Entry level jobs
Another way to build up your flight time is to look for jobs which require very little experience and will provide you with a great opportunity to learn a lot about the industry as a professionnal pilot. You might have to fly in very busy airspace or fly eight hours every day at low altitude, sometime in the middle of the night or in cold weather. There is a wide range of jobs out there which can take you away from home a few hours a day to weeks at a time. A lot of different airplanes can be used, including anything between a cessna 172 to Twin Otter, depending on the business needs. Some of the jobs require a specific training. Here is a list of the most common ones :
- Traffic watch : Fly journalists for a radio station above major cities to report during peak hours roads and traffic conditions
- Pipeline watch : Fly low altitude patrols to control the conditions of gaz or oil pipelines
- Banner tow : Fly slow and somewhat low with a banner used to communicate a message or as an add.
- Skydiving : Fly skydivers to the drop point
- Safety pilot : Some companies specialize in selling time building blocks and require a safety pilot for their customers
- Ferry pilot : Fly airplanes between two airports when the customers is unable to do so
- Survey pilot : Fly across the US, back and forth, to take pictures of the landscape for companies specialized in mapping
- Crop duster : Fly missions close to fields that need to be sprayed with chemicals
- Traffic watch : Fly journalists for a radio station above major cities to report during peak hours roads and traffic conditions
- Pipeline watch : Fly low altitude patrols to control the conditions of gaz or oil pipelines
- Banner tow : Fly slow and somewhat low with a banner used to communicate a message or as an add.
- Skydiving : Fly skydivers to the drop point
- Safety pilot : Some companies specialize in selling time building blocks and require a safety pilot for their customers
- Ferry pilot : Fly airplanes between two airports when the customers is unable to do so
- Survey pilot : Fly across the US, back and forth, to take pictures of the landscape for companies specialized in mapping
- Crop duster : Fly missions close to fields that need to be sprayed with chemicals