Where do people go after flying a C208
- Thread starter hotice
- Start date
Inverted25
Well-Known Member
I've always thought flying a caravan would be a good job if your wife made decent money as well. It would give you more time home with your family I would think. I could be wrong though. At companies like mountain air I would think alot of the van pilots would want to move to the ATR?
gomntwins
Well-Known Member
The majority of Caravan's I've seen and know about are based at outstations. The perk of many outstations is they are often smaller cities (it seems like the majority are 7,000-45,000 people that I know of. Again, just speaking about the midwest) so cost of living is usually quite affordable. As to seeing your family... i doubt it. Outstations usually leave at 6:00-7:30p.m. and fly back in the morning being done for the day at 7:00-8:30a.m. So, if your wife works a normal 8-5 job you won't see her at all Tuesday thru Friday. Outstation schedules typically start Monday night and end Saturday morning. If you are based out of a hub then the typical schedule is Monday thru Friday but you takeoff at around 6:00 a.m. (at the airport by 5:00a.m.) and will typically be back at 7:30-9:00 p.m. Don't expect to see your wife before 9:00p.m. with this schedule.
I've flown the outstation UPS schedule for years (which is the same as fedex... they have an ATR on the same route as me and we takeoff within 20 minutes of each other both ways). It's hard to make friends doing it, I think it would be hard on a family of your wife/husband who worked a normal schedule, and it is extremely fatigueing. The perk is you get to spend all day every day at home. I work a parttime fastfood job and am restoring a car to kill my days. It's nice in that sense. Plenty of freetime.
gomntwins
Well-Known Member
I know the 1900 is a much better airplane than the Metro, but I really have no desire to fly one. I work with a lot of people that are typed in both and they say the 1900 isn't much fun (they pretty much fly themselves) to fly whereas the metro seldom gets boring. I guess I've never flown a 1900 and if I need to I will, but I don't have much desire.
Of course nothing compares to the Caravan. My girlfriend flew a caravan for awhile and she hated it... apparantly there's not a whole lot to do when you have a couple of Garmin 430's and couple them to your autopilot while using a nice color radar that actually paints weather.
Boris Badenov
This is no laughing matter.
I'm looking down the barrel of a 1900 upgrade sometime in the (hopefully near) future, so I took the liberty of getting a little stick time in one we chartered to cover a broken 99. I can confirm that it is about as exciting as watching paint dry. Give me a metro or better still a mitsi any day of the week. 
KLB
Well-Known Member
gomntwins
Well-Known Member
Below 17000ft the metro will go faster and burn less fuel. 1900=overated
Not to mention a Metro costs half to a third as much to buy/lease than a 1900 that only hauls a little more freight than a metro can. I still haven't figured which is worse: stacking in a tube or having to get the freight over the 1900 wingspar... I'd say that's pretty even for sucking.
Blip16
Well-Known Member
this guy....
Inverted25
Well-Known Member
If you were flying from the hub leaving a 6am flying say a hour or two getting there by 8am. You have from 8am till what say around 5pm till you will take off again. Why not get another job using your degree and make double the money. Or do you have to sit and wait at the airport for that ridiculous span of time?
Blip16
Well-Known Member
with the company i want to work for you can do whatever you want during that time
Pretty standard with most cargo ops like this. The between time is yours.
Blip16
Well-Known Member
he he, that is exactly what i was thinking.
gomntwins
Well-Known Member
Well, personally, my degree's in political science and the only job I've ever found with that degree is flying airplanes! Part of the issue is, I don't want to hold 2 fulltime jobs. It's a quality of life thing. I don't need my fastfood job and don't even do it in the summer... I do it in the winter to get me out of the house. Also, I'd rather be at my place for at least a couple hours out of the day then work fulltime. If you do get a second job you need it to be extremely flexible as well... because there will be days you either won't make it in because of weather or your company will need to to fly all day. I don't turn my extra paycheck down, but I sure don't consider that income as anymore than some beer money/fun money either. If you do get a job flying freight hold off a few monthes before getting a second job is my recommendation... you'll see how much this schedule can take out of you. It can be quite rough.
gomntwins
Well-Known Member
There ain't much golfing to do in these Dakota winters!
You'd be surprised how much work you can get done in a hotel room. They get you day rooms during the layover?
-mini
gomntwins
Well-Known Member
nah... I'm an outstation pilot. I spend my days at home. My nights I actually spend with my girlfriend. It works out well, I get my sleep there (If I didn't have her they'd put me up, but I do, so I see no reason to have my company spend the money!). My company does pay for rooms whenever needed... we're not one of those places that makes pilots sit at an FBO all day!
SpiraMirabilis
Possible Subversive
metro is mad fuel efficient.
