135 Mins, now what?

[WS]

Looking for some sage advice from those of you that have "been there & done that!"

I'm going to be moving to Oregon this summer, probably around July or early August, that much is non-negotiable. We'll be south of Portland by an hour and and half or so, but I'm guessing that PDX has most if not all of the options for me to get anything besides a CFI job that isn't seasonal. If I have to get a crappy little apartment near PDX to sleep a couple nights a week, so be it. I think the traffic around Portland sucks too, so there's that.

I don't really want to dive right into the regional airlines since I have a young kid and would prefer to be home most nights, so that kind of limits my options. Since I just hit the IFR 135 mins, the only places I've come up with so far that might work are Ameriflight, Martinaire and SeaPort.

I've managed to utilize my MEI to scrape up around 200 multi and am still active as an instructor, so hopefully that will help in that department.

Would I be better off going with Amerflight due to the multi-time and the possibility of upgrading into turbine equipment? Would time in the Caravan be as attractive to future employers down the road? My understanding is that SeaPort flies 2 person crew and usually hires at lower times, so not sure how I would fit in there with 135 minimums out of the gate but no Caravan experience.

My guess is that the equipment would be better at the latter two but then we're also talking single engine vs. multi. Lots of IMC around the NW, but maybe the Caravans would end up being more reliable anyway. Maybe it doesn't really matter, I don't know which is why I'm asking.

I plan on applying to all three, and any other viable options that anyone might suggest as well.

For the next year, a lighter schedule with better hours at home would be totally worth sacrificing pay. After that my wife will have more flexibility and being home will be less of a concern. Ameriflight seems like the better option so far, mostly due to the multi-time, but also due to the fact that they probably just have more options in terms of routes that I might be able to work my way into in order to get a better schedule.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[z987k]

If you're living in Eugene I'm guessing, none of those jobs are one's you can drive to every day. I did AMF in pdx and lived about 15 minutes from the airport. I left my house at 5something AM and didn't step foot in the door again until 9 or a bit later. Martinaire will have the same schedule and I think the seaport guys are "home every night" to, meaning you're home long enough to stuff food in your face and get 5 hours of sleep before you have to do it again.

 

[WS]

We'll be in Corvallis actually, so a little closer but yeah, still not really daily driving distance. Not really many options there outside of PDX area I think.

 

[z987k]

We'll be in Corvallis actually, so a little closer but yeah, still not really daily driving distance. Not really many options there outside of PDX area I think.

There's a flight school in Corvallis. It's actually where I did my ATP.

 

[Cpt Cook]

Have you looked in to air ambulance operations in that area? They generally want more than 135mins for PICs, but they could have SIC positions.

 

[JeppUpdater]

I think Amflight has the Corvallis run in a Navajo if I'm not mistaken. We (MRA) do the EUG/PDX run which is a M-F (as opposed to M-S) run that be based on either end, but I just hired a guy for it a few weeks ago who will be starting ground school in a week.

Amflight has a ton of routes out there, there's several flight schools as mentioned, and I see a few drop zones and air ambo operators from time to time. Seems like a decent market.

 

[z987k]

Have you looked in to air ambulance operations in that area? They generally want more than 135mins for PICs, but they could have SIC positions.

An air ambulance operation that would hire a PIC at 135 mins is not a place you want to work.

When I was at AMF, the Corvallis run was a 99 that went PDX-OTH-CEC-OTH-CVO-PDX.

 

[robofos]

I learned to fly and started instructing in CVO. It's a good place. I know an instructor who started w/ martinaire and did a run EUG-PDX. And like the above guys said, ameriflight and empire have daily stops there. There is also an opening for a survey job I saw on this site based at CVO. They fly mooneys and are busy in the summer. UAO is also good for GA activity. If you want more info you can send me a msg. If I was still there id buy you a beer! Which reminds me, go check out
beer:30. it's a bar in Southtown that just pours microbrews and is great.

 

[WS]

Thank you all so much for the leads. Sounds like the route could make all the difference at the freight jobs, but I guess would just have to roll the dice. I will certainly check out UAO and beer:30.

Could anyone give me names for some of these air ambo places?

 

[z987k]

Thank you all so much for the leads. Sounds like the route could make all the difference at the freight jobs, but I guess would just have to roll the dice. I will certainly check out UAO and beer:30.

Could anyone give me names for some of these air ambo places?

I can't remember all the names, but the airports in OR there is a turboprop sitting for air ambo that I'm aware of are HIO, DLS, OTH, LMT, MFR, CEC/BOK. Cal-Ore is one, Aero Air is another. I think Valley Medflight is one. Mins are always at least 2000TT 500ME because of CAMTS requirements. If someone is hiring below that, don't walk, but run away.

 

[Cpt Cook]

An air ambulance operation that would hire a PIC at 135 mins is not a place you want to work.

When I was at AMF, the Corvallis run was a 99 that went PDX-OTH-CEC-OTH-CVO-PDX.

That would be why I said they may have SIC positions.

 

[GX]

That would be why I said they may have SIC positions.

Why fly right seat in something when you could be flying single pilot Part 135 in multi equipment? The pay would be better at AMF than it would be sitting right seat in a C90.

 

[Cpt Cook]

Why fly right seat in something when you could be flying single pilot Part 135 in multi equipment? The pay would be better at AMF than it would be sitting right seat in a C90.

Base location and QOL. Air ambulance ops are usually based at smaller airports outside of the big cities. Not all air ambulances fly C90s either.

Ironically I went from Captaining a Metro to SIC (promised fairly quick upgrade) in a C90 and Made about 10k more as an SIC. AMF pay is terrible. Definitely not a typical situation, but it happens.

 

[CoffeeIcePapers]

Base location and QOL. Air ambulance ops are usually based at smaller airports outside of the big cities. Not all air ambulances fly C90s either.

Ironically I went from Captaining a Metro to SIC (promised fairly quick upgrade) in a C90 and Made about 10k more as an SIC. AMF pay is terrible. Definitely not a typical situation, but it happens.

Right, but most air ambo pilots fly less than 300 hours a year. That is slow going for someone with 1200 hours to move up the ladder.

 

[srn121]

I believe Empire Airlines dropped the mins for their Fedex Caravans down to 135 minimums. I don't know what Ameriflight's like as far as giving you the base you request as I've heard horror stories about bases being changed after training with a former co-worker of mine assigned to work in Nebraska.

http://www.empireairlines.com/employment.htm

They're only hiring for Alaska and Albuquerque at the moment, but openings are always changing. I hear starting pay is around 38k a year.

 

[WS]

I seem to remember looking at Empire and seeing 2000TT as a requirement, so thanks for the heads up on that. I applied to Ameriflight but wasn't able to make their class date which was only a couple weeks off at the time, I just couldn't leave that soon. Maybe I was a little premature with the application, but hey at least they have my info now. Sounded to me like PDX was something they could do when I talked to them on the phone, they said they had two slots to fill there but he couldn't say anything about what they would need after this particular hiring class. I'll have to be very up front with them that if they can't give me PDX that I simply can't work there!

I will probably end up slinging out apps to Martinaire and maybe Empire as well if anything opens up in PDX. Would Seaport be worth looking at compared to the freight operations?

I guess I may have to decide if I want multi time in a chieftain which I guess could end up being turbine time in the 99 eventually, or single turbine time in the van at some point here, kind of tough since I'm not really sure what sort of flying I want to do in the long run. If anybody has any opinions they wish to share on that part I'm all ears too, but I know that's been beat to death in other threads! (I have a little over 200 multi if that matters.)

 

[srn121]

The Caravan's a solid plane and from what I understand about the Fedex feeders is that their avionics are top notch and I do believe they have radar on board. I gave it a lot of thought and was open to going to fly one if I could get the right route. That said if you don't mind a 14 on/14 off schedule you might be able to get on for some aerial survey with Quantum Spatial. They have Portland and Corvalis bases and are open at times to people living elsewhere in the state and commuting. They have caravans that get to do some really fun flying, but they also have a few 206s too.

I was looking for work with Empire back in December and I was like 40 hours short of 2000. Even though some of the Fedex feeders like MAC had dropped their mins to 1500, Empire was still firm at 2000 and were only willing to consider me as an FO for the ATR so to see them drop to 1200 was quite the surprise as it must've only just happened.

I've never really considered Seaport to be much of an option as I can't imagine they pay much at all and I'm not sure how many overnights you'd have to deal with. If you're up to do some rotation work in survey my current company's hiring and the pay's great, however it'd mean 2 to 3 weeks on the road with 2 to 3 weeks off. It is commutable too.

 

[WS]

If you're up to do some rotation work in survey my current company's hiring and the pay's great, however it'd mean 2 to 3 weeks on the road with 2 to 3 weeks off. It is commutable too.

Would you be able to send me some more information on this?

I'm seriously considering the Ameriflight option at this point. I will probably end up getting an apartment near PDX and trying to commute back to Corvallis a couple times a week, and be there on days off (do people there even get two days off in a row?) since the Corvallis thing will only be temporary until my wife finishes her internship. I think the route/schedule would make or break this idea. The AMF recruiter told me likely I would have an early morning start and be off in the late afternoon but said that he couldn't know for sure. Should I consider this information to be on par with the information that I got from my military recruiter when I went in... in other words, lies? LOL