Cloud Seeding Pay C90 PIC

It is on the low side for the equipment. Contracts in Texas are paying about the same with housing included in a c340.
 
bc2209 said:
I had/have no clue about cloud seeding. However, after watching some YouTube video's i was rather intrigued by something. At least in these videos, it looks like there is a jet engine attached or some kind of fire system.

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It's a burner can with a ram air like system to deliver particulate.
 
Erik10 said:
After reading your updated post regarding the company, I would walk away. The pay is low for contractual work, being on call 24/7 is miserable, and the lack of longevity is no bueno'.
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And this is the attitude ALL pilots need to have. Only way things will ever get better.
 
C310_pilot said:
I have 2400TT 800Turbine 124 Jet. Not low but not high either. Just a Commercial ticket as I hate to drop another 2,500 on an ATP and have yet been fortunate enough to have a long term gig willing to pay for it. My wife makes GOOD money thus we will never move for a pilot gig and Richmond VA is pretty slow when it comes to aviation. I can't/won't go airlines as my wife, and I for that matter, would not put our family through that for south of 30k. Not being with your family is a hardship. My wife can cover all the bills so my main job is to support her needs. If I can add money to the pot to make her/our lives easer great. But if she doesn't get a fiscal benefit, or she's not getting an emotional benefit - well then their is no point.
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You have good experience as long as you're not looking for a G-5 Captain job and Richmond is actually pretty busy when it comes to aviation. Dominion Power just had a pilot position available last week. I was going to provide you a link, but the job listing is closed already. You also have the State's airplanes, Million Air, and Martinair. Those are the turbine operators and Richmond Jet has an ATP flight school if you can instruct. That's all just at RIC. If you look around the surrounding airports, there is even more.

Another possibility, if you don't mind a 45 minute drive, is L-3 down in Newport News. They have positions available for their Lears pretty often. It's low level flying while towing targets among doing other things. I would think your experience would be just about what they are looking for.
 
SrFnFly227 said:
You have good experience as long as you're not looking for a G-5 Captain job and Richmond is actually pretty busy when it comes to aviation. Dominion Power just had a pilot position available last week. I was going to provide you a link, but the job listing is closed already. You also have the State's airplanes, Million Air, and Martinair. Those are the turbine operators and Richmond Jet has an ATP flight school if you can instruct. That's all just at RIC. If you look around the surrounding airports, there is even more.

Another possibility, if you don't mind a 45 minute drive, is L-3 down in Newport News. They have positions available for their Lears pretty often. It's low level flying while towing targets among doing other things. I would think your experience would be just about what they are looking for.
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I have connections at Dominon and I did apply but wasn't even close to being competitive. The last hire had over 4000TT/ATP/10 years corporate. They have a G4, G2, and a Hawker 800. The Hawker has just been sold and another G2 is on its way.

I was hired at MillionAir for a citation gig. I flew a B100 for them on contract in the past @ $200 per day. The B100 was on lease back from James River Coal who is now bankrupt. The 100 is long gone. They offered me a full time job on their Citation II pay was $21,000 only 3 days hard off and their hard off is never hard. I know the Capt on the II and he also is capt on the B400. He teaches at a high school now as the pay is so low. Nice people, just very low pay QOL. I passed.

I was hired by Martin Air to fly their 350. Pay was $16,500 + 100 a trip after 10 trips. I passed on that too.

I know two pilots at the state and they are very hard to get on with. They have two 350's and rumor has it the governor wants a jet. I heard they might be looking for some contract guys. The Chief pilot has my resume but they are pretty strict about Proline experience.

I interviewed with L3 back in 09 and didn't get the job. Since then I have applied within the last year and no luck getting a call.

I had a fulltime job offer from Keystone builders flying a PC12 back in 08 - $21,500. I tried working a part time job while on contract with them and their was always scheduling conflicts. thinking back I may have been better staying at this job but I was offered a Falcon 20 gig out of CHO paying $45k+$75 per diem + all the fuel points. Unfortunately the jet was sold 6 month later when the markets imploded in 2008.

Travis has a sweet gig in ORF, unfortunately I missed his posting for a pilot by a weekend. That's not to say I would have been his choice.

It may seem as if I am being to picky but it goes back to believing that as pilots, we deserve at the very least a livable wage. Their are way to many of us that enable the generally extreme poor pay. Not to many people will pay 60+ for an education to make fast food wages. A lot of this stuff is timing I guess.
 
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I might have missed it, but what was the time/experience they were asking for? As a shiny new commercial pilot, I'd probably jump at it. But with the benefit of experience, I thinkI would skip this one. They'll find someone, or be forced to change the variables to equal a better QOL.
 
The Turboprop Cloud Seeding Pilot position is a seasonal position running from approximately May 15, 2014 through September 1, 2014. Pilots will be based at a project site in Williston, North Dakota, and will fly a specially modified and equipped turboprop aircraft in and around severe summertime weather systems for the purpose of reducing damaging hail on the ground. During non-flying periods, pilots must complete required paperwork, supervise maintenance of the project aircraft, and maintain cloud seeding equipment. This position requires pilots to be on-call 24/7 throughout the duration of the project. The company will pay a monthly salary based on experience, and will pay a monthly per diem. Pilots will be required to pay their own housing while on project. Weather Modification, Inc., will provide training.
Required Qualifications:
  • 2,500 hours total time
  • 200 hours turbine time
  • Prior cloud seeding experience desired
  • FAA commercial pilot license required
  • Multi-engine, instrument ratings required
 
bc2209 said:
I had/have no clue about cloud seeding. However, after watching some YouTube video's i was rather intrigued by something. At least in these videos, it looks like there is a jet engine attached or some kind of fire system.

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Yeah. Looks like Lohse generators for delivering silver iodide to act as glaciogenic particles. That's more of a base-seeder operation though. The C90 is new to the program, but as a top seeder, I'm not sure it'll be fitted with these.

It'll have an onboard hopper for releasing dry ice pellets, and either burn-in-place or ejectable AgI flares.
 
I must be seeing things from a different perspective. Because that pay is pretty darn good! I had to go to a remote island to make that kind of money.
 
bc2209 said:
I had/have no clue about cloud seeding. However, after watching some YouTube video's i was rather intrigued by something. At least in these videos, it looks like there is a jet engine attached or some kind of fire system.

Click to expand...


I took a class on that in college with the intention of taking a second class and then applying for an internship that included flying. Was pretty interesting stuff, but one of the last days of class the professor basically said "but really there's no way to prove that this stuff even works..."

I get what he was saying, but it wasn't a particularly mentally stimulating subject, so I decided not to subject myself to the second semester of it. I just wanted to fly planes around thunderstorms...something I thought I wanted to do until I actually did it.
 
Screaming_Emu said:
I took a class on that in college with the intention of taking a second class and then applying for an internship that included flying. Was pretty interesting stuff, but one of the last days of class the professor basically said "but really there's no way to prove that this stuff even works..."

I get what he was saying, but it wasn't a particularly mentally stimulating subject, so I decided not to subject myself to the second semester of it. I just wanted to fly planes around thunderstorms...something I thought I wanted to do until I actually did it.
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I have no idea as here in Phoenix I rarely see clouds from the ground, let alone the air. What exactly is it like to fly next to a thunderstorm? Bumpy as hell?
 
Screaming_Emu said:
I took a class on that in college with the intention of taking a second class and then applying for an internship that included flying. Was pretty interesting stuff, but one of the last days of class the professor basically said "but really there's no way to prove that this stuff even works..."

I get what he was saying, but it wasn't a particularly mentally stimulating subject, so I decided not to subject myself to the second semester of it. I just wanted to fly planes around thunderstorms...something I thought I wanted to do until I actually did it.
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Mike "the Ice" Poellot.
 
C310_pilot said:
Not to many people will pay 60+ for an education to make fast food wages. A lot of this stuff is timing I guess.
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Its better than paying 60+ for an education and standing on the sidelines.

I would seriously reconsider the airlines. The first year sucks, but you'll get through it easier than most because you have a second income in the family. So many people look down on the regionals because of first year pay and lack of QOL when you are junior. It is absolutely true, these things do suck. But if you look down the road a little bit it gets WAY better. Is it what it should be? No. But especially if you're not the primary breadwinner of the family, once you get off reserve it is pretty easy to get a significant amount of time at home almost every month.
 
bc2209 said:
I have no idea as here in Phoenix I rarely see clouds from the ground, let alone the air. What exactly is it like to fly next to a thunderstorm? Bumpy as hell?
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Depends how quickly its growing and what side of it you're on. Upwind it can be glass smooth. Downwind you're probably going to get your ass kicked.
 
Hey, you can always go back to them and negotiatte that they pay for room and board. They might not have any other options and will take you up on it. It's only for a few months, get the hours and experience and send out resumes the entire time.
 
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