The Life of a Mapping Pilot Blog

stormchaser

stormchaser

Well-Known Member
I've been a member here for a couple of years now, but I remain mostly on the sidelines. However, I've noticed that several of the comments revolve around curiosity into a pilot's life.

I understand that no two lives are the same, especially with being a pilot, but I've decided to open up my life a bit. I've been keeping a daily blog for the past 7 months (my 2nd season as a full-time pilot) and plan to keep this up. And it literally has EVERYTHING. Much of it involves flying (it's what I do), but you'll find the rest of the in's and out's of life there, too.

I'm one of the guys that lives on the road. It's not glorious, but it's not hell, either. After all, I get to fly. Anyway, I hope this offers some insight, humor, reflection, but most of all, reality into what really goes on in a pilot's life...good and bad, big and little, boring and exciting, flying and not.

Just for clarity, I'm one of the mapping pilots. Not airlines, not charter, not freight. I've got nothing against any of the above, but this is my story. This is me.

Hope you enjoy.

http://www.becauseihavenowife.com
 
TallFlyer said:
Which Picto vendor are you flying for?

I was a Landcare guy two winters back.
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I fly for AA. Been doing this for two years now. It's a decent lil' gig outside of being gone all the time. You get paid to fly 172's (or Aztecs) around the country. Literally all around. I've landed in 14 different states this season while flying over many more. I'm sure you know the routine...
 
Cool website! I just finished my season last week with Landcare, def an interesting job, I'm ready to move on to something else though.
 
Oh yes, very familiar with the routine. Us LC guys were always a bit jealous of you AA guys because of the fact that AA just gives you all the per diem Picto hands out and lets you do it however you want to. LC had a different system that made them a little more money.

Oh well.

So were you the one to get sent down to Haiti after the earthquake?
 
TallFlyer said:
Oh yes, very familiar with the routine. Us LC guys were always a bit jealous of you AA guys because of the fact that AA just gives you all the per diem Picto hands out and lets you do it however you want to. LC had a different system that made them a little more money.

Oh well.

So were you the one to get sent down to Haiti after the earthquake?
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Yeah, we know how all of the other vendors operate. It's truly a blessing to work for our boss. She is one unselfish and giving individual. I/we truly appreciate it.

No, I didn't go down, but I am close with the ones who did. It wasn't pretty. Basically, it was a mess and quite disturbing. One tells the story of having to wash ash off of the wings when they were done for the day from the burning of bodies. Not too glorious.

Amazing photos, though. http://www.pictometry.com/government/haiti.shtml
 
I was with Northern States, finished my season early this month. Feels good to be living in one spot again..
 
Too funny. I saw this
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photo and knew exactly where you were. You were on downwind on the runway where I passed my private. Enjoy the area!

I've got to ask though, why don't you ever mention where you really are? Seems sort of hard to follow.
 
contactground.9 said:
That was a huuuuge burger!
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Six pounds of beef, two whole onions, two whole tomatoes, a half head of lettuce, a cup each of ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and bell peppers, several pickles, and 14 slices of American cheese. And, of course, the HUGE buns on top and bottom. Total weight? A lil' over 11 pounds.
 
DSC09415-300x225.jpg

Codyjp said:
Too funny. I saw this photo and knew exactly where you were. You were on downwind on the runway where I passed my private. Enjoy the area!

I've got to ask though, why don't you ever mention where you really are? Seems sort of hard to follow.
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Sorry if there is any confusion. It's just probably in a previous post. Obviously I don't mention where I am every day. But, yeah, that is in KGJT...Grand Junction, Colorado. A beautiful place when you're not flyin' into stuff! Should be based here a couple of weeks...
 
stormchaser said:
DSC09415-300x225.jpg



Sorry if there is any confusion. It's just probably in a previous post. Obviously I don't mention where I am every day. But, yeah, that is in KGJT...Grand Junction, Colorado. A beautiful place when you're not flyin' into stuff! Should be based here a couple of weeks...
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I guess it isn't obvious to me why you wouldn't say where you were. Do you have a stalker or something?
 
Be careful with Picto and blogs. I worked for Picto in 07-08 and we had a pilot get canned for keeping a blog like this one. As I'm sure you know, they are VERY sensitive about their operations. Not trying to come down on you, just giving you a heads-up. :beer:
 
JJ429PA said:
Be careful with Picto and blogs. I worked for Picto in 07-08 and we had a pilot get canned for keeping a blog like this one. As I'm sure you know, they are VERY sensitive about their operations. Not trying to come down on you, just giving you a heads-up. :beer:
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I was wondering... are you guys allowed to say who you work for? And no I'm not talking about replying to such questions with 'AA, Landcare, etc' or any of the other pilot managing operations.
 
I was wondering... are you guys allowed to say who you work for? And no I'm not talking about replying to such questions with 'AA, Landcare, etc' or any of the other pilot managing operations.
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When I was there, they didn't really care about us saying who our contracts were with. It was more about guarding exactly what we were doing and the equipment we used. I dunno...I guess there are competing aerial mapping companies out there or something... :D
 
FlyingPoke said:
I was wondering... are you guys allowed to say who you work for? And no I'm not talking about replying to such questions with 'AA, Landcare, etc' or any of the other pilot managing operations.
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First things first, I work for a mapping company, not the CIA. So, no, it's not a problem to say who we work for. Frankly, it's plastered on EVERY image on www.bing.com/maps anyway. I don't think they are trying to hide it.

Now with that said, I don't (and can't) go around discussing the in's and out's of the airplane, cameras, etc. You will never see any pictures or comments about that in the blogs. I strictly talk about flying. We all sign contracts that say we will not discuss the proprietary information that we know about.

And if I meet someone on the ramp, I'm pretty vague, as we have to be. "Yup, I take pictures that are used for maps." Of course, they prod further, but you just keep it all generic.

It's that simple. :)
 
stormchaser said:
First things first, I work for a mapping company, not the CIA. So, no, it's not a problem to say who we work for. Frankly, it's plastered on EVERY image on www.bing.com/maps anyway. I don't think they are trying to hide it.

Now with that said, I don't (and can't) go around discussing the in's and out's of the airplane, cameras, etc. You will never see any pictures or comments about that in the blogs. I strictly talk about flying. We all sign contracts that say we will not discuss the proprietary information that we know about.

And if I meet someone on the ramp, I'm pretty vague, as we have to be. "Yup, I take pictures that are used for maps." Of course, they prod further, but you just keep it all generic.

It's that simple. :)
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Ok, I guess I just thought being vague and generic would include not mentioning that its for Bing Maps... Makes me no difference, just different guidelines at different places I suppose.
 
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