The job field

[DGP]

What Bif just said...oh so true...saw that more than i would like to admit....also why I got screwed out of a medium checkout....company did not want to loose an engineer as I was told a pilot /eng cannot look after a 204 by himself. Other than loading all the bulls##t gear that you lug around with a medium I could have handled it no problem.So what did they do...stuck me wrenching on a 205 for the summer....couldn't quit there soon enough.This with 15 years for them as a pilot/eng on 206B and L's.  Don't tell anyone about skills not related to flying.It will bite you in the a$$.

[DGP]

The best part of the story about getting screwed as a pilot/eng is I had to totally strip down a 205 for airframe repairs the following winter after having to wrench on a 205 all summer.I took that ship down to bare bones...all the drivetrain out...all the hydraulic system...out...all the flight controls...out. Then I get told that I was going to get my recurrent training done so I could get back flying in a month.I told them not to bother as I would be leaving....not sure how long it took them to build that ship but I am sure it was down for most of that summer...

[daws901]

4 hours ago, Bif said:

It's the ultimate low-timer trap. If you establish that you are good at something non-aviation that benefits the company in a significant way, be prepared to have that skill exploited @ 100-hour pilot pay and your flying progression put on the back burner. Next thing you know, you're earning just enough to make it unappealing to return to a straight 100-hr pilot job, but you're severely underpaid compared to your non-aviation peers, and you haven't logged a meaningful flight hour in so long that your skills have degraded and new hires are bypassing you while you fly a desk. Not that I'm speaking from personal experience, but it's a trap I've seen more than one person fall into.

constructive. I can see that point of view. I just figured that even pilots aren't flying at all hours of the day and whilst there isn't something major going on, there is always administrative stuff

[daws901]

20 hours ago, freck said:

If you think washing boots and sweeping floors is beneath you then you really have no idea what it takes to get flying. But go ahead and give Cathy your money it's good for our economy. 

It isn't beneath me... but given I am a fully qualified accountant, I'd say that's more valuable to the company than a little less dust

[daws901]

3 hours ago, DGP said:

What Bif just said...oh so true...saw that more than i would like to admit....also why I got screwed out of a medium checkout....company did not want to loose an engineer as I was told a pilot /eng cannot look after a 204 by himself. Other than loading all the bulls##t gear that you lug around with a medium I could have handled it no problem.So what did they do...stuck me wrenching on a 205 for the summer....couldn't quit there soon enough.This with 15 years for them as a pilot/eng on 206B and L's.  Don't tell anyone about skills not related to flying.It will bite you in the a$$.

Understandable, but are you then suggesting I just blank my CV for the past 5 years? lol

[DGP]

Keep your present job...get a private license and fly for fun...save a whole lot of money, aggravation and heart ache. If you hit it big...buy your own ship and forget about the bulls!!t. There are folks that did just that...I know a few!

[freck]

That’s true you are. Maybe you can do tax returns and audits over a glass of wine after an easy day of heli skiing. You’re a shoe in.

[pilot83]

1 hour ago, daws901 said:

It isn't beneath me... but given I am a fully qualified accountant, I'd say that's more valuable to the company than a little less dust

Hahahaha keep your job as an accountant man, with the attitude you have portrayed in this thread I’m sure you will just turn out to be another statistic who gets a license and then never flys again.  Every pilot started out sweeping floors, cleaning toilets, and helping the engineers on machines. When i was applying I would ask to clean the bathrooms not to fly.  Go push your papers and crunch your numbers cuz if u think you can start out heliskiing or whatever you think your heads already to big to fit into the machine. 

 

[Bif]

2 hours ago, daws901 said:

constructive. I can see that point of view. I just figured that even pilots aren't flying at all hours of the day and whilst there isn't something major going on, there is always administrative stuff

Oh absolutely there is, but just keep in mind my original statement. If you know what your services are worth and can come to an arrangement with your employer that's mutually agreeable, then more power to you. But get that in WRITING, and even then nothing is guaranteed. You wouldn't be getting the responses you're seeing here if if it was a proven path to success.

I'd say you'd be better off offering your services on the side at contract rates, but maintaining a pilot focus while at the hangar. You might even find your fellow pilots begin to resent you if you're the only one of them not out cutting grass or running fuel drums to the bush.

I know the comments on here are overly snarky, but theyre mostly giving you the hard truth about an industry that's kind of in the toilet at then moment.

Take them with a grain of salt, but also take them to heart.

 

[daws901]

2 hours ago, pilot83 said:

Hahahaha keep your job as an accountant man, with the attitude you have portrayed in this thread I’m sure you will just turn out to be another statistic who gets a license and then never flys again.  Every pilot started out sweeping floors, cleaning toilets, and helping the engineers on machines. When i was applying I would ask to clean the bathrooms not to fly.  Go push your papers and crunch your numbers cuz if u think you can start out heliskiing or whatever you think your heads already to big to fit into the machine. 

 

Clean the bathrooms ... not to fly? ....why?

1 hour ago, Bif said:

Oh absolutely there is, but just keep in mind my original statement. If you know what your services are worth and can come to an arrangement with your employer that's mutually agreeable, then more power to you. But get that in WRITING, and even then nothing is guaranteed. You wouldn't be getting the responses you're seeing here if if it was a proven path to success.

I'd say you'd be better off offering your services on the side at contract rates, but maintaining a pilot focus while at the hangar. You might even find your fellow pilots begin to resent you if you're the only one of them not out cutting grass or running fuel drums to the bush.

I know the comments on here are overly snarky, but theyre mostly giving you the hard truth about an industry that's kind of in the toilet at then moment.

Take them with a grain of salt, but also take them to heart.

 

I did think of that today, perhaps a pipe dream but perhaps worth asking about. I have no issues cutting grass therapeutic if I'm honest...toilets...not so much ha