an excellent home study program for aerial applicators.  You may contact Lakeland College at:

Lakeland College - Pesticides

5707 College Drive

Vermilion, AB   T9X 1K5

Tel: 1 866 853 8646 or direct in Vermilion at 780 853 8646

e-mail: pesticides@lakelandcollege.ca

Please let them know you are interested in their Aerial Applicator Certificate home study course. The current price as of Jan. 1, 2017 is $290 for both the Core and National Aerial study manuals.  The cost of the certification exam is $205.

You may also contact your local Provincial environmental office to find out how to be certified in your Province.

Although completion of a flight training program is not required to apply fertilizers or chemicals in Canada it is highly recommended.

Our aerial application syllabus consists of 5 hours ground school and 10 hours of flight training. The ground school syllabus shall consist of the following topics:

• Pertinent Canadian Aviation Regulations
• Spray system and spreader bucket components and installations
• Care and maintenance of application equipment
• Use and care of personal protective equipment
• Use and care of helicopter loading equipment
• Application equipment calibration procedures
• Weight and balance control
• Batch mixing procedures
• Ground Loading procedures
• Application procedures

- Flight patterns

- Spray turns

- Navigating a spray line visually

- Navigating a spray line with the use of GPS (using the DynaNav GPS)

- Procedures to minimize spray drift

- Low level flying hazards and risk management

- Emergency procedures

- Spray block layout and marking

The flight training syllabus consists of 8 hours dual instruction and 2 hours solo practice under the supervision of the instructor.  

Dual instruction will consist of:

A minimum of 4 hours flight time dedicated to improving the following skills:

• Settling with power avoidance, detection and recovery
• Loss of tail rotor authority (unanticipated yaw) avoidance, detection and recovery
• Low RPM avoidance, detection and recovery
• Incipient dynamic roll over avoidance, detection and recovery
• Incipient vortex ring state avoidance, detection and recovery
• Main rotor over-pitching avoidance, detection and recovery
• Low-G avoidance, detection and recovery
• Low level engine failures and autorotations
• Emergency dumping of the hopper load
• No hover take-offs and landings
• Cushion take offs and landings
• Maximum performance take-offs and landings
• Take-off and landing from an elevated pad
• Contour flying techniques
• Low level steep turn techniques
• Quick stops into wind and down wind

A minimum of 4 hours dual instruction on learning the following skills:

• Spray turns (offset, tear drop and wing-over)
• Flight patterns (race track and back and forth)
• Visual spray-line navigation
• GPS spray-line navigation
• Side hill spraying operations
• Up-slope and down-slope spraying operations

Supervised solo practice will consist of 2 hours of loading and spraying water on a spray block using both visual and GPS guidance.

Costs

10 hours flight training @ $1,100/hr: $11,000

Ground School: included

Books and Study material: $285

Total cost $11,285 + tax

Back to the top