I don't think I could give you my opinion on Insurance companies without getting my thread deleted by a moderator. Insurance will always be the biggest obstacle to not only a greenhorn, but even pilots with experience who want to move on to bigger and better opportunities. Even in 1995, i needed to fly 100 hours of freight only on a C-180 floatplane before insurance would let me fly passengers... I had over 400 hours of experience, including multi-pic, yet it didn't matter since i had a fresh float rating. Some things will never change.
While it's very difficult to get a job flying floats without much float time, there are a few operators out there who will hire you with a basic rating. Same goes for the multi thing.
Or so I've been told by employees who work at those companies. At any rate, keep looking; you'll get there. PM for more information if needed.
I've done two road trips during the past two springs with just over 100hrs on floats and returned home empty handed both times. I'm now working outside aviation building my float time to that magic 200 and hoping this will be my lucky year.
get a job, on the dock and try to build time with some one doing camp checks and bait runs, will take some time but the bush is not the same anymore
aircraft getting rare and more costly to replace just my 2 cents its all thats left lol
Beacon Final..... 9/11 changed things even worse then they were prior to.
I can list a couple companies that "used to" take you on with a bare bones float endorsement but I cannot confirm if the still do or not. If your looking for a start try Northway Aviation in Pine Dock MB. I used to be CP for them and we always gave new guys a start EVERY season at least two new hires. Merlin Johnson is the man to talk to there. Good company, good maintenance, and the Johnson family is great to work for.
You could also try "WAM Air" on Matheson Island MB. William and Kathy Mowat run it, used to take on new guys every season, dunno about now.
Just about every other operator I know has raised their requirements due to insurance. Its sucks, but its life. You might get an opportunity to work the dock and get a bit of time that way. Its not an easy time to break in.
Hope maybe one of these leads works out for you.
Best of luck in your search for work this season.
Fly safe all, Cheers
Beacon Final --------there are a host of companies out there all across the country that got hit with 250%-300% insurance rate increases last year.......and no ....not just the bad ones. It pervades the industry also in other ways with regards certain operations and I've run afoul of it myself recently and I passed 10,000hrs eons ago.....and it wasn't because of any accident history I have. The insurance companies had to pay out billions over the WTC and and now everybody has got to pay those costs in one way or another. Just wanted to mention this because it's touching everybody in a bunch of ways and they don't stop "touching" you even after you got that job you want so badly.
My question is why are guys still trying to get a start flying floats??? It is pretty much impossible! Your chances of getting hire flying a little single on wheels, or as a F/O are way better. Do these guys really want to fly floats because they love it so much, or do they think that is where they will get their big break.
Like Zero said he has spent 2 years looking for a float gig, and even with 100 hr he has found nothing. Those two years could have been spent on the ramp somewhere (as much as that would suck) and you would be flying by now.
If you really want to fly floats for the love of it, start with a company on wheels that also have something on floats. Most like you you will have to start on the ramp, but that is better than 2 years of nothing I guess.
Boss...Its Murillo Ont..KB Falls is P0T-1W0. had fun living there for 2 years with that postal code. The guys at the border when sending christmas packages etc.. well they didnt see the humour in my "attempt at humour" but shes the real code for Murillo. Jay Vee, hows things on mud lake rd Many years ago, played in a band that played the Murillo Hotel.. ahhh good times! Cheers to Murillo! Fly safe all
My advice would be to get a job on the ramp with a company that might check you out right seat T/O, that will give you some float time and they will hire 7 hour float guys.
250 hrs on floats seems to be the magic number, even for ops that are incident free. Pretty sad state, I'd like to know how operators are going to fill 180 seats once the pilots currently flying those machines make the step up to the next plane/job/advancement or whatever.
Another concern for the float industry is that it is not just entry level 180/85 seats that are feeling the time crunch, but all the way up the chain. Most beaver mins are 1000tt/500 on type, otters even higher and so on. Now granted there are ops out there that don't have these mins, however, I would say that they are heavily outnumbered by those that do have high requirements. This leads one to the question of what happens when there are no 250hr float guys for that 180 job? Does insurance reqs drop, or do ops pay higher rates to insure lower time guys? Worse yet you may have to fly co-joe in order to meet the reqs. Any thoughts?
Try Big Hook Wilderness Camp, out of Sandy Lake (roughly 40 nm north of there). Just punch the name into Google. I don't know nowadays, but Steve and Evie used to give a break to lowtime guys. Don't know anymore but give it a go.
The more obscure and middle of F#$@%&% nowhere you go the better your chances.
My thoughts exactly. the insurance companies are going to kill the industry, if the oil companies and exchange rates don't do it first.
People starting out these days will look at the current mins and not bother if they are smart. How do you get 250 hrs on floats to get on a 180/185? Once the current crop of pilots has moved on there will be nobody to replace them and the long awaited pilot shortage will have begun!
Although that said, mins have been going up for years and years, and it hasn't dampened the enthusiasm of wannabes that much.
Canus Chinookus wrote: Even in 1995, i needed to fly 100 hours of freight only on a C-180 floatplane before insurance would let me fly passengers... I had over 400 hours of experience, including multi-pic, yet it didn't matter since i had a fresh float rating. Some things will never change.
That's because 400 hours and a multi-pic isn't really gonna do shit for you when it comes to floats. You still don't know anything about flying floats with only 7 hours of doing it.
merlin wrote:My question is why are guys still trying to get a start flying floats??? It is pretty much impossible! Your chances of getting hire flying a little single on wheels, or as a F/O are way better. Do these guys really want to fly floats because they love it so much, or do they think that is where they will get their big break.
If you have to ask that question, you just don't get it. It never ceases to amaze me how surprised some people are that 'these guys' actually do exist. Why does it seem that everyone going into aviation these days thinks that the shirt and tie IFR deal is the be all and end all? Please, someone back me up here, there's gotta be some other guys like me that just want the sound of some round piston-popper and a calm lake at sunrise. Granted it is tough to get started flying floats, but it's far from impossible if you're willing to work hard.
Sure it can be tough getting that first float job but its worth the effort.IFR flying is great but you can't beat launching off a remote lake in a noisy old Otter and flying around without having to deal with ATC.
I have looked in the archives and have not found what I am looking for.
Insurance will always be the biggest obstacle to not only a greenhorn, but even pilots with experience who want to move on to bigger and better opportunities. Even in 1995, i needed to fly 100 hours of freight only on a C-180 floatplane before insurance would let me fly passengers... I had over 400 hours of experience, including multi-pic, yet it didn't matter since i had a fresh float rating. Some things will never change.
Many years ago, played in a band that played the Murillo Hotel.. ahhh good times! Cheers to Murillo! Fly safe all
