Looking for work in Oregon

J

jon wilson

Pilot4Life
I just finished school in Eugene Oregon. I got my commercial pilots cert. Last year I aqquired my instrument rating. I have 417hrs of flight time. No multi rating or CFI. I went to talk to a skydive outfit and they said I need 10 hrs of c-182 time and the pay was $10 tandem $5 single and free for experienced. Kinda sad since i just spent a ton of money on these ratings.I'm taped out in money. Any ideas from fellow pilots would be appreciated. Thanks for your guys time.
 
jon wilson said:
I just finished school in Eugene Oregon. I got my commercial pilots cert. Last year I aqquired my instrument rating. I have 417hrs of flight time. No multi rating or CFI. I went to talk to a skydive outfit and they said I need 10 hrs of c-182 time and the pay was $10 tandem $5 single and free for experienced. Kinda sad since i just spent a ton of money on these ratings.I'm taped out in money. Any ideas from fellow pilots would be appreciated. Thanks for your guys time.
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Not much help but try and get that CFI rating if you can. I'm sure there are some here on JC who are knowlegeable regarding flight schools offering bonuses. These schools also may offer CFI ratings for those who choose to stay and instruct. Also look into the ANG. If you wan to serve your country this is an excellent way to do it.
 
There's a Pictometry vendor hiring in Nebraska. Do a season on the road with them and you'll have enough time this summer to move on to some better aviation jobs. You'll be on the road so all your expenses will be covered, but I don't imagine the pay is remarkable.

There's also Northern States and Landcare which may still be hiring. http://forums.jetcareers.com/threads/aerial-survey-pilot-needed-low-time-is-okay.225285/

Apply now, hear their spiel and if you can do 6 months on the road it might be the best career move you ever made if you want to stay in aviation.
 
Seaport Airlines hires guys with that kind of time. They run caravans to the coast and eastern Oregon. It's a dicey thing just putting in a resume with them, I'd suggest politely poking your nose around their HR department and PDX terminal.

Also, did you talk to SkyDive Oregon? They want 500 total time, and pay is probably better than 10 clams per climb.
 
I spoke with someone at Seaport recently in the PDX area and was told that they are hurting for captains and have too many low time right seat people. That in turn means that the right seaters aren't really flying a whole lot, so I would suggest looking elsewhere. I would strongly recommend getting your CFI if you can find a way. If you can scrape the funds together, try to just hit it hard and knock it out in a couple months. Remember, the CFI certificate isn't a whole lot of flying, but a LOT of ground work and instruction, so the cost isn't actually all that bad if you are willing to really put the work into studying and being prepared. You will have no trouble finding work with a CFI certificate in your hands... Anywhere!!! If you're from Eugene, I'm pretty sure you could find work at the airport there with it as well. It's my understanding that Eugene and that whole area is very understaffed in the way of instructors.

Without either more hours or a CFI, you will probably have to travel to find work as you aren't quite there yet on the hours for even VFR part 135 work, so that really limits your options. Unfortunately it's just the way of things I think. We've all had to bridge that gap in one way or another, but you are in that position at what seems like a really good time, as lots of places are hurting for pilots. Keep looking, you will find something that works for you!
 
jon wilson said:
Thanks for everyone's reply I'm going to apply at hageland and some survey company's.
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Best of luck! Bridging that gap from low time to 135 mins is the worst part of being a pilot and I wish more instructors would sit down and go over what is necessary to build the time to get a good job in aviation and how you will likely have to relocate at least once for work as a pilot. I had nothing, but great times as a survey pilot and once you get the time the career only gets better and better. Regionals are raising their pay and so are freight companies and everyone else. There are also a lot of other opportunities that open up once you get closer to a thousand hours like better jump zones, flying bigger and turbine aircraft. Being a jump pilot in a 182 can suck as I knew at least two pilots that got •ed over big time by the companies they flew for, but it sucks being a low time guy that's desperate for hours and their are a lot of companies that will take advantage of you.
 
SeaPort is a great opportunity if you do not have your CFI. However for the time being, we have plenty of lower time guys still awaiting flight training as the pilots at captain mins are in greater demand. It never hurts putting in your app though!

I will give you a quick list of the pros and cons that I have noticed so far since working for SeaPort, also feel free to PM me for more information, if you find yourself in the PDX area I will be more than happy to show you around.

Pros -
-Great wx experience, as we fly through all of the weather in order to get to OTH and PDT. This will get you very proficient in the IFR environment, lots of actual IMC.
-We operate in a crew environment, giving you great lessons in CRM and teamwork
-Quality of life is really good (speaking as a PDX based pilot), 5 on 2 off which are mostly weekends off. I am home all but two nights of the week with my current schedule.
-As per our 135 op specs, we have the freedom to fly VFR on good weather days. Which is fun flying, being able to fly through the gorge or down the coast looking for pods of whales at times.
-Tons of hours (again as a PDX based pilot). Our lowest line is 88/month, some lines are 105/month.
-Min Guarantee of 70/month at 20.59/hr. This comes in handy during the winter as being a CFI in the NW you will find it hard to keep a decent paycheck during those months.
-The caravan is a very forgiving airplane and a blast to fly, pretty much a big 172. Honestly it is easier than a 172 in my opinion (no leaning of the mixture or any of that with a turbine)

Cons-
-It is SIC time in a single engine single pilot airplane, this holds very little weight in the logbook in most peoples opinion. (Although in this hiring environment, I would argue total time is total time, just get there any way you can)
-As a new hire, you will most likely be based out of MEM or SAN before PDX, this can make for a tough commute with a 5 on 2 off schedule. The quality of life at the different bases vary, MEM usually having the most issues.
-Being based in PDX, only flying to two destinations can get boring after a while, you have to make sure as a crew that you do not overlook the easy mistakes that can happen due to complacency.
-Since the caravan is single engine, you will need to find a way to get that multi time in order to meet the requirements for the next level you are seeking.
 
JDean3204 said:
SeaPort is a great opportunity if you do not have your CFI. However for the time being, we have plenty of lower time guys still awaiting flight training as the pilots at captain mins are in greater demand. It never hurts putting in your app though!

I will give you a quick list of the pros and cons that I have noticed so far since working for SeaPort, also feel free to PM me for more information, if you find yourself in the PDX area I will be more than happy to show you around.

Pros -
-Great wx experience, as we fly through all of the weather in order to get to OTH and PDT. This will get you very proficient in the IFR environment, lots of actual IMC.
-We operate in a crew environment, giving you great lessons in CRM and teamwork
-Quality of life is really good (speaking as a PDX based pilot), 5 on 2 off which are mostly weekends off. I am home all but two nights of the week with my current schedule.
-As per our 135 op specs, we have the freedom to fly VFR on good weather days. Which is fun flying, being able to fly through the gorge or down the coast looking for pods of whales at times.
-Tons of hours (again as a PDX based pilot). Our lowest line is 88/month, some lines are 105/month.
-Min Guarantee of 70/month at 20.59/hr. This comes in handy during the winter as being a CFI in the NW you will find it hard to keep a decent paycheck during those months.
-The caravan is a very forgiving airplane and a blast to fly, pretty much a big 172. Honestly it is easier than a 172 in my opinion (no leaning of the mixture or any of that with a turbine)

Cons-
-It is SIC time in a single engine single pilot airplane, this holds very little weight in the logbook in most peoples opinion. (Although in this hiring environment, I would argue total time is total time, just get there any way you can)
-As a new hire, you will most likely be based out of MEM or SAN before PDX, this can make for a tough commute with a 5 on 2 off schedule. The quality of life at the different bases vary, MEM usually having the most issues.
-Being based in PDX, only flying to two destinations can get boring after a while, you have to make sure as a crew that you do not overlook the easy mistakes that can happen due to complacency.
-Since the caravan is single engine, you will need to find a way to get that multi time in order to meet the requirements for the next level you are seeking.
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I sent you an email about coming up to PDX to check out seaport. Let me know if you received it. Thanks for replying and telling me about the company.
 
jon wilson said:
I just finished school in Eugene Oregon. I got my commercial pilots cert. Last year I aqquired my instrument rating. I have 417hrs of flight time. No multi rating or CFI. I went to talk to a skydive outfit and they said I need 10 hrs of c-182 time and the pay was $10 tandem $5 single and free for experienced. Kinda sad since i just spent a ton of money on these ratings.I'm taped out in money. Any ideas from fellow pilots would be appreciated. Thanks for your guys time.
Click to expand...

Fly a season of aerial survey work. They typically hire people with 350+ total time, but they do hire people with fresh commercial licenses if they get desperate enough (and they DO get desperate). You will build a ton of XC and PIC (it's all PIC), will travel the country and have a blast. There is NO vacation. I think northern states aviation is the only one still hiring.

http://www.climbto350.com/job_search.cfm?jobID=86414&Close=Yes&rowNum=1&action=next
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