Chicago area part time stuff

ozziecat35

ozziecat35

4 out of 5 great lakes prefer Michigan.
So I'm really posting this as a right of passage I guess, but since I'm a freshly minted CMEL w/ my CSEL coming up shortly, just wondering if anyone knows of any part time gigs in the Chicagoland area. I'm very low time (204 TT/101 ME) and know anything that is available would be more than likely out of my league due to insurance requirements. If it helps I'm also instrument rated & current w a 1st class medical. Some say I have a charming personality too ;)

I do plan on getting my CFI later this year hopefully. Again, just looking for a part time thing to gain experience. I work full time as an IT Admin, so I'm relatively comfortable & don't want to take a job out of someone's pocket and won't work for free. If anyone knows anyone, please let me know.

Cheers!
 
Check with Illinois Aviation Academy. they do all the traffic reporting for the Chicago area. Talk to William and the The Pilot shop there at DPA. he might have some leads.
 

Atmopshair skydiving center in jefferson, wi is looking for a cessna 182 jump pilot. Job listing says its mostly weekends with a few weekdays need for full season april through october. Pay is junk at $5 per load. Weight limit of 190 lbs. Just commercial and instrument req. Says to expect 200 hours over the season.

Other than CFIing - this is pretty much what you are going to get...esp if you want to stay in the chicagoland area
 
FlyinIllini said:
Atmopshair skydiving center in jefferson, wi is looking for a cessna 182 jump pilot. Job listing says its mostly weekends with a few weekdays need for full season april through october. Pay is junk at $5 per load. Weight limit of 190 lbs. Just commercial and instrument req. Says to expect 200 hours over the season.

Other than CFIing - this is pretty much what you are going to get...esp if you want to stay in the chicagoland area
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Good god.. Five dollars?
 
That wouldn't even pay for your gas to drive to work. Might as well be working for free.
 
I'm from northwest Indiana, and there are slim to none opportunities for low-time pilots that aren't CFIs. You might find a few places here and there that may be hiring low-timers, but they're hardly ever advertised and rare as thunderstorms in an Alaskan winter.
 
Yeah, 5 bucks a load is pretty bad...I guess if you already lived there and didn't have anything better to do?
 
I couldn't stop laughing when I saw $5 a load. That's like 4 songs on iTunes. That would have been amazing in 1965. I didn't go through all this training for someone to hand me a $5 bill.
 
Not sure...but if someone were paying me $5, I know that I'd gladly rather find work at McDonald's. That's just outrageous. To accept that is a disservice to all pilots everywhere IMHO. I'd have to guess $20 per hour sounds about right though for a skydiving pilot. If you're truly determined to fly as one, check dropzone.com for a skydiving operation nearby where you live. I've looked into a few of them myself and from what I spotted most of the local Midwest operations are hiring pilots with close to 1000 hours or over (pilots with turbine time or CFIs with many years of experience). Of course, if you happen to know someone invovled with it, they might be able to help you get on board.... It'll be hard to have your resume noticed with only a wet commercial however.
 
I was under the impression jump pilots are paid per load? Or is it really just a case by case basis?
 
ozziecat35 said:
I was under the impression jump pilots are paid per load? Or is it really just a case by case basis?
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Yeah, my bad. I believe jump pilots are paid per load, not per hour. That's the greatest extent of my knowledge about it. And I reckon the pay varies greatly from one operation to another.
 
$5/load is roughly $10/hour in a 182 which is low. Avg. is around 10/load for a 182 or roughly 20/hr. But again - very few jobs out there for a 200 hour fresh commercial
 
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