Freight Hauling jobs...

[low&slow]

Freight Dog,

Are you based out of PDX or SEA by any chance? If so, can you tell me when the sun is coming back?

Seattle

Sun? What's that? Is that the thing I see up in the sky every once in awhile? If so, don't count on it. It has taken an extended vacation from the PNW, apparently to HNL... (where I should be)

low&slow

p.s. don't forget your rain coat...

 

[hyper]

photopilot,

I wouldn't say that I blame you for going that direction. Being poor to risk your ticket and your life ain't that attractive. I know some banner towing buddies of mine that have jobs in regionals so I wouldn't say that it's going to hurt you at all. They do however have their instructor ratings, but never really instructed. I guess in a sense, it may be like the majors' desire to see you with a Bachelor's degree. Showing the initiative to learn and better yourself.....yadayadayada. The only downfall I can really see in your situation is the golden multi time. Get that figured out and you'd be sitting pretty.

 

[skydiverdriver]

I've been a dispatcher, a flight instructor, jump pilot, freight pilot, and now passenger rj pilot, and I am glad that I had the experience from all of them. However, after doing both, I would go back to freight in a minute. Just my personal opinion. Good luck to all.

 

[wingnutt]

hey all...new guy here, but i thought id jump right into this one

let me first say that i do not currently have CFI ratings, except for BGI/AGI. when i was a student, i looked at 1) the life 2) the pay and 3) the bull, that my instructor had to put up with and decided then and there that i would find another way to get it done.

i busted my hump to get 500TT working for a friend in exchange for multi-time, and am now a VFR 135 freight dog. although this was pre 9/11, and i dont know that anyone is doing this anymore?!?

anyway, let us revist the 3 downsides i had about being a CFI, shall we?
-theory #1...i thought the hours my instructor spent at the school (12-14) for only a few hours of flight (4-6 on average) were not worth it. well, one of the routes i do as a VFR pilot go out for 1.5 hours, wait in a crappy FBO for 10 hours, and then get the 1.5 back to home base, so there goes that theory.
-theory #2...135 VFR is normally an unpaid position until 1200TT
-and as for theory #3, you're gonna have to put up with some level of dookie at any job, so this one is moot.

there are other downsides that i have observed about being a VFR 135 pilot...
-weather! say you have a rainy season, you are effectively grounded until the weather is forecast to be VFR, which can (and has) last for weeks at a time.
-money! its very frustrating to not be able to get a job to support yourself because as soon as the skies clear up, you are gone.
-hours! as a VFR guy, you are limited to the routes that are short in distance, and do not stay out overnight. this all relates to weather being able to move in and ground the cargo until the sun decides to shine, which cannot be tolerated. so, 2-3 hours a day is about it, then throw in broken planes, weather, routes being cancelled, and it can take a very long time to go from 500-1200

dont get me wrong, i am very happy being a freight dog, and enjoy every minute in the air. i currently have 800 total, 500 cross country (all over 50nm), 400 night, 300 multi, and 300 in 135 ops. near as i can tell, this is all invaluable flight time. but conversely i find myself forgetting certain things, that as a CFI, im sure would be ingrained in the brain. also, there is a certain "polishing" of a pilot once he gets a few hundred hours of dual given under his belt that i have observed in many of my friends, whom have now surpassed me into their flying career

so, since i can almost smell 1000TT, i have been on the phone to a variety of companies (Airnet included) and one of the first questions out of their mouths is "are you a CFI?"

as mentioned previously, it does not seem that any of the companies i talked to care about the number of hours of dual given, just that you have the rating. apparentley this goes a long way in showing your tenacity, desire, learning ability...i dont know exactly what it is

it is for this reason i have decided to go and get an MEI as an initial, and leave it at that. perhaps ill get some chances to log dual given in the future, but im not about to give up on the freight doggy thing now

P.S. rumor mill says GTA in Dallas will no longer be hiring VFR pilots, as its much of a hassle to keep an IFR guy on backup.

 

[Freight Dog]

Dude, I was a VFR 135 freight dog in New Mexico flying 210's, and I was paid for it. After the company went belly up, I flew Senecas under VFR 135, and got paid. Then Ameriflight under IFR 135, and now a regional airline pilot. I was paid for every hour of my flight time... just gotta look and pick.

 

[SeaBass]

Freight Dog,

You wouldn't have happened to work for New Mexico Flying Service out of Albeturkey did ya? I wondered what happened to them. Catch a few rays for me will ya?

--Seabass

 

[Joseph II]

I'm sure this has been said before, but please do the aviation community a favor. If you don't want to instruct to build your flight time, don't do it.

I understand how you want to get your career off and going, I am a low time pilot too!!! It's just when you become an instructor, you are the front line between taking a person off the street and making them a pilot. You need dedication, and a sincere desire to teach others.

I have dropped skydivers in the past but only for a short time. The outfit I worked for were rather lax on FAA rules. I decided if I was to make a career out of flying, my certificates were not worth getting yanked over my first job because I needed the hours. Being a true professional can be very hard at times.

This is not to say that all skydiving operations are that way and it isn't to say that I didn't learn anything. (I learned a lot about flying and altitude/airspeed control). Go look for a dropzone near you!

www.dropzone.com

Keep your hopes up, we all hope the economy gets better so we all can take to the skies!

Joe

 

[Freight Dog]

Freight Dog,

You wouldn't have happened to work for New Mexico Flying Service out of Albeturkey did ya? I wondered what happened to them. Catch a few rays for me will ya?

--Seabass

LOL.. yep, that's exactly who I worked for. Shoot me off a PM... I'll fill ya in on details.

 

[wingnutt]

I'm sure this has been said before, but please do the aviation community a favor. If you don't want to instruct to build your flight time, don't do it.

I understand how you want to get your career off and going, I am a low time pilot too!!! It's just when you become an instructor, you are the front line between taking a person off the street and making them a pilot. You need dedication, and a sincere desire to teach others.

i couldnt agree more...i recall 2 guys at my old school that wanted nothing to do with instructing, but thought cargo or skydiver ops were "beneath" them

it was a quote i saw on a website that honestly stopped me from going thru with CFI training (i got all the way to the checkride as evidenced by my BGI/AGI cert's). it said something to the effect of what Joesph posted. if you dont want to instruct, its your students who will get the short end of the stick, not necessarily you

...and i dunno about you guys, but i didnt want that burden on my shoulders

long story short, they both got fired for not taking care of their students. lemme tell ya the time they had trying to find another CFI job after being fired. turns out they both went to skydiver ops and last i heard were having a blast doing it

P.S. thanks for the link Joseph, im gonna check a few out and see if they hire weekend pilots

 

[Snakum]

Just an FYI ...

A lot of small piston cargo ops like Ram Air Freight in RDU keep a couple VFR guys on all the time. They used to get quite a few hours a day flying traffic or positioning and even more time when they got to do a VFR freight run. The pay is/was around $5.00 an hour but they DO PAY YOU! So what if you have to wash a few airplanes?

Minh