Lots of Entry Level Survey Jobs (CSEL w/ Instrument Rating to fly 172s for Pictometry)
- Thread starter srn121
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brocklee9000
Well-Known Member
I would go smaller. If I end up getting the job, I'm assuming I'll bring my carryon sized bag, and a backpack and my small flight bag. I have no idea how much space the camera and equipment will take up, but a 172 isn't very big. I've only taken luggage in one plane, a DA-40, but the 21" Kirkland rollaboard suitcase fit in the baggage space behind the rear seats pretty well. I have both the Kirkland bag and a Strongbags rollaboard. The former is backed by Costco's great warranty, the latter is heavy but a literal tank. I wager I won't easily have access to a Costco if/when the suitcase fails (and don't want to be without). The latter has five of its six sides made of steel, so it's robust, and if I get the gig then that's the bag I'd probably bring. If it's in your budget, I'd recommend looking at something like a Strongbag or Luggage Works, especially if you're going to a regional in the next year or so anyway.
I've done this job so here's my advice for the 172. A suitcase that meets airline carry-on requirements (and not overstuffed) should fit neatly behind the pilot and copilot seat, assuming the seats are mostly forward (parallel to the planes lateral axis). If not, you should be able to fit it long ways next to the equipment. A backpack, laptop bag, and flight bag will likely take up the remaining space without making it feel too cramped.
Placing anything over or behind the cameras or rig, even in a hammock type setup, is prohibited.
Edit: I would also suggest soft-sided luggage since they tend to be more flexible and will "compress" a little if needed.
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brocklee9000
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty big on nutrition & working out and this has not been the easiest job for me in that sense. I still go out to eat all the time, but I try to fit in some healthy options too. It comes down to ordering salads with a protein option, going to grocery stores for the deli's premade salads, and not going to fast food. I highly recommend staying in a place with a kitchen (extended stay hotels) since that will make it the easiest option. The only issue is that you could get called to leave at any time so try not to stock up too much on perishables. Then again, if you just started your project you'll probably be there a while.
You can get by fine with the largest of the carry-on size suitcases and a large backpack. I intentionally didn't bring my flight bag just to keep it minimal. My large backpack carries all my flying gear, laptop, logbook, and some other random electronics. I also bring a little Jansport which I can flatten out and pack in my suitcase. As soon as I get to base, I just use the Jansport as my flight bag so I don't have to haul the large backpack around anymore.
There are no rear seats. You can easily fit a large carry-on suitcase behind the pilot/copilot seats and whatever else you feel you can fit on top of the copilot seat or on the floor in front of it.
As already mentioned by Yakob a lot of people would bring video game systems. I'm not too current on them, but they were fun at times playing with co-workers while drinking. That said I've been using a gaming laptop and using an HDMI when I want and a PS4 controller to play most games at 1080P. There's a hell of a deal going on at Dell as I have one and it's been solid.
They've got two models with a dedicated 1050 (or 1050 TI) for under 800 and if you use the code 'tenoff' you get another 10% off bringing the price down to under $700 for the cheapest model. I have that same laptop and I've been able to play most games at decent settings at 1080p and it's one of the most sturdy laptops I ever used with a very long battery so it's perfect for traveling.
http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell...000-gaming/spd/inspiron-15-5577-gaming-laptop
Normally I'd try to suggest AMD which they also offer, but those last generation AMD processors aren't comparable at the same prices and under all circumstances I'd recommend the Intel/Nvidia combo for now.
For luggage I always did a backpack and a duffel bag with backpack straps. A 90L duffel was fine and I really liked my Gregory, but I've had two get holes in the bottom a little over the 2 year mark on each which was fine for what I paid. I just upgraded to a Mammut Cargon and it's got more places to stash things, is easier to carry, looks better and has a very sturdy, water proof bottom. I went with the 115L which since it's a bit wider isn't too long, but it is on the pricier end of the spectrum as if you're only planning on one season you can go with something much cheaper. Sometimes you can find the late model Gregory Stash in the two biggest sizes for the $50 to $70 range which are pretty unbeatable. eBags usually has a 20% off coupon so you can get some good deals if you know what brands and bags are good or do a bit of homework as not everything they carry is from reputable brands.
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Also now might be a great time to make the switch to a digital logbook. If you do bring your logbook with you and you have to fly commercially to wherever the season starts just make sure you bring it in your carry on as it's not worth the chance of the airlines losing it or damaging it if it goes checked. Obviously if you're digital you're covered no matter what happens and you can take scans of your logbook before hand and load them on your computer, phone or whatever.
Hiboglossi
The Most Depressing Person
A suitcase, even one that's somewhat larger than a carryon, can feet behind the front seats in the 172s. There were even pilots who brought two suitcases- I think they put one forward of the front seat or something like that, although it was mainly Aztec pilots who did this. There were also pilots who packed light; it seems like I remember some people getting by with just a back pack.
brocklee9000
Well-Known Member
Yeah, if it was just a duffel type bag, greater than carryon sized would be stuffable behind seats. If you're airlining to/from locations, just keep the size in mind (also your backpack/second bag, make sure it's not too stuffed to fit under the seat and take all your legroom). That's why I'd bring my two wheeled rollaboard if I do it, because I know it can fit in most overheads but it's stalwart and has been checked before with no issue. Someone mentioned bringing consoles or instruments, which I had considered, but I don't know if I want to try and drag those all around. The job I interviewed for has rotations where you fly home for a week or two between rotations, and when you come back you'll likely go to a new location with new plane, so I don't want to deal with the logistics of an xbox or travel guitar. I imagine the only time I'd have for that stuff are on weather or MX days.
Even if you're not doing survey but you haven't made a digital backup, now is as good a time as ever to do it. I started around 100TT, it sucked putting in about a year of flight but it's been worth it to keep it current. I use an iPad app called Pilot Pro. It was a one time purchase of $50 I believe. It is really handy for tracking 30/90 day totals and 12 month totals on the mainpage, as well as running totals of all the main categories. You can run a custom report (like how much did I fly on just a tail number, how much was night time PIC complex, how much was on a certain date, etc). It has an 8710 filter that gives you all your IACRA totals when the time comes. And you can export to PDF or spreadsheets too. I'm sure there are other good ones out there as well, but this has been simple and easy to use (some of the free online ones I tried were cumbersome), and it's way cheaper than Log10 and stuff like that.
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Selfmade92
Well-Known Member
Any recommendations if it's needed/of advantage to get any particular insurance for a pilot when working for Air America?
Hiboglossi
The Most Depressing Person
Whatever you do, DO NOT get ordinary renter's insurance. No matter what Air America tells you, it absolutely will not cover commercial operations.
Your options are to either go uninsured or get commercial insurance of some sort, I can't remember the right term for it. It is quite unusual and probably illegal for a company to force their insurance costs onto their employees, like Air America does, so it may be hard to find someone who offers the right insurance. You will probably need to go through an undertaker or a broker; this is not something that a renter policy from Avemco or AOPA will cover. And it will presumably be much more expensive than renter' s insurance. I know at the beginning of last season someone posted about trying to find insurance and couldn't, IIRC.
It seems like someone recently posted about an insurance policy they found and apparently Air America offers a partial reimbursement, so you could look into that. But renter' s insurance won't cover you, even though Air America tries to give the impression in will. This whole issue is one major reason I recommend avoiding Air America.
b7474ever
Well-Known Member
@brocklee9000
I’m assuming your employer is Sandhills due to the rotation
After doing 1-2 rotations you should have a good feel of what you need and don’t need.
Another tip would be to purchase a BRita water bottle or glacier straw or any other filtering water devices. Some places do not have filtered water.
You can always buy it from stores but it’s a headache to carry it around with you and plus the added weight in the airplane.
My buddy recently purchased this https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006...X236_SY340_QL65&keywords=glacier+filter+straw
I’m assuming your employer is Sandhills due to the rotation
After doing 1-2 rotations you should have a good feel of what you need and don’t need.
Another tip would be to purchase a BRita water bottle or glacier straw or any other filtering water devices. Some places do not have filtered water.
You can always buy it from stores but it’s a headache to carry it around with you and plus the added weight in the airplane.
My buddy recently purchased this https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006...X236_SY340_QL65&keywords=glacier+filter+straw
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b7474ever
Well-Known Member
I’m in the market for a decent priced laptop and was looking At https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01L...dpPl=1&dpID=41HfDkXXyeL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1
The dell laptop you own. Can you play FSX on medium setting without any lagging ?
I will be needing a laptop for practicing approaches
I'd say it'd be a better match for games due to its additional 2gb of dedicated graphics memory and a much newer graphics card so your game performance should be better now and much better in future titles that demand that much. I can't speak to FSX, but I'm sure I've played more demanding titles at 1080P with good settings with no problem. I know Costco also carries a version of the Dell online and they also carry the older one as well so be careful which one your order if you do it through them. I don't know if they carry it in stores as well, but buying from Costco's great due to the extra year of warranty and their returns.
Just out of curiosity what are your thoughts on the two AA accidents since the start of 2018? Is there any truth to their being a clause in the contract forbidding pilots from speaking ill of the company online? I still can't understand why this flight was made and having heard from pilots in the last 12 months about the pressure they faced from management to fly I'm curious as to how much of a factor that played in this guy ending up in icing and turbulence, flying over unpopulated, mountainous terrain on a moonless night.
No, there's nothing stopping me from saying anything bad about the company. Again, I still have never been pressured. I don't know all the details in the most recent accident so I can't say if he was pressured or not. But really, if there's icing reports along the route, there's no reason someone has to go. I've been stuck places for 10+ days in 100' ceilings & 1/4 mile vis and no one ever called me to ask why I wasn't leaving.
I really don't know why he made that flight, but some people are trying to get night time or are stuck in a city for too long and it could possibly fog their decision making because they want the night time or just want to leave. I don't believe AA was at fault here at all. Sad and unfortunate event though.
That's the thing along a remote route like he flew there's next to no pireps and weather reporting is scarce and a low-time pilot probably isn't aware of the dangers that exist there. On a moonless night (near moonless anyway as it wasn't rising until after midnight) flying through some remote, unpopulated areas with little light you're effectively IMC and likely won't see the clouds you're going to enter and the only thing you have to go by is the freezing level chart which this time of year would almost certainly be freezing at 10k. He had few outs and the fact that the company no longer seems to have a hard and fast rule limiting most mountain flying to daytime VFR is astonishing to me.
I've already talked to one guy at AA that have felt pressured THIS season (not to mention the summer when your manager was showing up at the FBO to check in and order his 'contractors' around) and the fact that you want to absolve them of any blame after an engine failure and potential gear failure shut down CRW and another plane crashed less than two weeks later. Thankfully their insurance will likely make them institute some rules, but they'll probably pass the bill for that to their pilots like they've already done.