Cessna 340 compensation

[sauce]

This 340 will be based in the Midwest and flying about 300 to 375 hours per year. I will be on call 24/ 7 and will have about three RON's per month.

I would like to know what other 340 pilots flying sim hours are making. Any quirks or thinks to watch on the 340?

Thanks in advance!

 

[fracflyer]

No job is worth being on call 24/7.

 

[Dan CFI/CFII]

"No job is worth being on call 24/7"

That's kind of simplistic isn't it? The best job I have ever held I was working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I literally was only a few hundred feet away from working, and I could be woken up in the middle of the night. In the winter, it was to start plowing the road so that we didn't get snowed in, in the summer it could be everything from clogged toilets to criminal mischief.

I'll even go you one further, that was, bar none, the lowest paying job I have ever held (and I've really picked some winners--I made well under $10K a year as a CFI/A&P, which was the major reason I left that job).

That was still, far and away, the very best job I have ever had. If it weren't for the fact that I can't do it for my entire life, I'd still be there.

That said, you don't know the full situation here. For the right person I'd agree to be "on call" 24/7.

All that aside... I think a pilot for something like a 340 would probably earn between 30 and 40 grand a year. I know of someone who makes the high side of that flying a 210, but he also has "other duties" with that company. Personally, I'd ask for 200-250 dollars a day.

Dan

 

[angola1]

try $250/day (flight or ground time away from base), with a four day/week guarantee. that's what i got for that job a few years ago. puts you at 52k. drop the 24/7 thing if you can, by compromising on a "call-out doctrine." say that during business hours you'll fly on 1~2 hrs notice, nights and weekends, 24 hr notice, and overnights 48 hr notice. just a thought.

make sure that the owner pays for your sim class.

-extwincessnadriver

 

[Flywrite]

I dont know about the midwest but a grand a week may be a little unrealistic for a 340 driver here in the southeast.

I spoke with an owner a few months ago who was looking for a part time pilot. He was ofering $180/day in a 340A. There are lots of stories of guys making big bucks flying a 172 or similar, but I think somewhere around 30-35K would probably be realistic for a 340 (again, that is here in the SE). But then again, you may be one of those lucky guys we hear about getting $60 grand a year to fly a piston twin. Dont sell yourself short, but don't price yourself out of the job either.

I cant offer any hints on flying the 340, but I did get a few hours in the right seat of one several years ago and remember it was a nice ride.

Good luck with it!

 

[angola1]

250/day too much?!! 250/day is really not enough. there are guys getting paid to "co-pilot" single pilot airplanes who make more than that. you are going to be the pic, flying single pilot, and that responsibility is worth at least as much as a king air FO.

responsibity aside, it sounds like you are going to be married to the airplane, which is a pain in the a$$ of its own. $250/day is totally reasonable.

when i did this, i was expected to wash and wax the airplane with a frequency that i figured would remove the paint. i also was expected to do all of the oil changes and any type of mtc that a pilot can do. the owner of the plane i flew had no respect for me or my time, and let me know frequently.

jobs like this have to potential to become headaches like you can't even imagine. i'm not saying don't do it, or that i wouldn't even do it again. charge what the job is worth, make some money, log that precious multi-pic, and then see where life takes you.


note-

guys who fly the piston 400 series also charge about 250/day where i live.

-formeroilchangershoeshinertoiletplunger

 

[Gulfstream 200]

yeah, 24/7 is no big deal and can actually be kinda fun ---

if you have no hobbies, no family, no signifigant others....errr....well. no life I guess.

Thats a job for a short time to build a few needed hours and move on!

good luck.


Did someone say they would be on call 24/7 for the right person??

..oh yeah, this is aviation, I forgot.

 

[avbug]

In the summer, when I live out of the back of an airplane, and every waking moment exists to keep that airplane operational, and to operate it, life is simple. Life is keen. But it's more like 48 hours a day, with frequent days of 14 hours labor, quickly escalating to much more if there's flying involved. It's hot, there's no running water, no restrooms, no electricity (that's changing). Not necessarily directly adjacent to "civilization". A certain degree of risk, depending on one's point of view. Pressure to perform, tight time constraints, constant operational readiness. No need to think, just do.

It doesn't get any better than that.

Plus, I get to wear a tee shirt to work. How cool is that?

 

[cvsfly]

If you are going to be on call 24/7 with restricted ability to do other work you need a salary, not just so much per day. My mistake flying for an air ambulance/ charter op a few years ago in a C-340. It was at an hourly rate (so figure a daily rate) with the thought I would get 500-600 hrs/year. Well the activity didn't materialize and for that fact the 24/7 wasn't that bad because I had plenty of "free" time, but I also couldn't plan or commit to other things. The one time I was out of contact on a weekend I got paged for a flight and got reamed out, but I countered about a salary. That stopped the conversation and was also the beginning of the end of that job.

I enjoyed the C-340 being "cabin class" and pressurized. W & B is a big challenge if you want to fill it up. I used to have to put balast in the nose (and we had mods for higher gross weight). Watch CHTs on hot summer days (without intercoolers). Single eng. perf. isn't great (is any light twin?). Don't hit your head on the tip tanks! I believe ADs are out on the exhaust and perhaps wings (maybe just 400 series?).

 

[340drvr]

Two years ago, I was making $36K a year, good bennies, all 135. Summers were busy, winter had many 3-day weekends, adding up to 800 hrs/ year. Kinda low pay, I know, but, cost of living at the homebase (small town) was pretty low. On a daily basis, I'd look for $200-$250/day, but not expect any day-guarantee. 24/7 requires a full salary as far as I'm concerned, whether you fly or watch Oprah with the pager on the coffee table....just another (worthless) opinion.
340 ops, know your fuel system; baby those engines....power reductions planned at 1"/minute, probably very conservative, but it works; don't expect great single-engine performance, especially at max weights; don't count on being able to pack much ice, they do OK in light rime, but moderate ice requires prompt "evasive action."

 

[angola1]

consider my 250/day, four day guarantee to be salary-plus. you will always get your grand/week, and if you go over four days, you'll get more still.

like the other guys said, if your married to the airplane, you've got to get some type of salary, because it does take up too much of your time and will KEEP you from being able to commit to anything else. there is no way i could have held a second job while flying like that, so i made sure it was worth my time.

it always seemed like the fastest way to make my phone ring was to stray more that an hour from my base, or to try and start anything you couldn't finish with an hours notice. for me it was like the boss had ESP.

keep a suitcase packed. day trips turned into week trips. i never knew where i was going to end up.

with regard to the 340, very few lack inter-coolers these days, and i don't think i've ever seen one that wasn't at least modified to the 340A standard.

inter-coolers and a v.g. kit are the biggest bang for the buck, performance wise, if you don't already have them.

the one i used to fly was so tricked out with mods that it took me some time to make sense of its performance data. (AFM contained data from virtually every configuration the airframe had seen.)

freon air is a must. if yours has JB, they became kieth systems, and are for the most part easy to service.

i'll second the ice coments. don't forget to test your de-ice equipment periodically. it sucks if it doesn't work, and you don't know until you need it.

i buy into the 1"/minute wives tale too. that is unless your cht is already below 325.

pm me if you have some specific questions.

don't settle for less than you're worth.

best regards.

 

[sauce]

Thanks for the insite!

Future 340 driver.