jump pilot

thehobbit

thehobbit

Well-Known Member
I saw this on dropzone and I'm wondering what something like this pays.
http://www.dropzone.com/classifieds/Detailed/Employment/FLIGHT_CAPTAINS_NEEDED_159686.html
http://www.dropzone.com/classifieds/Detailed/Employment/FLIGHT_CAPTAINS_NEEDED_159686.html

Location: Eloy, Arizona, 85131, United States

Description
Full time Flight Captain positions available. Flight requirements are: 1. Commercial Multiengine with Instrument, 2. 1000 hours total time in airplanes (minimum), 3. 1500 hours total time (preferred), 4. 100 hours multiengine time (minimum), 5. 200 hours multiengine time (preferred), 6. Turboprop time preferred but not required, 7. Current 2nd class medical (minimum), 8. Ability to work in the United States, 18 month commitment required. Resumes may be emailed to susie@skydiveaz.com No phone calls please
 
Eloy is one of the most active DZs in the US, next to Perris and a few others. So I would expect to get paid by the load or by the head.
 
moxiepilot said:
Eloy is one of the most active DZs in the US, next to Perris and a few others. So I would expect to get paid by the load or by the head.
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What would be a fair amount per head or load?
 
b3181981 said:
What would be a fair amount per head or load?
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I steered clear of putting numbers to it because its been a few years since I flew jumpers. Just like other jobs, you should try to get paid fairly based on frame and experience. For me I was mostly in a king air 90 at a small, but busy dz. I was paid the greater of $125 a day or $1 a head. Most weekends I could clear $225 or more.

The most loads in a day for me was about 25-26 to 14,500 feet from sea level, 10 heads max load. You probably won't get those numbers in a 182 unless you're dropping from 10.
 
Feathered_Prop said:
I could do 32 loads/day to 14.5 in a twin otter with 23 people per load. But got paid 20/load.
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That's $640 for the day, why would people move on from that? I could see myself doing that while living out of a RV at the airport.
 
While I don't have any specific numbers, I have heard that Skydive Arizona tends to pay on the lower end for a dropzone of its size. On the flip-side, their hiring minimums are lower, so it does give a good opportunity for a lower-time pilot to get their foot in the door and get some twin-turbine PIC time.

For an experienced turbine jump pilot, there are certainly opportunities to make a descent, livable wage. When the economy slowed down, I spent several years supplementing my ferry flying business by flying jumpers at a dropzone that was similar in size to Skydive AZ. In the time I flew there, the least I ever made was $64,000 in one year (plus 401K with employer match and other benefits). Had I not been still doing ferry flights, I certainly could have made more. Though it paid well, it was not an entry-level job. Their hiring minimums were 2500TT with 1000 twin-turbine and the majority of the pilots there had 6000+ hours.

If flying jumpers is something you're interested in, there are definitely good opportunities out there. Additionally, the job itself can be a lot of fun. The cargo loads and unloads itself and all of the passengers are genuinely happy to be there. Some of the funnest flying I have done in my career have been flying jumpers.

Good luck and if you have any questions, please feel free to PM me.
 
I'll go back to flying skydivers the minute paying the pilot more than the skydive instructors becomes standard. Keep that in mind....
 
b3181981 said:
That's $640 for the day, why would people move on from that? I could see myself doing that while living out of a RV at the airport.
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That's more like a typical weekend day. At around least here, I don't see the jump planes doing nearly as many flights during the week. And yeah, there are a lot of tents and RVs around dropzones...
 
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