Flying in Dallas

[rchcfi]

I was just wondering if anyone from or recently departed from the Dallas area knows the names of some of the smaller outfits in or around town. Specifically I am looking for the following types of jobs: Traffic Watch, Pipeline Patrol, Skydiving, Banner Towing.

I am fairly new to the area and have looked into and around most of the 30 airports in the area but really haven't come up with anything. I was talking with a Lear captain from my company and he said he worked as a traffic watch pilot from somewhere south of Dallas. Unfortunately I can't remember the name of the outfit. And I have done many searches via the internet for some of these smaller outfits yet can't seem to find anything soild.

Any help mucho appreciated!!!!!

 

[350DRIVER]

You may want to look into ProJet or GTA Air once you meet the 135 PIC minimums. I am unsure about any pipeline or traffic watch outfits since my time was mostly spent in the HOU area. If my memory serves me correct I do think that their is a traffic watch company opposite of GTA at DAL.


Good luck 2 you-


3 5 0

 

[rchcfi]

350Driver,

I had heard that GTA sometimes hired pilots who meet the 135 VFR mins. So I went in to talk to them with slicked back hair and resume in hand. I was met with a nice reception and was told that if and when they're looking for VFR pilots, they put them in the Bonanza and don't pay. I inquired a little more as to how many hours per day they fly to see if it would coincide with my current bread winning paycheck from the FBO. To my disdain, I was told that I would have to quit any other job I had to be looked at as a pilot. I don't really know what their reasoning for this is, but it is ludicrous. Basically you have to take out a loan to survive and then sign a 6 month or 1 year contract to fly for free...EEEEEKS!

 

[350DRIVER]

O U C H - That is news to me however I use to jump on them from HOU and the pilots were not overly "pleased" with the current situation and work conditions back then. Keep in mind this was around 1.5 years ago. . I have a good friend at ProJet and he likes it alot.- Something you may want to consider.

I do remember that they were attempting to start a SIC program up but I think it was suppose to be a PFT type of deal..

____________________________________________________
Aggressive 135 company based at Addison, Texas looking for
King Air 200; SIC requirements 500 hours.

Please fax resume to:
SD Air, LLC at 214-366-4801
or telephone Mike Short at 214-366-4800

____________________________________________________

G O O D L U C K

3 5 0

 

[rchcfi]

__________________________________________________
__
Aggressive 135 company based at Addison, Texas looking for
King Air 200; SIC requirements 500 hours.

Please fax resume to:
SD Air, LLC at 214-366-4801
or telephone Mike Short at 214-366-4800

__________________________________________________
__


Please tell me you didn't get this from Pilot Shack.....They have had this thing posted since May. I called and was immediately turned down when I told them I only had 800 hours.....So much for the 500 minimum huh? Maybe they forgot to put in "SIC requirements 500 hours (MULTI)"......

 

[350DRIVER]

rchcfi-
I saw a thread on this board pertaining to that job, I did not know how long it has been up nor did I know the specifics. I just thought I would paste it to my post just in case you had missed it the first time around which apparently was not the case.


It does appear that you are very hungry for that "first" job and I think your persistence will pay off for you.

I would target every 135 operator in your region since most operators will incorporate a SIC since the pax like the reassurance of "2" up front. How much multi time do you currently have.?


3 5 0

 

[El Duderino]

Try Zebra Air at DAL for the Traffic watch position. You might also try traffic.com, when I flew for Zebra there was another traffic pilot buzzing around every other day, and I belive he worked for traffic.com. As you found out GTA is a pretty tough place to work for, as is Projet. You might try some of the skydiving places in the area. Also I know there is a boner towing company based out of Clover field in Htown that send piltos up to Dallas, don't know the name though. Texas Air Charter in Denton is a descent place to work, they had a 6 hour DAL to ABQ to DAL run. Good luck, and stay away from GTA.

dude

 

[rchcfi]

3 5 0,

I am currently sitting at 137 multi......Not much but I definately can't afford to go out and rent a Seneca for $180/hr......

Cheers,
Rchcfi

 

[rchcfi]

Dude,

Thanks for that info......I'll see if I can take the ball and run with it.

RCHCFI

 

[starchkr]

I would say first try Tex Star, which is the new name for Texas Air Charter i believe. If it is a different company, then that gives you 2 companies to try out of Denton. I know Tex Star is pretty close to losing two of their pilots to the regionals. They are both ex regional guys who are tired of the cargo thing. I know one will probably go back to his regional when they call him, which shouldn't be too long according to him. Also the other has interviewed a few places and says he is going to jump on the first call he gets.

As for GTA, i knew a couple of guys who did the VFR 135 thing for them for free. It really beats paying for the time, but not being able to have another job to support yourself really sucks. I remember the old VFR guys complaining about having to sit reserve EVERY day just incase something came up. While they were sitting there they had to do paperwork. They also didn't like the fact that if you got stuck somewhere because of weather you were on your own, NO help whatsoever in lodging or meals. But like i said earlier, it sure beats paying for that time.

Another suggestion would be instructing... I know you probably don't want to or are tired of doing it now, but FLight Star in Addison is a freelance only FBO with the instructors charging $35 and up per hour. I made just as much instructing there as i am making now, and the money right now is really good. Their main draw for students was their aircraft lineup. Most people came in after they got their Private and moved onto better and bigger a/c. This was good, because at least then the students knew how to fly... albeit not so great sometimes, but at least they kind of knew what was going on.

Other than that i really don't know.

 

[350DRIVER]

rchcfi-
I think you have a respectable foundation to build upon and you shouldn't have too much trouble once you break into the job market and get that first break. 137 hours is really not bad when you consider what your TT is. I have been out of the Texas loop for some time now so I can't be much help to you however if you would ever consider moving I know of a few operators that are currently looking to hire SIC's. I think Air Now is/ or was looking for SIC's and if my memory serves me correct I think they needed like 900TT with 300 PIC for the EMB-110. They also operate other equipment and may be a good "first" job and you will get quite abit of hard IMC time. We see them frequently in BUF.....


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[rchcfi]

strchckr,

Thanks for that info., although I have already been up to DTO and TexStar to talk with the chief pilot. And their mins. are the 1200/250 with the "and expect to fly in Level 3/4 weather!"

I am, or shall I say, have tried to muster up some students from within the line crew at work. We have one guy who I wanted to give him his Comm. ASEL but he keeps flying right seat in a Cherokee 180 and logging it as PIC....I've tried to warn him, but he'll soon figure it out. There is another guy who is in the same boat as myself. Wants to learn but doesn't quite have the capital right now. And then there is another one who just eclipsed his 1200 mark and got on with GTA flying right seat in the 402, but still has to pay them $5,000 for 100 hrs. SIC before they let him move into the BE-36 as PIC.....Tell me that doesn't suck!

So I know it will come, and believe me, this forum has helped alot. I'm sure glad I was told about this place by a fellow av8r...

 

[flx757]

Also I know there is a boner towing company based out of Clover field in Htown that send piltos up to Dallas, don't know the name though.

dude

Boner towing??

YIKES!!!

 

[328dude]

Dosent AirNet have some sort of SIC program? I do know they fly in and out of Dallas with Barons.

I don't know anything about them but might be worth a gander.

 

[starchkr]

Yes we do have an SIC program, but I don't know of anyone going into it right now. We keep very few SIC's on hand, and from what i hear now they are assigned runs instead of being able to choose to go somewhere, like DAL. I think they are all kept in of CMH or in the North.

 

[328dude]

thanks for the info StarCheck

 

[NoPlaneNoGain]

I flew for TexStar. It was a good place to gain time and experience, but unfortunately as you found out, the minimums are 1200/250.
Try Arlington airport. I had some former students that flew traffic watch out of there earlier this year. Sorry, don't remember the contact's name.

-Good luck!

 

[wingnutt]

man, whatever you do, dont hang all hope on the mighty Airnet. im getting the feeling that if you arent an active CFI, they wont give you the time of day.

to put it in perspective, i applied every 100 hours from 300 (back when they dropped their minimums) all the way to 1300. i started flying 135 ops last year at 500 after doing a few hundred hours of ferry work (read; zero dual given). im now closing in on 1500 and 500, flying the Baron in 135 ops, with 3 internal recommendations, and i cant get much more than a "thanks for applying" from that dang internet application process stuff...needless to say ive broadened the old search

P.S. NoPlane is right, theres a traffic watch out of Arlington. i cannot remember the name of the FBO, but its the big one down there...some guys name, lemme ask around.

 

[AFELLOWAVIATOR]

There used to be a jump school at Decater airport. I flew there back in the 80's.It is NW of Ft. Worth. You can give it a shot. After that, I found a pilot with an Apache, and we flew the paint off of it and I only paid for gas.