SoCalAprch
Well-Known Member
I don't get how you aren't GPS equipped. What do you have to give you your course to fly or do you just fly VOR radials?
Aerial Mapping - End of Season
- Thread starter Old Dominion Flyer
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Old RAMS vet here just wanted to give my .02cents here's my timeline!
Hired with RAMS Aug06-375TT
End of season May07-830TT
Hired Part 135cargo June07-840TT(Flew VFR till I hit 135mins)
Hired by Colgan Air Q400- 1400TT-200Multi
Currently @ about 1700TT 300Turb and riding the wave.
Good luck to ya and if you wanna come to RAMS PM me.
IMO I think my time being at RAMS we had it alot better than any other vendor. Only thing the company in FLA had new airplanes.
Anybody know's how my old baby 9240H did this season!:bandit:
Hired with RAMS Aug06-375TT
End of season May07-830TT
Hired Part 135cargo June07-840TT(Flew VFR till I hit 135mins)
Hired by Colgan Air Q400- 1400TT-200Multi
Currently @ about 1700TT 300Turb and riding the wave.
Good luck to ya and if you wanna come to RAMS PM me.
IMO I think my time being at RAMS we had it alot better than any other vendor. Only thing the company in FLA had new airplanes.
Anybody know's how my old baby 9240H did this season!:bandit:
aloft
New Member
Heh...that's exactly how I describe the flying too: like flying a localizer for hours on end. To appreciate the analogy, understand that our lateral deviation tolerance is only .022 nm, which is roughly 116 feet. All day long. You definitely can't let your attention--or heading--wander, or before you know it, you'll be off the line and have to re-shoot it.
The camera system has its own GPS, and it provides nav guidance when shooting via a 2-line LED display that sits atop the glareshield, but it's not useful for normal navigational use. Otherwise, most aircraft are /A or /U. DWAS has a couple with Garmin 430s in them, but the rest of DWAS' planes have a Garmin 196 for cross-country use and more importantly, airspace awareness. I dunno about the other companies.
Sol Rosenburg
Well-Known Member
Just like aloft said, the gps for the camera is just that. You can't use it for approaches or awareness its just to make the flight lines. I had a handheld but would have really like to have an ifr panel mount just for convenience of less clutter and the utility of using it on ifr trips.
Sol Rosenburg
Well-Known Member
no, it varies on the flight plan
Once your settled and get going you just do your thing and go where they say to go, not too complicated.
aloft
New Member
While shooting, the three things we focus on are course deviation, altitude, and ground track, and we're only concerned with the GPS readings of those three parameters.
The lines vary in length from a mile to as many as 15.
It's fairly common to get outside of parameters laterally; if you allow your track to drift off only a couple degrees, you'll exceed the lateral deviation pretty quickly. Happens all the time, though.
We enjoy quite a bit of autonomy while on the road, but that can be a double-edge sword for some people.
The lines vary in length from a mile to as many as 15.
It's fairly common to get outside of parameters laterally; if you allow your track to drift off only a couple degrees, you'll exceed the lateral deviation pretty quickly. Happens all the time, though.
We enjoy quite a bit of autonomy while on the road, but that can be a double-edge sword for some people.
aloft
New Member
You're pretty much on the road straight, going from jobsite to jobsite. I lucked out and got to work the tail end of a project in my hometown, so I got to spend a couple weeks at home while working. That's rare, tho.
Pretty much everyone hired is a fresh comm pilot; I passed my comm rides less than a week before landing the job last fall. But like I've said, hiring mins vary by company; DWAS is 350 TT firm, some of the others will hire at 250 TT. Just depends on their individual insurance carriers.
Hey guys! Its one thing to talk about the flying and life on the road! But talking about the systems and putting them on youtube is not COOL! If pictomerty wanted they could not only sue you but they can cancel the companys contract! You Mappers know what Im talking about or maybe you forgot that you signed a legal doc when you went to pictomerty for indoc.
Trust me, RAMS had to fire a guy because of it! Don't spoil it for the for the future mappers.:bandit:
Trust me, RAMS had to fire a guy because of it! Don't spoil it for the for the future mappers.:bandit:
rdsoxpilot
Well-Known Member
where did you hear that from?
Why ask? You flew for RAMS, therfore you know what I said in the post is true.:bandit:
number_twelve
Well-Known Member
Hey guys, I'd appreciate information on where these companies are based at. Tried to do a search for company websites, but only found one for Northern States in NY.
TripleSticks
Well-Known Member
Hey guys. I just saw this thread and it's pretty interesting. If you're thinking that the surveying thing is actually more than just a 1 season gig there are plenty of other companies out there that have better pay, schedules and living conditions on the road. They also fly more complex aircraft and require more hours but the grid flying and experience that you're getting would definitely help you get your foot in the door.
For instance. I have been flying full time for a mapping company for 3 years. I thought it would be something I did for just a little while but I really like it so I'm not going to quit until some kind of dream job falls in my lap.
We have work all year around but like you have been discussing... the high time is when the leaves are off the trees. We work a 20 day on 10 off schedule. Starting pay is somewhere between 40k and 50k to fly the Cessna 401/402's. More if you're flying the Turbo Commander or the Lear Jets. Full time pilots are salaried employees with full benefits (401k, insurance, PTO ect.). Life is different on the road from what you are describing. We don't share hotel rooms and usually stay in decent places. The Choice Hotel network is a favorite because they have good rewards but we use Holiday Inns, Hilton Garden Inns Mariotts and things like that. We get a per diem based on the Conus rate so if you're in the middle of nowhere you will get $39 per day for food but if you're in Boca Raton you get something like $70 per day. It usually ends up being plenty for food and I almost always take have extra per diem left over at the end of a rotation. Rental cars are also paid for by the company.
Open insurance requirements for us are 2000/1000me but I've seen guys get in with 1000/500me or even a little less if they have significant time in the C-402. We are hiring right now if you're interested and you meet those requirements. I'm always happy to help out good guys who have the time and need a job.
Also... there's lots more companies than just the one I work for. There's places out there flying King Airs and Cheyennes as well. You can survey in pretty much anything so if you don't want to go to the airlines it's an option to look at.
For instance. I have been flying full time for a mapping company for 3 years. I thought it would be something I did for just a little while but I really like it so I'm not going to quit until some kind of dream job falls in my lap.
We have work all year around but like you have been discussing... the high time is when the leaves are off the trees. We work a 20 day on 10 off schedule. Starting pay is somewhere between 40k and 50k to fly the Cessna 401/402's. More if you're flying the Turbo Commander or the Lear Jets. Full time pilots are salaried employees with full benefits (401k, insurance, PTO ect.). Life is different on the road from what you are describing. We don't share hotel rooms and usually stay in decent places. The Choice Hotel network is a favorite because they have good rewards but we use Holiday Inns, Hilton Garden Inns Mariotts and things like that. We get a per diem based on the Conus rate so if you're in the middle of nowhere you will get $39 per day for food but if you're in Boca Raton you get something like $70 per day. It usually ends up being plenty for food and I almost always take have extra per diem left over at the end of a rotation. Rental cars are also paid for by the company.
Open insurance requirements for us are 2000/1000me but I've seen guys get in with 1000/500me or even a little less if they have significant time in the C-402. We are hiring right now if you're interested and you meet those requirements. I'm always happy to help out good guys who have the time and need a job.
Also... there's lots more companies than just the one I work for. There's places out there flying King Airs and Cheyennes as well. You can survey in pretty much anything so if you don't want to go to the airlines it's an option to look at.
number_twelve
Well-Known Member
Let me rephrase, if anybody has any contact info they would like to share, I would greatly appreciate it.
Hey Triplestacks, I was fortunate enough to spend some time with some good guys out of the Atlanta area who stopped through Iowa for a few weeks in a 402B. Do the names Brian, Matt, Christian, or Big John ring any bells??
TripleSticks
Well-Known Member
How long ago was that? If it's who I'm thinking of those are all pretty good guys. If it's the Brian I know, he took a corporate gig in St Louis flying a Hawker. He says he likes it a lot. Matt is the CP if that's the same Matt you're talking about. It would have to have been a couple years ago for it to be the Christian I know and I'm not sure who Big John would be. There was a big Andy though. haha.
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