power line/pipeline gigg

[fly4beer]

i'm another 'newbie' looking to build some time. i'm hoping for air cargo carrier but just worked with a pilot who flys pipeline/powerlines out of jackson FL. sounds interesting. just wondering if anyone here had any opinions on it.

 

[kingaira90]

I knew a guy that did that. Sounds great for time building, kinda fun flying too. I did traffic to time build and I would probably put that in the same catagory. My only reccomendation would to try and shoot a practice approch each time you fly (at the end of the flight or along the line). It is real easy to get rusty on inst stuff after a few months of flying only vfr. I would also reccomend that you take the job if you can. If ACC or someplace else calls you can always move on later, don't wait on any job when you are starting out. It might not come, or come much later than you thought. Then that was wasted time you could hve been making some bucks and building time. You don't want a lack of time to hold you back from a early upgrade later on. -kingaira90

 

[fly4beer]

thank you for the reply. i was introduced to a guy at my fbo who does this. he said his company hardly ever hires because everyone wants to do it...is there a source for traffic/pipeline/power line type jobs?
i would take any job right now. my school is in the process of folding and my girlfirend's school just completely folded. i'd clean toliets on an 747 if i could log a little time

 

[kingaira90]

thank you for the reply. i was introduced to a guy at my fbo who does this. he said his company hardly ever hires because everyone wants to do it...is there a source for traffic/pipeline/power line type jobs?
i would take any job right now. my school is in the process of folding and my girlfirend's school just completely folded. i'd clean toliets on an 747 if i could log a little time

Not really sure how to find them. I got my traffic job from a friend that was moving up. A buddy of mine is in the process of getting one he saw listed on the internet. By doing a few random searches with different key words for his area.

I would say that if you listen to or know of any radio stations in your area that have some sort of aircraft based traffic, then call the station and try to talk to the manager or someone in the traffic dept. They probably don't actually own the aircraft/hire the pilot(although it is possible). More likely they contract with someone in the area (and the same one or 2 places supply to lots of stations). So they could give you some info about the place they use. I flew for a company that contracted with Metro Networks which is owned by Westwood One (one of the 3 big corporations that own most of the radio stations in the US, along with infinity and clear chanel).

On the pipeline stuff it may be worth a try to call the headquarters of the power company in the area and try to talk to the powerline maint people. From what I know they usually patrol the high tention lines and natural gas main lines. I would imagine they also contract the work. Good luck-kingaira90
let me know if it works out for you!

 

[Photoflight]

power/pipe line patrol gigs usually require some higher times. Most that I've seen are minimum 1200hrs. Allot of the guys that do it are career patrol guys with like 10,000 plus hours flying patrol. I have seen quite a few traffic watch jobs advertised on planejobs and climbto350.

--good luck

 

[agpilot34]

Not trying to rain on your parade, but let me give you a little advice on considering a pipeline/powerline seat for "timebuilding". I've been flying pipeline patrol for 5 years now, and flew cropdusters before that. There's way more involved in flying pipeline than just sitting there racking up the hours. First of all, most aerial patrol operations require at least 1200 TT before they will even look at you. Most of the time, they will not hire someone that just wants to fly a year or two and move on, because the job is tedious, and the pipeline companies want the same pilot on that line, day in and day out, because he knows the line, knows the terrain and the area, and knows what he's looking at. I've seen pipeline operators get downright nasty over a pilot change on their line. Secondly, how much time have you spent flying at 500 AGL and below? Do you have the skills to fly the aircraft at those altitudes, with your head OUT of the cockpit watching the line, dodging towers, birds, other patrol aircraft, etc., while at the same time, coordinating your patrol with ATC (if your line goes into controlled airspace), taking handoffs to other controllers, looking for traffic, and remembering what you've seen on the line right-of-way and where you saw it? Do you have the stamina to sit in the cockpit of a 172 or 182 for 7, 8, even 9 hours a day, only shutting down long enough to refuel the aircraft and relieve yourself? If flying gathering systems, do you have the stomach for the constant maneuvers you would be performing (hey, it's a valid question, and lots of pilots cant handle it. No shame in that at all)? Do you know anything about petroleum production? Know the difference between a Lacking unit and a Catylitic cracking unit? Dont get me wrong, I'm not trying to say you couldnt do it, I'm just trying to dispell the myth that patrol flying is just a "timebuilding" job. All of the guys I fly with are career patrol pilots (my chief pilot has almost 40,000 hours of PATROL flying). The company I fly for wont even consider someone that just wants to build some hours on the way to an airline cockpit. We're very good at what we do, and we are paid accordingly (at least at the operation I fly for). The flying and the hours are tough at times, but it's a good seat if you like to actually "fly" and not drive a bus!

 

[AA717driver]

Thanks, agpilot! I was kind of hoping to get a pipeline job after I retire from driving the royal barge. But it sounds pretty involved--not a part-time gig.

Take care.TC

 

[agpilot34]

Oh, there are some part time seats out there, usually a couple days a week on shorter lines, you just have to look for them. You are right though, it can get very involved, very quickly!!

 

[fly4beer]

i'm not looking for a frosted view here. i appreciate the candor. i'm a 31 year old businessman who decided to give up the 'dream' for my real dream. i'm all about truth and honesty given respectfully. thank you again. my fear is i'm too old to be hired on with an airline. i'm not even sure exactly what kind of flying i want to do long run. i'm a little out of sorts now NOT working and a little axious to get a paycheck again.

 

[psysicx]

There was a company hiring out of Bakersfield for low timers.Does anybody know the name.