Low-timer Road Trip

[Choppermech1986]

GD, this is just my 2c so take or leave the information as you please.

I would urge you to consider 'censoring' your posts to only show the facts. I gather that you're trying to help those following in your footsteps but writing in the style of a blog, where you include your opinions and hearsay, won't be as beneficial to those behind you as you think it may be.

If you choose to share your journey, just accept that every CP, line pilot and hangar rat you meet may know your story and thus, will already have formed an opinion of you.

I applaud your honesty and enthusiasm but don't want it to hurt your chances of landing that first job. I would suggest that you edit your posts accordingly.

All the best!

[glorifieddriver]

Thank you for the advice. I know sometimes my problem is being to open and honest in what is in my mind. Some people might like it, some might not. But at least you will never have to guess what is brewing underneath the hat. I do think that it is time to change some of this, especially on this forum as it is something that might end up hurting me one day down the road. But I think for those who have met me, it would be pretty easy to finish forming that opinion fully. I will never be liked by everyone, and I am not trying to be. I am an honest person who will always offer a helping hand even to those that might have their backs turned on me. Just who I am. I do appreciate you pointing that out though, as I have been thinking over this lately, especially since someone has mentioned to me that you must be GD in my travels

[Rowdy]

Did you check in with any of the float ops who might still be south for the winter? Might be worth popping in at selkirk while in winnipeg to see whats up.. they usually have a pretty good grasp on whats going on with a bunch of the operators. I will suggest checking in with Alair and sandy lake seaplanes. They do run wheeled machines and take on low timers occasionally. What about Mcmurray aviation? There are a couple of smaller ops in northern AB that might be worth visiting. Calgary and Edmonton are 'probably' a waste of time at this point. I'd still get a resume and e-mail off to KBA anyways.. You just never know! Where are you thinking of stopping in Sask? Any other spots in MB? missinipi? I went through the pas and flin flon myself about a decade ago…

[glorifieddriver]

Hey Rowdy thanks for the suggestions. I have not done many float ops on my trip yet. So far visiting charter ops have taken quite a bit of time as people have been as I said very welcoming. Most places spend at least 30 minutes with me. Winnipeg has been very good so far, there is a place where I have to return early next week for some more talks and I decided to park it out here till then and study up a little. If all goes well, my trip might end here. If it does not I am going to visit Transwest and a few smaller places Blue Skies and Shart Tail south of Regina. I might drop into KBA, but at this point inn time I have pretty much decided not to venture past SK. I have lots of companies to follow up with and I think with patience something might just pop up out of this trip so far. I will still need to go back to Sioux and Nakina, and perhaps visit some more float ops in NWO. I went by adventure air, but I was a little late, they hired two guys just recently.

[Johnny#5]

"Position: Beaver and 185 Pilots
Company Name: Lac La Croix Quetico Air Services
Contact Name: Jay Handberg
City: Lac La Croix
Province/Territory or State: Ontario
Country: Canada
Web Address: http://www.campbellscabins.com
Email Address: ccmail@campbellscabins.com
Phone Number: (800) 238-4224
Send Resume & Cover Letter Via: email
Aircraft Types: DHC-2, C185

Job Description:

Quetico Air Service on Lac La Croix is looking for Beaver and 185 Pilots for the summer float season. Season typically runs mid-May to mid-September.

Must have Valid Passport or able to obtain prior to Start Date "


....seems like a good year for float jobs - all you need is a passport!

[glorifieddriver]

Just seen the ad. Seems like a nice little place to spend a summer at. I will be leaving YWG in the next few days for SK. And by before the weekend hopefully will start on the return journey home. I have that place on my list to visit, also I still need to drop back by Sioux, and head over to Nakina (Who also very recently had an ad up). Thanks for the share!

[Egres]

Hey GD if you're heading to the NWT I would recommend that you don't skip Fort Simpson there's two operator and its a great place to start nice little town beautiful country to fly.... both operation are located in town not at the main airport Cheer !!

Egres

[glorifieddriver]

At this point in time time will not permit me to venture this far anymore. Some cities took longer than planned. I am hoping that the places I visited will be enough to land a job sometime this year. Thanks for the suggestion though, if I didn't have to be back by a certain day would have dropped in there for a visit.

Thanks

GD

[Qfly]

Figured Id post my question here rather than make a new topic

Im planning my own road trip, but quite a few CPs/Ops Managers are hard to get hold of when I call
Most of the dispatchers I talk to generally say its not a problem if I drop in, but is this the case for most people?

Kind of nervous dropping into places unannounced, dont want to annoy any prospective employers.

[glorifieddriver]

Did my road trip in February, had a few offers and now close to 400TT and love the company I work for. I was worried about the same thing when I did my trip but everyone has been very accommodating. Do the trip and you won't regret it.

GD

[upintheair_]

yeah phoning will really not do much. Just show up. It shows initiative and that's how you'll land your first job. I am pretty introverted so doing just that was hard but after a few of them it wasn't a big deal anymore. Smile, shake hands and move to the next town. Follow up a week later or so and just keep at it.

I am in the same boat as above... did my road trip in April with 215 hours. Found a job in June and now have 450TT and growing quickly.

[Qfly]

Thanks a lot guys!
Little confidence boost I needed. Although the phone calls werent completely useless, I did find out what one CP likes in his coffee

[alexnz]

GD or any others who have done this road trip in recent years, are you able to PM me? Looking for a bit of advice

[spkg]

Is it too late in the year to do a road trip?

I am fresh out of flight school 200TT MEIFR, I had originally planned to finished my CPL next spring, but there was an opening in NWO a contact told me about, so I did 40 hours and three flight tests in a month but the job didn't pan out.

I will be doing a mini road trip up to where my contact is, he said he could put me in touch with his CP and some of his contacts that operates there, so I'm thinking of dropping in on some operators alone the way and in the area anyways.

With operations winding down in general this time of the year, is it even worth doing a full blown month long road trip? I have a pretty good job right now at YYZ, but I don't want to waste half a year and let my flying skills rot. I am however more than happy doing ground handling over the winter and spring if that means I have a better chance to fly come next year.

Is there a big different between 200TT and 250TT other than the IATRA? Is flying that extra 50 hours on my own dime going to give me any kind of edge come spring?

Would a float rating be worth it if I only end up with 7 hours on floats? Are float operator's expecting new pilots to flying 50 hours of floats on the own before even considering them?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.