Hey all,
I'm currently a full time instructor/student, let's just say it's at a "big part 142 univesirty in Florida.."
Anyways, I've always wanted to get into bush flying/AK flying am starting to play with the idea of relocating in mid 2009. I've been researching UAA... does anyone know anything about their flight program? Also, if I had part 135 minimums (I probably will by that time), how difficult would it be to get hired for 135 without AK experience?
Thanks for anything you can offer.
-Paul
135 mins in AK aren't what they are down in the states (almost nobody does single pilot 135 ifr here, its all VFR, so 500 and you're golden) that being said, You'll need at least some alaska time, as for UAA, ehhh, I go there, and don't particularly like it, further, I've never (never) heard anyone say anything good about the aviation courses there. Plus, the pay absolutely sucks. You'd get paid more to work at as a line boy here than you would to CFI at UAA (last I heard, they're paying around $12/hr, no benes, no reduced tuition).
I'm just waiting for a job down stateside to pull me out, that being said, I grew up here, and trying to flee the nest is natural I suppose. Its a decent place to live, and there is a lot to do if you're out doorsy, that being said, the flying is nothing like flying down in the states (what little of it I've done). In some ways its easier, in some ways its more difficult. Jobs are also a little bit different than down south. A navajo would not be an entry level job up here with 135.243mins. In fact you'd be lucky to get a single engine VFR job if you didn't have any alaska time with those hours. A navajo would be a job you get after several years of experience with a company, and have shown to them that they can trust you not to fly into a mountain, or otherwise crash. As for the actual mountain flying aspect to the job, you probably won't do much of it. You'll probably work out west (in Bethel) which is flat, or on the North Slope (also flat). If you do get a job in Kodiak, or in South East, you'll be scared as you fly around at 200AGL on the GPS a mile out over the water trying to get back home. IFR flying up here is different too. Icing is continuous, but seldom bad (maybe once per month will you get serious ice if you do fly IFR), also there are only a few places in the state where you actually have radar covereage down low (anchorage and fairbanks, maybe galena haven't been there in a while). Scud running is often used in lieu of IFR because the approaches don't get you down low enough, or the visibility has to be too high for TERPS to allow it, that's ok, though, because other than the ground there is seldom anything to hit. A lot of bootleg IFR goes on, I don't condone it, but it is pretty much continuous out west. Further, busting mins is common practice at some companies, to the extent where they even have gone to great lengths to discuss what things you need to see when, and how low you can
really go before you get within 100' etc.
These are not admirable traits, but it is fairly common because there is no other way to make money out here sometimes other than by bending the rules, and the straight and narrow companies don't tend to do as well. It is a culture in a way, and it can be quite hard to break. Out in Bethel, you will repeatedly take off VFR in 1mile and 500OVC to fly out to some ###### little village, then load up, and fly back into town 30minutes later and have to enter a VFR holding pattern off of the VOR at 500'. (They'll say something like "Hoot 315, enter the south west hold behind the hageland 207, you're number 4"). The only fairly legit entry level operators that I can think of are PenAir (laying guys off right now) and Era (Not hiring, probably out of money) the bush operators (Grant, Hageland, Frontier, Yute, etc.) tend to follow the FARs when they see fit.
The problem is though, out west, you can still die on a day to day basis even if you follow the FARs, not that its like Iraq, and someone will shoot you down, its just that the conditions can be so demanding that unless you're used to it, getting in trouble quick can be easy, even when you're following the rules, and sometimes its impossible to have a way out. Call me a coward, but there's a reason I left my job in Kodiak, one I was away all the time, but more importantly, they consistantly asked me to do things that were spooky. Not to say that a lot of it wasn't fun, but the analytical side of one's brain contemplates these things after the fact.
Really, the thing that a guy should think about first and foremost is what he/she wants to do with their career. If they want to move onto jets as quickly as possible. If they want to be an RJ captain ASAP, then alaska is not the place to go. Come up here if and only if your primary interest is flying in Alaska. At 1500TT, you could go to work at Alpine Air Express as a 99 captain, that would not happen up here. You'd be lucky to get a 99 job at 2500TT. If you want turbine time, go elsewhere, it will take you over a year to get into the left seat of a caravan at most places (Although ACE might put you into the left seat of the 1900 after a year, the turnover there though seems to be slowing). If you want multi, go elsewhere, because at a lot of the Bush operators don't even have twins, and unless you're lucky, or a silver tongued (most upgrades up here are on merit) son of a gun, you'll be hard pressed to weasel your way into a twin right off the bat (It might happen in south east, or if you come into an outfit with a couple thousand multi.) If you want hard core IFR, you should probably go elsewhere too, because the terrain doesn't really permit IFR flying in the same way, and there is a lot of low and fast hill dodging. However, if you want to fly down the river at 500', or deploy full flaps to clear the trees, scud run, learn Yupik, or learn how much ice a 207 can really handle, then this is probably the place for you. Its dangerous, challenging, difficult, mental, and physical flying, but best of all, for the most part, its fun. I find my in town gig boring at times (we go to the same places 5 times a day) but its definitely better than flight instructing, or flying in the right seat at ACE or Penair or Era. PM me for places to go, and we'll talk. Later.
-Pat