Traffic Watch C172 DC area

C

ComplexHiAv8r

Well-Known Member
Carry traffic reporters in a Cessna 172, 25-30+ hours per week. Full and part-time openings now. No instructing, decent equipment and great working environment. Our airplanes are 172N models with Thielert diesel power, full IFR avionics, Rosen visors, and Garmin GPS with weather. They are used exclusively for traffic; you're not sharing them with primary students. This is flown from the right seat. Crosswind, radio communication, and decision-making skills are critical. So we don't waste each other's time, please understand the following: *YOU MUST be a US citizen. Because of where we are and what we do, this is just the way it is. No exceptions. You can't get there from here. *Please already be in the Washington DC area. *You must be familiar with the Washington ADIZ/FRZ airspace. (See above) *Please have a clean driving record to keep the insurance company happy. *Criminal and FAA background checks are required. That said, there are advantages: *No-cost use of aircraft for currency & training. *Off-time recreational use of aircraft for fuel cost only. *Build time quickly without the nonsense, uncertainty and liability that all come with instructing. If all this has not scared you off, please email your info for fastest review and response. Our needs are ongoing, and we've almost always got room for good people. Qualifications: 550TT, 400 PIC,300 in C172 or something close, commercial/instrument rated & current. Top-notch radio communication, crosswind and decision-making skills are critical. Familiarity with DC area and FRZ/ADIZ airspace are necessary. Carry traffic reporters in a Cessna 172, 25-30+ hours per week. Full and part-time openings now. No instructing, decent equipment and great working environment. Our airplanes are 172N models with Thielert diesel power, full IFR avionics, Rosen visors, and Garmin GPS with weather. They are used exclusively for traffic; you're not sharing them with primary students. This is flown from the right seat. Crosswind, radio communication, and decision-making skills are critical. So we don't waste each other's time, please understand the following: *YOU MUST be a US citizen. Because of where we are and what we do, this is just the way it is. No exceptions. You can't get there from here. *Please already be in the Washington DC area. *You must be familiar with the Washington ADIZ/FRZ airspace. (See above) *Please have a clean driving record to keep the insurance company happy. *Criminal and FAA background checks are required. That said, there are advantages: *No-cost use of aircraft for currency & training. *Off-time recreational use of aircraft for fuel cost only. *Build time quickly without the nonsense, uncertainty and liability that all come with instructing. If all this has not scared you off, please email your info for fastest review and response. Our needs are ongoing, and we've almost always got room for good people. Qualifications: 550TT, 400 PIC,300 in C172 or something close, commercial/instrument rated & current. Top-notch radio communication, crosswind and decision-making skills are critical. Familiarity with DC area and FRZ/ADIZ airspace are necessary.
 
Job posting said:
Top-notch radio communication, crosswind and decision-making skills are critical. Familiarity with DC area and FRZ/ADIZ airspace are necessary. X 5
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I think they want you to have top-notch radio communication, crosswind and decision-making skills and be familiar with the DC area and FRZ/ADIZ airspace. Just a hunch though.
 
Toria said:
At what field is the FBO?
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The operation is based at W32 Hyde Field, in MD, S and a tad E of DC. Don't know what he's paying, but I know from a local pilots e-mail list he is something of a character. In the past he has had some issues with graduates of certain large aviation Univeristies that felt they knew everything at 300TT which is why he writes the ads the way he does. I only see his ads about once every year and a half or so, so apparently the pilots he hires stay around a while.

If the pay is close to instructing and I suspect it is, I'd think this could be a great way to build time. I'm also pretty sure all the flying is M-F as well. Not a bad deal to get 100 hours a month without having to work weekends.
 
it wasn't directed at you. i just get sick of these pipeline patrol, traffic watch, banner tow operators knocking CFIs. honestly how hard is it to fly circles over the major roads or fly for miles and miles out in the sticks checking pipelines. you don't learn squat compared to teaching in my opinion.
 
montanapilot said:
it wasn't directed at you. i just get sick of these pipeline patrol, traffic watch, banner tow operators knocking CFIs. honestly how hard is it to fly circles over the major roads or fly for miles and miles out in the sticks checking pipelines. you don't learn squat compared to teaching in my opinion.
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OK, thanks!
I will disagree with you to a point about not learning squat compared to teaching (CFI). I am not a CFI, but I am learning ALOT flying solo IFR. I am making decission of flight based on keeping revenue coming into a company, and the cost of canceling a flight (having to drive instead).

Not to say CFI is not a great way to learn and build hours, but even in the past day or so a CFI here on JC made a comment about not learning much while flying circles as a CFI (but for the life of the search feature I cannot find it! :banghead: )
 
montanapilot said:
it wasn't directed at you. i just get sick of these pipeline patrol, traffic watch, banner tow operators knocking CFIs. honestly how hard is it to fly circles over the major roads or fly for miles and miles out in the sticks checking pipelines. you don't learn squat compared to teaching in my opinion.
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I'll be the first to say instructing is great. I love teaching people and I've learned a lot from it. But you want to know what will probably keep me from making a career out of it? The nonsense, uncertainty, and liability.

I can't wait to get a flying job where I just show up, fly the plane, and go home. I get tired of dealing with students who aren't serious about learning (nonsense). I don't like the fact that CFIs have to scrounge up students in order to get paid...if the student gets busy at work, or runs out of money, or the weather turns bad, or whatever, the CFI doesn't fly and usually doesn't get paid (uncertainty). Also, whenever I sign a student's logbook, I'm liable for a lot more than just that one flight. My instruction might get called into question years later (liability).

So for how great instructing is, I don't think the original job advertisement is too far off base. There are some big advantages to traffic watch over CFIing. Nothing wrong with admitting it.
 
montanapilot said:
it wasn't directed at you. i just get sick of these pipeline patrol, traffic watch, banner tow operators knocking CFIs. honestly how hard is it to fly circles over the major roads or fly for miles and miles out in the sticks checking pipelines. you don't learn squat compared to teaching in my opinion.
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Really? Why not? It is a flying job where there would be pressure to fly every day. Students will usually cancel for you if the wind is high or the visability is low, even if you thought they could learn something in those conditions and would have taken them up.

Not so for the traffic watch guy. You'd be expected to fly every day the weather allowed, and most likely you'd be the one having to make the risk analysis. You wouldn't learn how to teach flying, but you'd certainly be learning and most likely would get more experience flying in less than ideal weather.
 
They have diesel powered 172s? Sounds like a pretty sweet job. As far as pipeline pilots compared to CFIs...we'll have to see. I'll report back in a couple of months. Anybody know anything about flying a citabria?
 
jml2992 said:
More reliable than an Avgas recip? I am going to wiki the whole deal.
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"The lack of an electrical ignition system in diesel
engines improves the reliability. The high durability
of diesel engines is also due to the overbuilt
nature as well as the combustion cycle, which will
create a less violent change in pressure when
compared to a gasoline type spark ignition engine.
Diesel fuel is also a better lubricant than gasoline,
so it is less harmful to the oil film on piston
rings and cylinder bores - making it routine for
diesel engines to go 250,000 miles or more without
having to be rebuilt.

For several reasons, diesel proves to be better than
spark engine ignition. Diesel engines last a lot
longer, they offer more torque, and they are also
more reliable. They are also more expensive as well,
although you get what you pay for. If you have
never owned a diesel vehicle, you owe it to yourself
to see everything they offer you - and you'll find
yourself a very satisfied customer."
 
More reliable -- no fowled plugs.
One lever (vs. no throttle and mixture).
4-4.5 GPH!!! No joke. For patrol ops, this is great because you can loiter longer and speed isn't always #1.
 
montanapilot said:
it wasn't directed at you. i just get sick of these pipeline patrol, traffic watch, banner tow operators knocking CFIs. honestly how hard is it to fly circles over the major roads or fly for miles and miles out in the sticks checking pipelines. you don't learn squat compared to teaching in my opinion.
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I don't think that was a slam on CFIs... just the opposite, in fact. They didn't say that being a CFI was nonsense--rather that you have to DEAL with nonsense as a CFI (and boy, do ya!) What I got out of it was, "build time without having to deal with students that puke on you, cancel without notice, and whose family will sue your @$$ at a moment's notice if their little baby does some stupid thing and gets themselves killed."

Man, just typing that brings back memories of students force-puking in the cockpit... yuuuuuuuuuuuuucccccccckkkkkk!!!
 
Do not work for Fetter he is a really big D@#$K. Unless you are also a redneck you will bump heads with he and his boys! Fetter will try to make you fly in any and all types of weather -VFR while covering his a$$ - you independent contractor.
 
I just left there, that position is to fill the gap I left, moving on...got my time.

It's a great place to get your time quick, just suck it up that the planes are old and that the W32 is falling apart and you'll be fine.

Fetter is definitley a character, trys to pull some shady stuff (overfly the 100 hour), but just stand up for what you know is right and he can't do a damn thing about it, don't listen to his crap.
He knows how to read the weather in the area and is good with that, he does not try to make you fly in any kind of weather.

You better be damn good at crosswind landings though. 20-30 knots straight across is normal there(cutoff is 30), and with a crappy runway that has various slope angles that is ony 3000 feet long makes it even more fun.

The diesels fly just like every other 172, just a bit more nose heavy.

Like I said, good place to get you time quick(100-120 hours a month if weather is good).

Pay is $14 an hour.
 
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