Your First Flying Job!

[Flyingtoohigh]

I'm currently engrossed in a job search of my own. Still looking for that first pilot job! I could use a little encouragement lately and would like to hear some of the jobs that fellow aviators have held as their first flying job! Please share your memories of the first time you were paid to fly and why you loved/hated it. Thanks in advance!

 

[wingnutt]

i flew cancelled checks as a sort of a sub-contractor for USCheck (Airnet) runs that they deemed too small for their planes to make. single engine, no autopilot, 2 VOR's and a DME that only worked when within 30 miles of the station.

got paid a whopping 1,000 a month, but i still had penii erectii about anything with wings, so i loved every minute of it

 

[avbug]

Ag (crop dusting) right after high school. Row crops in flat land. At the time I couldn't imagine but that anyone would be jelous; I thought I was the most fortunate kid on earth.

Looking back, I think I was.

 

[mar]

Hang in there

I got my first CFI job 10 years ago in a market that was bad but not quite this bad.

I had canvassed the entire southwest, knocking on every flightschool door with no bites.

In Sept of '93 I went to Alaska for the first time but found nothing.

In Oct '93 I got a CFI job in Van Nuys, CA. I foolishly left that job about seven months later for another "opportunity" that turned out to be a sham.

But I recovered with another CFI job in Concord, CA. Nine months later I found myself in Bethel, Alaska.

And that was the toughest job I've ever had and the best move I ever made.

Good luck.

 

[Timebuilder]

Aside from instructing, I was a copilot on a Navajo. As I vacuumed the carpet in preparation for a flight, I felt like a real pilot. When I flew the ILS in hard IMC down to minimums in level three rain, I knew I was one. Those were some fun flying days.

 

[Citationkid]

Aside from instructing, I was a copilot on a Navajo. As I vacuumed the carpet in preparation for a flight, I felt like a real pilot. When I flew the ILS in hard IMC down to minimums in level three rain, I knew I was one. Those were some fun flying days.

Haha you just descibed what I do. I guess you could call it a job, but I have no licenses yet, I'm too young, but I ride along with my mom in a Navajo and Citation. Some people don't consider me a pilot, buts that's fine with me. I do all the work my mom normally does, so when we get to the FBO she goes to the nearest snooze room and I do all the work with the counter people, and even though Avbug comes close I think I'm the most fortunate kid out there.

 

[Vladimir Lenin]

I do all the work my mommy normally does

is there a daddy?

 

[Flyingtoohigh]

More! More! More!

It's great to hear that many people have positive memories of their first flying job! Keep 'em coming!

I'm off to study. I've got six chapters to read from a wonderful book entitled "Human Factors in Multi-Crew Flight Operations" ... sounds fun, eh? I can't wait until May when I'll have a degree of my very own (to use as a coaster).

 

[WrightAvia]

Haha...hang in there. Seems like a line from "platoon" comes to mind...

Keep your pecker hard and your powder dry and the world will turn...

 

[I.P. Freley]

I finally got my ME-COMM checkride out of the way on a monday afternoon (at some aviation university in DAB, heh heh) and within two hours I was at the helm of a Penske rental truck with my car on a trailer, heading up to NY for my waiting CFI job... At least I was HOPING it was waiting, as I technically hadn't interviewed yet. The big thing about this place is that it was where I'd gotten my PVT four years earlier and they "knew" me, so I all but had the job. The big perk was that they operated a Chieftain for the local cable company, and if you were a good boy, you'd get to fly it.

Tuesday evening I completed my interview, which included a very annoying (and unplanned-for) "test"... Had to walk into the PVT Pilot ground school that was then ongoing and had to teach a lesson on VOR orientation with no preparation!

Anyhoo... Got home that night and there was a message waiting for me that said "Navajo trip tomorrow, 9am, be there or you're toast".

Mind you that up 'til this point the biggest thing I'd actually flown was a Seminole.

Sho 'nuff, 9am the next day I find myself sitting in the left seat of this wondrous beast, the NAVAJO CHIEFTAIN... WOO HOOO!!!! And no clue what I was supposed to do. Good thing the company VP was "right seat" and showed me the ropes. After flying in Florida for a few years, picking up a clearance from NY Center was enough of a challenge!

I ended up with nearly 300 hours in that bird, most without the company VP as my right seat. Best experience I ever had.

 

[Freightdog75]

citatioinkid

Did you say "mommy"?

FD75

 

[LXApilot]

First Flying Job

My first time being paid to fly was right after my 18th birthday - I was working in the office of the flight club when the boss walked in and asked me if I wanted to make $30 an hour! I looked at him in amazement - "sure" I said to him in bewilderment of what was coming next. He flew a Cessna 182 and a Saratoga for a law firm in Atlanta but he was over 60 and would have rather gone to play golf than deal with a bunch of lawyers and having to deal with the flying. I was of course enthusiastic to take the opportunity and eventually logged over 100 hours in 9 months carting those guys around to their client meetings and court apperances all over the Southeast. Built a lot of great cross country and instrument experience in great airplanes! It was the opportunity of a lifetime for someone in my position. Now I'm out of that job, but man that was awesome!

 

[Newbee]

first job

Banner Tow Pilot, 1996. 250 hours under my belt. First "paycheck" (a copy actually) is framed and hanging in my office right now! $207.50 for a whole week! I was in heaven.... Come to think of it, I think I still make about that after taxes!?

 

[bobbysamd]

First flying job

I instructed and gave checkouts in CAP while holding down my regular job. My flying was primarily after work and on weekends, and was fun. I finally was hired full-time as an instructor at ERAU. I remember when I finally got all my students and went to work. Up to this time I had always associated flying with off-work fun, so, for a long time, I never felt that I was working!

Keep up with your job-hunting. It is never easy. It took me nearly a year to land that Riddle job, even with over 1000 hours, a smattering of multi, and two student passes.

 

[Citationkid]

Re: citatioinkid

Did you say "mommy"?

FD75

He edited my post in his quote.

 

[bigD]

Heh - that's pretty funny.

 

[pilotyip]

Paid for flying?

If your first flying job is the one for which you get paid to fly then mine was as a T-34B student as NAAS Saufley Field (Pensacola). Got paid a whooping $325 per month, plus a free room and board. First civy job was as a Electra F/O with TransAmerican Airlines. There I got paid an unbelievable sum of $925 per month

 

[Flyingtoohigh]

Re: Paid for flying?

There I got paid an unbelievable sum of $925 per month

That's not too far off from the B1900 F/O's of today. It might be a tad on the high side.

 

[pilotyip]

ALPA Contract

We had an ALPA contract that is why we got such good pay, we made 50% of a Capt's wages.

 

[flewa72]

Hard to beat

My first flying job (and I'm already wearing my Nomex, cause I'm sure no one's going to believe me) was as a 727 Flight Engineer. I had a whopping 309 hours total time when I got hired in the office of a Part 121 Supplemental. A few months down the road I managed to make a deal and get into the training department with the promise of an F/E class after a year. I got to fly for about 20 months on line and was furloughed for the third, and last, time a few months after 9/11 when they went Tango Uniform.

It was great while it lasted though. I was actually making a decent living and we had a 6 on, 8 off schedule. Even got to fly in Europe for a couple of weeks. Sure beat the cr*p out of working in an office for 8 hours every day.

The only regret I have is that I didn't finish up my CFI since I thought "hey, I'm in--what do I need to do that for"? At my age and with the market the way it is, that was probably the last flying for pay that I'll see.

But man, oh, man I miss it every day and can't imagine how hard it has to be for you guys that have done this your entire lives and have been grounded due to the industry downturn. I hope and pray every day that the turn around is quicker and more robust than any of us can even imagine.

As long as I can afford to rent something once in a while and still enjoy it, I will continue to punch holes in the clouds for fun and grins. And dream of what could have been...

#%$# YOU OSAMA!