Best job in aviation.

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Cat Driver
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Best job in aviation.

Post by Cat Driver »

I see there have been several adds for Ag. pilots lately.

As far as I am concerned that is the best flying job in aviation.
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Adam Oke
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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by Adam Oke »

I agree. I enjoyed my time spraying and I am hoping I will be able to take leave to get back in the saddle....going from spraying direct to the airline world has been a big adjustment. I moved on from spraying and the money in hopes for a better lifestyle. The worst part of the job was being away all summer from June to September. You are ball and chain to work. To make a career out of spraying, if you want any family and/or social life in the summer months -- you really should be living near the strip. Aside from that, it doesn't get much better. Good pay, good flying, good people.

That being said, a lot of the ad's you had seen earlier on are for temporary foreign workers to secure their visa's. Anything posted with, for example, 3000+ hrs turbine ag experience or something similar are targeted at securing a visa. This time of year and later are usually honest ads.
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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by maturepilot83 »

Where are these opportunities in ON?
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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by Cat Driver »

This is an interesting subject.

There have been one thousand views on this thread and only one post.

I guess the reason is Ag. flying is a relatively small section of aviation thus not many pilots have thought about doing it.
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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by North Shore »

I kinda got/had the sense, from talking to ag guys, that it's a bit of a closed shop unless you're a farm kid, though..
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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by Jim_12 »

[quote="North Shore"]I kinda got/had the sense, from talking to ag guys, that it's a bit of a closed shop unless you're a farm kid, though..[/quote]

I think growing up on a farm certainly helps when it comes to a lot of the ground duties etc.....But anyone who has a good attitude, hands and feet and work ethic can be a good Ag Pilot. Getting your foot in the door is the tough part that is where some of the farm kids have the advantage as they are already tied in with an operator.
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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by Cat Driver »

I was really fortunate when I started flying because there was a company in St. Thomas Ont. that advertised for pilots to apply for a position flying a Cub for a summer of crop spraying, I applied and was one of two chosen for the comming summers work.

However Ontario had just started a new rule that to fly aerial application you had to get an aerial applicators license.

So I went to Guelph Agricultural college and took the course that allowed me to write the exams and sit the verbal test.

My license was 0001.

It was hands down the best flying job I ever had and I spent six years flying fixed wing aircraft and one year flying helicopters doing Ag. work.

If any of you new pilots want a really interesting flying job you should look into becoming an Ag. pilot. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
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The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no


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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by Meatservo »

I have no doubt that ag.flying is an incredible experience. I have never done it but I have had the priveldge and responsibility of flying floats- not just tourist-flying but the real get-er-done transportation of anything-anywhere big-wheels-floats-amphibs-wheel-skis-springboards bush flying, and nothing compares to it. If you are a pilot then you crave the experience of operating a machine, and yourself, to the maximum potential.

I'm sure agricultural flying is the same; perhaps more so.
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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by Rockie »

It's a subjective assessment depending on what the pilot is looking for in a job, which depends on many different things which themselves change as one grows older. Personally speaking I've had what I consider several of the best jobs in aviation over the years. I'm in one of them now.
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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by pelmet »

Best job in aviation has an opening starting in 4 days. Worldwide travel, nice hotels, great onboard meals. The plane is big, painted powder blue, can be refueled in flight, has wonderful sleep facilities, and can survive a nuclear blast. They are looking for dedicated pilot with military experience.........if anyone in this thread has any. Part of the job will be shilling for the boss.
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Last edited by pelmet on Mon Jan 16, 2017 9:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by complexintentions »

The best job in aviation is one you can walk away from any time you feel like it.
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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by Old fella »

Best job in aviation is being retired from it. You went through the usual stuff that is much the same in many ways the youngins experienced now and you survived. The positive you freely acknowledge, the not so nice we paint over recycle it as advice and pass it on for more that it is really worth.
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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by co-joe »

complexintentions wrote:The best job in aviation is one you can walk away from any time you feel like it.
Or maybe one where you never feel like walking away from it?
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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by flying4dollars »

Cat Driver wrote:I see there have been several adds for Ag. pilots lately.

As far as I am concerned that is the best flying job in aviation.
The best job in aviation is in the eye of the beholder, plain and simple. To some, it's spraying. To others, it's corporate, airline, medevac, fire suppression, survey, cargo, military, instructing, law enforcement etc.

It's whatever suits your lifestyle best :yawinkle:
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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by Cat Driver »

And of course it helps if the job pays big bucks.

I now have the best job I ever had.

Doing whatever I want whenever I want. :mrgreen:
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The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no


After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by JohnnyHotRocks »

co-joe wrote:
complexintentions wrote:The best job in aviation is one you can walk away from any time you feel like it.
Or maybe one where you never feel like walking away from it?
Someone gets it!
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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by olivierw »

I always looked up (or down considering how low they fly) to the ag pilot with a lot of admiration.

I'd love to get paid to fly so low and do steep turns all day long. But I wonder how is it in terms of exposure to chemicals? A friend of mine was telling me that he crew up in a town in Manitoba where there's a lot of crop dusting activity. But he didn't know many old ag pilots since they all died of either cancer or powerlines.

What's your opinion on that?
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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by Cat Driver »

Well I met an Ag. pilot in California who has been flying Ag. planes for over thirty years and he was as healthy as any other pilot I ever met.

I flew Ag. aircraft for seven years and have zero chemicals in my system.

Neither of us ever hit power lines either

There are two examples of the risk factor for chemical exposure and hitting things with your airplane and these examples are not " opinions " they are facts.
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The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no


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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by CorpPilot »

The best job in aviation is a job where you want to do it until you retire. I have the best gig ive ever had in my life.. I hope to have this until I hang my hat (I dont have a hat). I have a corp gig that I know my schedule a week in advance, 2on/1off rotation with no weekend or holiday flying, no charters, same groups of pax that I have gotten to know well, 6 Figures plus (needed to live in Toronto), a great airplane at a great company that respects me.
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Re: Best job in aviation.

Post by complexintentions »

co-joe wrote:
complexintentions wrote:The best job in aviation is one you can walk away from any time you feel like it.
Or maybe one where you never feel like walking away from it?
You misunderstood my comment - I enjoy going to work. But part of that enjoyment comes from knowing I don't have to be there if my opinion of the job changes. That's why I consider the best job the best-paying one: it isn't about money itself, it's about the freedom it brings.
Cat Driver wrote:And of course it helps if the job pays big bucks.

I now have the best job I ever had.

Doing whatever I want whenever I want. :mrgreen:
This!
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