Key lime or pipeline

[rumorhasit]

Just wanted to get some feedback on this ..........Got a job offer from key lime to fly the navajo for 6/8 months then upgrade to the metro but just got a job offer to fly pipeline for double the pay with weekends off plus benifits my thing is i ahve 1100 hours and want to fly corporate . i know key lime i can get multi and pipeline is vfr but the pay is alot better so just trying to get some ideas out there

 

[b707guy]

No experience in these areas, but my gut for the types of flying in question is that pipeline work is looked upon as "real" flying. The pay and benefits differences are a personal call (family needs, short term finances, etc...), but it's all PIC with pipeline and if you really feel the need for multi time, the extra pay over key lime gives you an opportunity to get multi time on your own which may be another feather in your cap for resume fodder over SIC on someone else's dime. Best of luck!:beer:

 

[rumorhasit]

reply pipeline flying

thxs yea with the extra pay i can go get more multi i have over 450 just trying to get more hours but i guess overall its flying and like i said the pay is a lot better plus i dont have to move or commute ..

 

[Lear Wanna Be]

Seems to me that Key Lime does not have the best reputation either. If they are doing a bunch of DHL freight, then there might be some big changes over there as well.

 

[wrxpilot]

I highly recommend you do a search for Key Lime to see what you could be getting into.

 

[rumorhasit]

yea ,
I heard of somethings over there but you know that this industry there are a bunch of rumors the best i have always thought is to find out for yourself .The pipeline gig is cool but i am looking in a year from know would a corporate company frown doing pipeline or working for a 135 would be better flying a cessna is cool but not in the long haul..but man the pay is great i could always get a rating later?????

 

[dickburns]

It's a toss up as far as the pay and qol go. I would say key-lime (minus their reputation) is "real" flying as well. They are all /A, hand flying all weather. I knew a guy that flew pipeline for a year and almost washed out of easy 135 training, mainly because the entire previous year all he had was vfr time in a 172. It's all PIC at key lime also, as long as you dont ride right seat in the metro. Multi-pic versus single pic, thats your call as well. Just because you stay instrument current doesnt mean you can fly instruments (all that vfr time flying at 500 feet over oil fields comes to mind again).​

From the guys I know that fly at lime, they all live at the outstations since your last flight of the week is an outbound from Denver to the podunk town. Some of them may be cool to live in but if you want to reside in Denver that may mean a multiple hour drive on saturday morning for a few hours in the city then back out on sunday night for the early monday morning flight to apa.​

 

[rumorhasit]

What i would like to know from someone out there flying corporate if flying pipeline is going to hurt me instead of flying for this 135 company , still pic but vfr .but i have close to 500 multi and this would allow me to get my atp in about 5month . Just trying to get some info from someone but i am just glad to have a good paying job flying i guess that all that matter these days...........................feel bad for thoses guy loosing jobs out there and it is only going to get worse.

 

[Caboclo]

Depending on what kind of corporate you're looking at, you could just about go there now. Do you have something specific in mind for your long-term goal, and have you checked their minimums?

 

[rumorhasit]

yea still short for a fo position . looking for a lear

 

[GCD]

The pipeline job won't benefit you at all for a Lear position. Simply, day VFR time isn't going to get you many interviews at all.

Although, Key Lime has a reputation, it is real flying that is looked at by potential employers as a good training stepping stone.

 

[b707guy]

My apologies for the "real" comment above... Don't mean to malign ANY type of flying, but was referring more to seat of the pants kind of flying as opposed to more civil (for passengers...) transportation. I doubt that there are many CEOs out there who don't want to keep their lunch down, nor will it do much for your instrument proficiency, so the pipeline work may not transfer very well to corporate. 22 years flying and I've still got lots to learn!

 

[WabiSabi]

Even though the pipe line gig is better pay and probably better QOL, I have to vote for Key Lime. 135 single pilot IFR is quality time that a corporate operation would want in your logbook vs VFR. Just get your time and get out. Don't do anything there to prevent you from leaving with your life, limbs or certificates.

 

[refplusnone]

Having done Pipe flying myself I'll tell you that the only good that will come of it is more TT. I'd say Key Lime. You'll find it easier to get a better gig after flying with them for a year than after flying pipe.

On a side note I don't know the details of Key Lime's safety record but don't kid yourself that flying pipe a very safe alternative. I myself had a motor pop on me in the middle of Houston, then after I left two guys I used to work with were killed in low ceilings when they went into the trees. I can't stress enough the amount of care you have to take when flying pipe.

Ref

 

[belchfire]

Navaho, huh...

The first thing that I would look at is at what point in the flight an engine failure in the Navaho generates a NTSB file...

you should come the conclusion that if you are close to the ground on takeoff and one of the motors packs it up that the safest couse of action is to close the throttles, select full flaps and crash straight ahead...lots have tried other things and they have crashed at various unusual attitudes that preclude survival! (I've never flown the 'ho, just read the reports on a recommendation from a friend...I opted out).

We that have some level of success in the industry find a place we fit. I like the frieght gig. I really thought that I wanted to do something like SWA or Air Tran and while I wouldn't turn down an interview with either, I stumbled into something that I'm really loving!

I would recommend hanging out with some of the local pilots that do what you are wanting to do. Try to learn if the really like who they are working for and what would be expected of you. Could you handle servicing the lav?

If you really want to go corporate the thing that I have found is that after beating on the door for months they call you after you've taken some other job-for better or worse. Perhapse in my case (jury's still out, hell it's avation and you will never know till it's too late) it was for the best...I never thought I would fly a 74 for instance, but here I am. In that vein, get over the Lear. It's not that equipment, it's the job that matters!

One thing I can say-a corporate outfit won't call you until they need you, like as not that will be at the last minute! I've gotten several calls from people that I was desperate to work for a few months earlier...only to have to tell them that I was either in class or just done with class and thanks but maybe next time.

 

[Trogdor]

With you saying Lear, in Denver, I assume you are looking at either Mayo or I-Jet. I would take the 135 job in a heartbeat over flying VFR PIC in a Cessna. The 135 multi experience will be looked at in a much more favorable light than Cessna PIC. Plus, if you are flying in and out of APA, you may get a chance to meet some of the guys at Mayo or I-Jet and make some connections. I know Key Lime sucks, but if it is between that and a single-engine Cessna gig, I say take the 135.

 

[f-dawg]

Go with Key Lime. It's tough out there and likely to stay that way. So, the multi and eventually multi-turbine is much more valuable than the single-engine vfr. Plus you'll have a valuable type if you go in the metro. There is a sort of fraternal thing that exists between Metro drivers and there are a lot of fmr metro guys in corporate flight now. I got my last job out of 800 applicants b/c I had Metro time. I'm not the only guy who this has happened to either. Of course they sold my aircraft and I'm on the market now. But, so are a lot of other guys.

 

[OrionFE]

Pipeline/Powerline Patrol

Anybody know of any pipeline/powerline patrol operators in Pennsylvania?

 

[CUBMAN]

Are these your only options? I wouldnt hang my neck out for an operation like Key Lime. They definitely wouldnt for you. Take another look around. There are more ways to skin a cat. Happy hunting.

 

[wlacy]

Listen, I spent 3 1/2 months in Dallas flying around the city both before sunrise and also during the heat of the afternoon. Traffic Watch is just glorified pipeline patrol, and while I averaged 100 hours a month it really taxed my instrument proficiency among other things. I don't care what job you're building your time for: they're all going to require a set of skills that just cannot be proven with thousands of hours behind the helm of a Cessna 172. I would much rather fly a 2-leg DHL run than drone along for 8 hours at 1,000 AGL in a 172.

Dealing with reporters and helicopter pilots was another pain in the neck...but you'll have those issues anywhere ya fly. So set yourself apart from the pack and go fly "Multi PIC IFR Solo Night Mountainous-terrain, Part 135" compared to "Day VFR"