Medivac - Air Ambulance operators.

[CaravanMan]

Right now we're on a 2 week on, 1 week off schedule. I keep hearing about possible 1/1 shedule though, but we'll see. 2/1 is fine with me though- I'm at home all the time anyway (just on a pager). Pay's low-mid $40k, but it goes a ways in the Midwest. Ihatemgmt, what type of a/c will you guys be using?

 

[Photoflight]

would either of you two care to PM me with some details of your companies...location etc.. I would appreciate it.

 

[G-force]

Duty Time Limits

Just wondering if anyone had any knowledge of medivac operators in Texas or Oklahoma. Anyone whos done this type of flying before who'd care to offer a perspective would be great. Just beginning to look for that next step and this looked like it might keep me in the size airplane I like to fly as well as allow me to do some usefull flying.

Sorry if this is the wrong forum...its the closest I could think of.

Watch out for DUTY TIME,operators like to do things that would cause you BUST the regulation.

 

[IHateMgmt]

Right now we're on a 2 week on, 1 week off schedule. I keep hearing about possible 1/1 shedule though, but we'll see. 2/1 is fine with me though- I'm at home all the time anyway (just on a pager). Pay's low-mid $40k, but it goes a ways in the Midwest. Ihatemgmt, what type of a/c will you guys be using?

Yeah, the downside to our schedule is that none of our pilots will be at home on their days on. So I'm pulling for at least 1/1 if not something like 3/4. Our fleet plan changes weekly but we'll probably have a handful of 421's, a bit more KingAirs or a turboprop equivalent, and a small fleet of lears or CJs. CarvanMan, on a typical two week strech of days on, how often do you get called?

 

[CaravanMan]

CarvanMan, on a typical two week strech of days on, how often do you get called?

It's really too hard to give an accurate number. When it rains, it pours, and when it's dry...you know. Normally, it works out to a flight at least every other day. Sometimes we'll fly 2x a day for a few days straight, but there are times where you might sit at home with a quiet pager, wondering if it's broken, for 4-5 days. I'm sorry I can't be more specific, but there's really no telling when we'll be called. I'd say maybe 5% of our flights are pre-scheduled...it rarely happens.

Sucks that your guys can't be at home while on duty. Our rotor pilots stay at the airport (lift-off by 10mins), but fixed-wing has a 30 min call out, so we have to be w/in 20mins of airport, then wheels up by 30.

 

[some_dude]

We use Turbo Commanders and Lear 35s. On the Lear, try and avoid the narrow door.

The Commander is not bad, other than the lack of room in the back. We have one bed and three seats, and it's pretty tight back there. Ours have a mod to the door to allow it to open fully, which makes loading quite reasonable.

 

[IHateMgmt]

We use Turbo Commanders and Lear 35s. On the Lear, try and avoid the narrow door.

The Commander is not bad, other than the lack of room in the back. We have one bed and three seats, and it's pretty tight back there. Ours have a mod to the door to allow it to open fully, which makes loading quite reasonable.

Are there different models of the L35 that have narrow or wide doors, or is it a mod? We recently started looking into the turbo commanders... one of my concerns with it is the lack of Mx support as compared with KingAirs or Conquests. Has your company had any issues with this, or am I way off? We fly in the north central US... where do you operate around?

 

[some_dude]

We are in the Northwest.

We're a Twin Commander service center, and have been one since the 1950s, so that probably minimizes our support issues. I'm not aware of any problems, but YMMV.

As for Lears, there were two door options on the aircraft when new-- the "Cargo" (or wide, 36") door and the "Executive" (or narrow, 24") door.

It is possible to convert a narrow door to a wide door. I believe the price is around $150k, maybe a bit less.

Are there different models of the L35 that have narrow or wide doors, or is it a mod? We recently started looking into the turbo commanders... one of my concerns with it is the lack of Mx support as compared with KingAirs or Conquests. Has your company had any issues with this, or am I way off? We fly in the north central US... where do you operate around?

 

[FlyMeSWA]

Citation II here at Boston MedFlight in addition to the 2 helicopters. All a/c operated by independent companies.