haha... those "big plans" are the $5500-$6000 that an Otter driver working his ass off makes, then maybe onto something like a twotter job after a while. That $200,000 bullshit sounds nice, what kind of pills do I have to take to think I live on that planet? I was never saying anything about the wage of that posting in the first place, I was hijacking the thread. $46000 certainly sounds fair to me for someone who wants to fly a king air. I have nothing against them, I just find other airplanes much more interesting. I hope that salary goes up accordingly as experience builds, though.
I see I'm on the same page about the increased demands. It sure doesn't look easy getting the Otter tied down by yourself when it's gusting over 50, and I have my hands full enough in that with the -2. Every time I scare the shit out of myself I think about how much more dramatic it probably would have been in the Otter. Always gives me a glimmer about the world of tricks there are to learn. Although many of the problems would be easier to handle in the twin, "Apples to oranges" is a good point with most of them working in the arctic. However, some may have winter possibilities of flying skydivers and such down south where there is a chance of being single pilot in a -6. Of course, flying up and down over the base on a calm sunny day is apples to oranges too. I bet I can do that more than three times in a row and survive..... perhaps that's a bit cocky
Maybe you need the young bucks hanging around, so the stupid shit that they do makes your job look harder?
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Last edited by Northern Skies on Tue Jul 29, 2008 12:09 am, edited 3 times in total.
If you want to make plumber wages, be a plumber! If you want to make 200k a year, get in line! There are people who have earned their way to that, and they are at least 20 years older than me!!!
If you guys don't like what you see... turn your back to it and forget it! That's the language needed. Complaining about it won't do a turd. It makes you sound like a pretentious turd! And that's just a humble observation and opinion...
I don't believe some of you people. You could have the opportunity to drive a multi-engine turboprop with only 1500TT and 500 PIC? Who GIVES a SHIT what they're paying? Not so long ago, you couldn't get hired as an FO with those hours!
Four1oh wrote:I don't believe some of you people. You could have the opportunity to drive a multi-engine turboprop with only 1500TT and 500 PIC? Who GIVES a SHIT what they're paying? Not so long ago, you couldn't get hired as an FO with those hours!
Thats an excellent attitude to have,, way to keep the industry in the shitter.
I'm with Meat on this one. While none of our captains would touch this gig since the pay is low, the hour requirement is for well, essentially nothing for these aircraft.
A 1500 hour pilot would be earning more than they would as an FO in most places, ours and Meat's included.
The big drawback to this position is simple: Meat alluded to the tricks involved in doing the specialty work that an otter is capable of. There are lots of them. 20 years into it, I'm still learning them. Teaching some of them too. That 1500 hour captain is eventually gonna get tasked to do something that isn't in his repetoire of tricks. That pic of a NCA machine in the muskeg in the swamper thread is a good example. People around the planet get banged up every year by trying to do things the Otter can perform that they can't. How's this new guy gonna learn that?
I'd split the job and get someone higher time at a higher salary for the otter, or make sure that it goes prepared strip to prepared strip. This isn't a money thing, it's an SMS thing.
1. Boy, if it was gusting to 50 I'd probably be cowering at home.
2. I need the younger guys around (I'm not really very old either) because they're the only ones who listen to my endless stories.
3. Don't give up on 200 grand; it's not as outrageous as you think.
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If I'd known I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself
Once you have 2250 TT, 450 MPIC and 1000 Multi you jump up to $56,000.00 a year automatically.
All your flights depart between 9 and 10am (except for the odd medivac).
They have an excellent mtc department in YXJ with a new hangar facility.
Plus with everything that is going on in the Horn River Basin (Shale Gas) this year YXJ will be busy.
Alberta is a fairly safe place to be right now in aviation.
Meals are more like $5000-6000 a year not $10,000.
You are also joining a company that has its two largest bases in YYC and YEG. So worst case scenario you end up in one of those cities after a couple years in John.
Meatservo wrote:1. Boy, if it was gusting to 50 I'd probably be cowering at home.
So would I!
It peaked up to that when we were all still out in the bush... When I got back, our floater had snapped its anchor chains. We've had a few days like that so far where the planes had to go on the beach. When the otter got back, it was a real battle and I don't know how the heck he did it by himself out there. Same thing last weekend, we sat there staring at the lake for half the afternoon listening to some trees blow down after we said that's enough. Of course the fishermen thought otherwise, that we should risk our life so they can catch walleye. Good thing it's not their call. "Sunny" northern ontario has had some shit weather this summer, worst anyone I talked to can remember for a while. Lots of days with stiff winds, low ceilings, bad vis, and embedded thunderstorms. And it always happens on saturdays. Good training for what's to come I guess.
You know, Strega, you won't make the discussions go smoother and more informative by insulting people. A little diplomacy would be appreciated from you...
You get what you pay for. The good folks doing the hiring know that, and it seems to me that they believe a 1500hr pilot will be just fine. If someone had paid me $48K at 1500hrs I would have been over the moon...
However, that's all besides the point. Considering the a/c type, and that they will probably snag a guy with 3000hrs for the position, it's not looking all that good to me.
Just never ceases to amaze me that everyone in our industry is so willing to cut their noses off despite their faces... Some things never change I guess. Can't wait for things in two years when there aren't any jobs left, be like the the 90's all over again, then we'll see some "new lows."
"OK, fair enough... but I think you're splitting hairs. In WW2 there were four engine piston driven taildraggers with a crew of ten being flown by 21 year old captains with 400 hours"
Yes, flown into the ground more times than not.
Ask CMA Captains if they think 46G is good money to fly a KA or -6.
I think thats pretty good pay for 1500hrs. This is a second year "apprentice" if you will.
If it was common place to get say 70k a year for this job and have 1500TT, the industry would be perceived as a good profession to get into to from those that look into it for a career at first. This could be bad. You'd have all kinds of plumbers getting into the industry, bringing their shit.
In any industry, most jobs are threatened to some point by the younger, cheaper guy trying to get his foot in the door and take your job away (unintentionally in most cases). It is present everywhere. It's a fact of life that people with experience have to live with. In the end the only thing you can do to survive is always be one step ahead of the game and make your experience matter. Whether it's learning a new skill or building on existing ones, you have to justify your cost to your employer.
I see newer guys getting hired around me making a small % of what I make. I don't feel threatened because of my attitude towards things. And I also show respect for those guys because they are trying to make it in the business the same way I was 15 years ago. And do I blame them? Nope.
I don't make money by flying, I make money to fly. So I am not in the same position as most of the guys who have posted in this thread. I'll probably get shot for posting this but this is the way I see it. People need to understand that this type of thing is not common only to aviation and the rest of the job market has been dealing with this type of situation for a long time now.
Flyingnutcracker, those are nothing more or less than airplanes being flown close to the ground, watch the one of the 727 doing the flyby and tell me if it may in fact have been a plumber flying it?
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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.
