Flying Job in Alaska

[rchcfi]

Guys/Gals,

My little outfit will be hiring for the summer, as will just about every outfit up here. He was asking me if we should hire fewer or more pilots this summer. My response was more (to cover time off, sicknesses, etc) but he said maybe less because pilots all want the most time they can get.

My question is, would you want to fly in Alaska and only get 70 hours a month? Or would you have to have the 140 that most of us get every summer. I would think most would just be happy to have a job, and 135 experince at that.

BTW, Andy is the Chief Pilot and he is happy to talk to anyone that calls. 907-235-8591 Looking to hire around April. We fly C206s and a BN2. All VFR day.

 

[CrewDawg]

Can you give some more details, such as Location, and hiring min's, how much alaska time is needed???

 

[Gulfstreamlover]

I've got some buddies that might be interested, can you give us a little more info please? You can PM me if you want.

 

[rchcfi]

I guess I should have included a little more information. Just trying to type it out fast between flights.

My outfit's name is Homer Air and we're located in Homer, AK. Website www.homerair.com.....

Right now we are in the process of changing insurance carriers, so we don't know the minimums they are going to place on us. I wouldn't assume it to be any more than 1,000TT and maybe 100ME. Before we didn't have an Alaskan time requirement, but unsure what they are going to give us. Should know more in a month.

 

[CrewDawg]

Please update us when you find out your new min's for sure. Thanks for the info.

 

[moving2vegas]

working in alaska

here's a link to previous threads that me and rchcfi posted....

http://forums.flightinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27397

there is some good info about working in AK for crewdawg and others. Alaska is great, but it's defiantly not for everyone. It is a lifestyle change and if you aren’t ready you will hate it there. Although Homer is probably the best place you could ever be stationed as a low time pilot. Talk to AK vets and get an understanding of what it takes in the bush. PM me with questions, but be patient. I'm starting re-current ground school and won't have much time. Best of luck.


BTW....hey RCHCFI. Is homer air expanding? Last time I was there they flew (1) islander and (3) 206's. I don't see a ton of summer hiring there...

 

[Dan CFI/CFII]

rch:

Is anyone relatively prominent there from New Mexico? I seem to remember running into someone who may or may not have been at Homer Air and from the land of enchantment.

Either way, they'll either get a call from me or a visit in person, this full time A&P stuff is getting old real quick...

Dan

 

[rchcfi]

moving2vegas....That is still our fleet count, but I am the only pilot right now. We won't be hiring gobs of people like Bethel does. More like 2 or 3.

Dan.....yep, you are correct sir. It sounds as if you know Andy already.

 

[inline]

Homer is on the road system, so the cost of living is relativley cheap. It's not the bush. Flying there is fairly easy in the summer and that applies to most of Alaska. It's winter flying that's the challenge.

 

[TurboS7]

By all means the 140 hours per month. June, July, August go really quick. I know you can get a so, so month in May and September. After that it is time to go to SJU or HNL. You also have less personalities involved. Plus if the pilot's are busy they don't have time to drink beer, chase women and all the other stupid things that pilot's do when they get bored and are not doing what they love to do.

P.S. Save a place for me 12 years from now, I could even talk my wife into going back to Homer, Pilot Point is another matter.

 

[A Squared]

Pilot Point is another matter.

Hey Turbo, a little lightbulb just lit. I've heard you speak of flying the Evangel ... the first time I ever saw an evangel was in Pilot Pilot in 1987 ... you by any chance?

 

[TurboS7]

That more than likely was the Evangel that was being operated by Yute Air Alaska out of DLG. I was in Pilot Point 82 and 83 during the summer(May-Oct) flying fish, I had my own airplanes and was doing my own thing. The Evangel was designed by Carl Mortenson a Peru JAARS pilot that left the field to develop the twin. The first was a tri-gear version that looked like a box designed and flown in 1966. The single engine characteristics were such that if you lost an engine you would crash over there instead of right here. Carl went back to the drawing board and came up with the Evangel that we know of today. The prototype was N4501L. It flew its field test intitials in Colombia out of our base Lomalinda. I flew on it as passenger rt seat observer on many of the field trials. I was 15 at the time. When my parents returned from fulough( missionaries get to go home for a year after 4 years of service we call that fulough) I had my private pilot certificate and I got to fly many hours as rt. seat auto-pilot on the airplane. I used to skip school to go on trips-that caused quite a hopla, but I obviously learned a bunch more in the right seat of the Evangel that I ever did about English Lit. At the time we were flying N4505L the fifth version. Over time the Evangel needed a over-haul(130 db on the flight deck at takeoff). Carl went back to the drawing board and came up with the Angel. To this day there still isn't a real productive light twin that can fill the STOL market. Now turbine engines has taken over the market and avgas is not avialiable in most jungle markets. In retrospect I think mission aviation would have been better off raising the money and moving in the directions of a couple of nice Huey's. But economics drive everything in missions time is cheap(missionaries work for free) the dollar is very hard to come by. In the commerical market just the opposite is true. See the lastest copy of Pro-pilot Airserv has done a good job of somehow filling the gap. But they serve NGO's not the mission market. The reality is that if the churches put their money where there mouth was mission aviation would have the funds that they need. You will find that most churches spend the money on themselves and the world can just go you know where..... that only is another thread and another topic.

 

[avbug]

that only is another thread and another topic.

True enough. For that one, go here:

http://forums.flightinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28036