Frozen Ronin
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Low time pilot looking for bush pilot job.
- Thread starter veedubpilot
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Sled driver
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- Mar 23, 2006
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- 14
Lamesauce,
With those hours you are golden! If you want a full time year round job that gives you 10 to 15 consecutive days off a month try Grant or Hageland. (If you work in Western Alaska you will want to have some time off to get away.) There are other companies as well that have been mentioned on this board.
With your hours have you considered some of the lower 48 operators? Some of the Caravan operators are lowering their minimums to 1500 or even 1200 hours. Flight Express is always looking for 210 pilots, Airnet and Ameriflight are hiring like crazy, etc. Just a thought. I have gotten good experience up North but it has been VFR not IFR! Best of luck.
With those hours you are golden! If you want a full time year round job that gives you 10 to 15 consecutive days off a month try Grant or Hageland. (If you work in Western Alaska you will want to have some time off to get away.) There are other companies as well that have been mentioned on this board.
With your hours have you considered some of the lower 48 operators? Some of the Caravan operators are lowering their minimums to 1500 or even 1200 hours. Flight Express is always looking for 210 pilots, Airnet and Ameriflight are hiring like crazy, etc. Just a thought. I have gotten good experience up North but it has been VFR not IFR! Best of luck.
Frozen Ronin
Well-known member
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Beardedclam
Member
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- Dec 11, 2005
- Posts
- 6
Be careful with GRANT! I worked for Grant years ago and I think it was a dangerous operation. It's ok to build some time and get out as quikly as you can. I still remember the dispatchers having tantrums if you had to turn around for weather. Emmonak is a real hoot to live in-you'll see should you decide to give Grant a try. I could go on but wont. The bush is a good place to get a start as a lot of people have went that route. No matter who you work for up in Alaska, they will all push the weather all the time. It's the only way you can get the job done. Good Luck.
Theres alot of jobs up here in Alaska for low time pilots.Try Haagelands,they hire low time pilots into the right seat of the caravan(they need it to fly single engine IFR w/passengers).I got my start up here with 300 hours,but you have to move up here before anyone will give you a break.
Good luck
Good luck
Sled driver
Member
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2006
- Posts
- 14
Both companies are fine!
Hey guys,
I have worked for both companies and both of them are quite fine to get a start with. There are quite a few pilots who have chosen to remain with these companies due to their schedules and pay and/or they live up there. There are also a lot of pilots who get a couple thousand hours and move on. As far as dangerous and weather and all that stuff...the weather can be bad but the same goes for a lot of areas down in the Lower 48. C,mon...you get more ice in some States then you ever will in Western Alaska. Fog and wind can be a problem in other States as well. I never considered Grant dangerous. If the weather was legal I did my best to complete the flight. If it got to the point where I couldn't see the ground at 500 feet agl I tried a different route or turned around. (We are talking VFR operations) I never caught flack from the Dispatchers. Were they frustrated. You bet. They are trying to get pax and mail moved. They appreciated the effort though. As far as co-pilots for Hagelands...they are not required in the Caravan but if you can get on that way, it is a good way to go. The 1900 is another option. Both Hagelands and Grant like you to have around 1000 hours to be PIC in a C207. A lot of people have gotten hired with less though. Best of luck. Just my two cents worth.
Hey guys,
I have worked for both companies and both of them are quite fine to get a start with. There are quite a few pilots who have chosen to remain with these companies due to their schedules and pay and/or they live up there. There are also a lot of pilots who get a couple thousand hours and move on. As far as dangerous and weather and all that stuff...the weather can be bad but the same goes for a lot of areas down in the Lower 48. C,mon...you get more ice in some States then you ever will in Western Alaska. Fog and wind can be a problem in other States as well. I never considered Grant dangerous. If the weather was legal I did my best to complete the flight. If it got to the point where I couldn't see the ground at 500 feet agl I tried a different route or turned around. (We are talking VFR operations) I never caught flack from the Dispatchers. Were they frustrated. You bet. They are trying to get pax and mail moved. They appreciated the effort though. As far as co-pilots for Hagelands...they are not required in the Caravan but if you can get on that way, it is a good way to go. The 1900 is another option. Both Hagelands and Grant like you to have around 1000 hours to be PIC in a C207. A lot of people have gotten hired with less though. Best of luck. Just my two cents worth.
Logging the Caravan time is done through the company general ops manual.There are certain requirements to flying single engine IFR with passengers.One of them is you have to have a back-up electrical vacuum system and have auto-pilot.It's not a plane that requires an sic so you have to take a PIC checkride...(not a big deal).It's a black area but you will get some valuable experience and your foot in the door for a better job.
As far as Frontier goes it seems to be a pretty good company and they do hire low time pilots but you need to show up prepared they will weed out the weak ones
As far as Frontier goes it seems to be a pretty good company and they do hire low time pilots but you need to show up prepared they will weed out the weak ones
highalti2d
Madhatter
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2004
- Posts
- 21
Listen to Sled Driver
Have a listen to sled driver, he's been right on so far. A couple of others as well, of course, but he's got the gist of it. Get the 135 VFR mins (my personal path was via skydiving for a summer) go out there and have a good time. I was there for a couple of years and had a blast. There being Bethel... fun flying good people, even found a tree or two in Bethel!
Gotta point out the quality of life issue though, you're building time, you want to go fly in the bush, and that's great, but it's not for everyone. If you like your Wal-mart, Kmart, payless shoes, Macdonald's and a drive through liquor store (or even just buying liquor in the same town that you reside in), and a paved road to take you there, you may not like living in the bush. It's not hard to live out there, but coming from the 48, it can be an adjustment. There's always the stories of the new hire showing up on the morning jet, only to have skipped out on the evening jet, or mysteriously disappearing after 1 week at work.
I'll also point out that in the Western Alaska way of things, twin time can be a little difficult to come by, of course, depending on the operator you work for etc. etc.
Important questions to ask before accepting the job, or arriving at work (including the obvious); Pay (is it a daily rate? is it garaunteed whether you fly or not? or by the flight hour with a base? or just a straight salary), schedule(2 weeks on 2 off, 20 days on 10 off, 6 days on 1 off etc.), jump seat availability and which specific companies offer it, company housing; is it provided or is it a housing stipend or partially subsidised? commitment periods for equipment offered (and the quipment you could be upgraded to)... that's about all that I can think of for the moment.
Good luck, always happy to answer a random questions about AK, particularily the Bethel area. You guys who are still out there doing your thing, get out of company housing once in awhile, enjoy your time out there, because I'm sitting here now thinking how much fun it really was up there, bar none. Of course, I'll be thinking of you all flying in AK this winter as I'm floating on my back in Caribbean waters....
Fly safe...
Have a listen to sled driver, he's been right on so far. A couple of others as well, of course, but he's got the gist of it. Get the 135 VFR mins (my personal path was via skydiving for a summer) go out there and have a good time. I was there for a couple of years and had a blast. There being Bethel... fun flying good people, even found a tree or two in Bethel!
Gotta point out the quality of life issue though, you're building time, you want to go fly in the bush, and that's great, but it's not for everyone. If you like your Wal-mart, Kmart, payless shoes, Macdonald's and a drive through liquor store (or even just buying liquor in the same town that you reside in), and a paved road to take you there, you may not like living in the bush. It's not hard to live out there, but coming from the 48, it can be an adjustment. There's always the stories of the new hire showing up on the morning jet, only to have skipped out on the evening jet, or mysteriously disappearing after 1 week at work.
I'll also point out that in the Western Alaska way of things, twin time can be a little difficult to come by, of course, depending on the operator you work for etc. etc.
Important questions to ask before accepting the job, or arriving at work (including the obvious); Pay (is it a daily rate? is it garaunteed whether you fly or not? or by the flight hour with a base? or just a straight salary), schedule(2 weeks on 2 off, 20 days on 10 off, 6 days on 1 off etc.), jump seat availability and which specific companies offer it, company housing; is it provided or is it a housing stipend or partially subsidised? commitment periods for equipment offered (and the quipment you could be upgraded to)... that's about all that I can think of for the moment.
Good luck, always happy to answer a random questions about AK, particularily the Bethel area. You guys who are still out there doing your thing, get out of company housing once in awhile, enjoy your time out there, because I'm sitting here now thinking how much fun it really was up there, bar none. Of course, I'll be thinking of you all flying in AK this winter as I'm floating on my back in Caribbean waters....
Fly safe...
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