At a crossroads, need some advice

[awitzke]

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[awitzke]

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[Just another canuck]

In my opinion, this is the BEST advice you have received on this thread. I agree 100% with JAC. Believe it or not

Good luck with your decision.

Fly safe
FTB

Thanks FTB. I guess I'm not completely lost.

Are there any companies in Canada that have an IFR operating certificate using only float planes?

There used to be but that was a long time ago.

Borek still has IFR procedures for floats, but there are no longer any ops that require the use of them.

As for Borek, I know a guy whos flying a King Air out of Inuvik for them. He said it's a great place BUT I don't want to work the dispatch for a year only to get stuck in the right seat on a king or twin otter for 5 years because I only have that 100 PIC from my license.

Your buddy in Inuvik will be lucky if he flies 300 hours a year. If you choose to go the ramp/dispatch type of route, at least pick a company that flies a lot. You won't sit in the right seat for 6 years in a Twin Otter at Borek because you don't have PIC time. You will sit there because they require 2500 hours and an ATPL to sit in the left. A lot of guys end up having to rent a plane to get their night time as well because they just don't fly at night.

Pick the companies that are right for you and pursue them. If you want to fly floats, then go start in a Cessna somewhere. Sitting in the right seat of a Twin Otter on floats is no help to you as a low timer.

Getting a Group 1 certainly makes you more employable as a whole, but like I said, if flying a Cessna on floats is what you desire then it's not really necessary at this point, unless you want to work for a company that does it all. Transwest for example. But if you want to fly for Joe Blow's fishing lodge, then get on the road and knock on some doors and follow up with phone calls every so often at the prospective operations.

As a sidenote, I've found the low timers in the past who have an IFR, then step into the Cessna and later on the Beaver, figure they can fly a little IFR when they run into bad weather. Not a great idea. Just an easy way to get yourself into trouble. And like I already mentioned, if you do get your Group 1 completed, I would maybe omit that from your resume when targeting the VFR only float ops.

[CLguy]

There used to be a saying in the bush world, "you want to ruin a good bush pilot, just give him an instrument rating."

[Bede]

I don't think anyone cares whether you have 28 or 30 hours on floats. I'd save your money for Ramen noodles.

Best of luck!

[awitzke]

Ha... well yeah I'd assume so. But 30 VS 50?

[North Shore]

I'm with JAC on this. If you've got the money, then sure, splurge on both the MIFR and the float time; if not, then just finish off on floats, and get the IFR at a later date ( next winter?).
FWIW, I did both, and started off on floats. A summer later, I had to renew my IFR, and found it much, much easier with another 300+ hours under my belt. The flying was pretty much automatic, because of the extra experience, leaving me free to worry about NDB intercepts, etc..

Good luck!

[awitzke]

Thanks for the input. I'll be honest I'm really leaning towards that right now. Especially after spending the day looking up float ops in sask and manitoba as well as the NWT.

I figure after the float season ends, that is if I find work, I can always go get the IFR then, that is unless I want to jeep on flying floats which is almost completely certain. Any IFR job that I'd get with low hours would almost certainly be as an FO which is not what I'm after. I have some more float time booked this week, if I just commit I'll be done in two weeks. Then time to plan the road trip route.

[awitzke]

So here's one more question... I've been spending the day researching ops in Manitoba/Sask/NW Ontario. Would it be a better choice to drive that way, rather than north? Looks like there are a ton of places to hit up from Red Lake, to Souix Lookout, Vermilion etc. I'm sure either has their benefits but what from experience will maximize my chances of getting in a plane this year?

[awitzke]

Well, figured I'd update those of you who gave input. I decided to put a bit more on floats and finish up on wheels. 2.5 left to go, which will likely be tomorrow and I'll finally after two years officially be a commercial pilot.

[Redneck_pilot86]

30 vs 50 isn't really a big deal. Actual operational time vs rental time would make a difference, but otherwise, you still have no experience.

Personally, I would forget about the IFR for a few years until you are ready to go that way. A lot of pilots start on floats and go to the IFR road later, but I don't know of very many that started IFR and then got to float flying later on. I'm not saying it is impossible, but if you want to fly floats, commit to it now.

[awitzke]

Thanks for the input. I did more or less what you said. If you see the post above you. I have 30 on floats now and the rest was topped up on wheels. So as of tomorrow I'll have my CPL with multi, floats and night ratings.

[awitzke]

Well, plans change and as of Saturday I'm a group 1 IFR rated pilot. Fun stuff. Now time to get down and dirty looking for work.

[jayceehi]

My .02Cents worth of advice......

Just enjoy whatever flying you get.....Floats, Skis....single engine....multi engine....Whatever.....
If you are doing it in the North, you are getting an experience that you will never forget...
35 years into it now and I have a great job on a 744 flying anywhere and everywhere...
I still have my nose stuck to the window flying over the NWT thinking about what a great experience the North was...So many friends and invaluable experience....This is where you really 'learn' to fly!!
Good luck
jaycee

[trinotuta]

Very interest post! awitzke, please let us know how the job hunt goes this season.

[awitzke]

Job hunt was successful. Flying a Navajo full time, right seat. Been busy, 50+ hours already in the last two weeks and more to come.

[Rudder Bug]

Congrats, I'm glad for you!

RB