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Banner Towing

  • Thread starter Thread starter mcjohn
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mcjohn

mcjohn

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 23, 2005
Posts
1,456
I live in Asheville NC and will be layed off from my from hotel job Jan 3rd. I have no money saved due to paying off flight training debt. I have 380 hours with approx. 100 hours instruction given (mostly c152). Health insurance is pre-paid through March 31st. My wife and I are trying to have 1st baby soon (please no advice on the baby thing - we'll arm ourselves with food stamps if we have to). So, I have a few months while layed off to build hours. I really want to get into banner towing this winter so I guess Florida is the only option. Can anyone give me some tips on places to work during Jan, Feb, and March. I will recieve a little money from unemployment but training funds are insufficient. Are there any places (besides that PFT Tim guy!!) that would let me fly/work off any training cost.

Also, After March 31st I need health insurance so I'm considering relocating (difficult because we are very attached to the house we own here) to find a full-time instruction job with benefits (baby thing). I Haven't done much research yet, but the only places I know off hand would be Mesa Pilot Development in NM and Sheble Aviation in Kingman AZ. Both are supposed to be undesirable place to live.

Any tips or advice would be much appreciated.
PM if appropriate.
 
Try to find Gulf Air out of Gulfshores, AL. He is always looking for someone to train. Usually the flying is year round, but not sure now after the huricanes.

He doesnt charge any training fees or any BS like that, he may even put you up at his place.

The question is, are you tailwheel qualified?

The operation in Myrtle Beach seems to stay busy, really dont know much other than that.

I know there is alot of flying on the Jersey shore and Long Island, but dont know when if they are year round or not.

If you start towing, just be safe.
 
Thanks so much both of you! No, I'm not tailwheel endorsed. There is a guy in the area (boonies of western NC) that gives tailwheel endorsements but it's rather hard to track him down. I would prefer to get the endorsement with the experts towing the banners but if it's real important to already have the endorsement then I can track down the guy up here. I think it's an Aeronica Champ or something super small like that that he flys.
Is it required to have this endorsement in advance? Is that what you mean by tailwheel qualified?
 
I think you'd be better off having the endorsment before you apply. Bost banner tow places dont have HR planning in advance how many pilots they need. They hire when the previous guy splits and most of the time they could use you yesterday. The less time they will have to train you the more money they can make.
 
Experts!........where?

Most of those operators are going to want substantial tailwheel time before they hire you.
 
So I guess I'll hunt this guy down up here in the hills.

They just had a green 172 or something from who knows where towing a banner around Asheville for the mayor election. Some guy was flying retarded low over the hills to avoid the broken cloud layer. Scud running with a banner in tow!? Can someone shoot an ILS with a banner behind them?
What's up with tricycle gear towing banners? Is it really uncommon?
 
Don't have a kid until you can support it. Food stamps are a euphemism for stealing from the rest of us tax payers.

Good luck on the job--just don't get yourself into a bind this early in your career.TC
 
McJohn,
Sky Signs in Myrtle Beach requires that you complete their 50 hr training program in order to be hired. This satisfies their insurance company, gets you 50 hrs of tailwheel time, a tailwheel endorsement and banner pick up/tow/drop training, most of it is cross country. No previous experience or tailwheel time required but you must exhibit proficiency throughout the training or you can be washed out. A word on airplanes and banner towing; if and when you begin towing banners you begin to realize the importance of a good airplane. Sky Signs uses PA18-160 Super Cubs, bare bones, no electrical system, no interior trim, one seat...900 lbs empty 160 horsepower with a SuperBorer prop. This airplane will out preform anything you have flown from 0 to 80 kts. The Super Cub must be flown all the time though, it has none of the pilot enhancements that a 172 has. I wouldn't tow banners with anything less than a Super Cub and once you start towing banners you will see what I mean. Think 40 lbs with a 250' arm and god only knows how much drag. There is a placard on the Sky Signs planes instrument panel "maximum banner weight 600 lbs", don't ask me what it means but I believe it is the weight that the lead rope is designed to break.
 
McJ---give me a PM and I'll hook you up with the guy that runs Barnstormer Flite Signs in MB---I usually do all his training for him every spring for the guys to fly the summer. The guys usually end up w/ about 600-700 hours for the 3 months of peak season. It's good PIC time, cuz like Bryan said it's all stick n' rudder flying, weather guessing and avoidance, etc. I've taught crop-dusting, and brought some guys in after initial training to give them more tailwheel time. A TWE should only take 5 hours. Good luck!
 
Banner towing operations

There is no such thing as a banner towing endorsement! Stay away from anyone called Timothy Pacini. He will take your money and give you a "BANNER TOEING (sic) ENDORSEMENT" or so he said when he e-mailed me a few years back. This is useless as I heard from someone who trained with Timothy and lost his money. Be careful who you fly with!

Get tailwheel time and your tailwheel endorsement that will make you more interesting to the majority of firms who tow banners. Sky Signs had good planes when I was there a few years back. Herb is a good guy. The chief pilot has changed and I don't know who the current one is. Run a very careful web search on the operation names you're interested in. I can say the tailwheel time was great and the hours add up quickly. I think I was flying opposite Flying Skip who worked at Barnstormers and posted earlier.
You gotta love flying day hours and Pilot Nights off!

My next job was clinched by the potential employer seeing I had the tailwheel experience.
 
Van Wagner, used to be Aerial Sign, http://www.vanwagner.com/aerial.htm
at North Perry airport in Hollywood, FL is looking for 180 horse J-3 and Super Cub banner tow pilots right now, add on www.climbto350.com on the 5th of Jan.

I flew for them in '98-99, great company to work for and a lot of fun, nothing like picking up a 65' high sign with a 180 horse J-3.

They operate a fleet of 35 highly modified Cubs all over the United States.
 
mcjohn,
PM me I went to MAPD and I know a good banner tow guy that doesn't advertise....
 
You will most likely be flying at night. So enjoy your nights off. This may be your last day only job for quite awhile. :-)
 
Banner nights

flysjets said:
You will most likely be flying at night. So enjoy your nights off. This may be your last day only job for quite awhile. :-)
Click to expand...

So it wasn't just us deralicts on the Jersey Shore doing that! Nothing beats spending your summers in a vacation town when you're young. Fly all day long, get done and we always had beer in the hanger. Have a few cold ones in the hanger and unwind, run home, eat and shower, then go and hit the town. And the best part was- there was a whole new group of girls there every week or so on vacation. The best though were the Irish and English girls that came in to work the boardwalk for the summer. They were alot of fun.

Going to miss it this summer. Met some great friends out there and had some fun times.
 
momalley81 said:
So it wasn't just us deralicts on the Jersey Shore doing that! Nothing beats spending your summers in a vacation town when you're young. Fly all day long, get done and we always had beer in the hanger. Have a few cold ones in the hanger and unwind, run home, eat and shower, then go and hit the town. And the best part was- there was a whole new group of girls there every week or so on vacation. The best though were the Irish and English girls that came in to work the boardwalk for the summer. They were alot of fun.

Going to miss it this summer. Met some great friends out there and had some fun times.
Click to expand...

With this advice, he definitely shouldn't have the kid! :D TC

P.S.--I highly respect banner tow and night freight pilots. You'll learn or die!
 
Sky Signs is a great outfit! 7 hours a day of towing. They will get your endorsment for you.
 

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