General Aviation pilot work in New Zealand

[andyturner]

Hi,

Can anyone brief me on the GA market place in NZ? Failing that, just a pointer to current GA jobs in NZ would be great.

For NZ in particular, what types of flying jobs are there? What are the nominal Qualification and Experience requirements for those jobs? What would be a realistic, average and fair salary for a new pilot?

Another thing I am contemplating is the “Fixed wing” or “Rotary” route. I would love to fly in the mountains of the South Islands so a Helicopter would seem appropriate. That said I’ve seen footage of Alaskan bush pilots doing some fantastic fixed wing flying and landing in places that I previously would have thought impossible. What are your thoughts on the subject? Does anyone know if Bush pilot operators exist in NZ? If so who are they?

Thanks and regards,
Andy

[toolowtoofast]

Thanks and regards,
Andy

Current GA jobs? Practically nil.

Experience/qualifications? CPL minimum, an instrument rating will help. You need minimum 750TT to single pilot IFR on air ops. (CAA requirement). A good number of instructors and charter pilots sitting with 1500-2000hrs waiting for airline call ups at the moment.

Salary? What's that? New GA pilots are normally on retainer plus flying hrs. Won't pay a mortgage.

I don't believe you 'contemplate' rotary or fixed. You either are or you aren't.

There's plenty of bush/mountain pilots. Mostly though they own their own 180/185s and use them for their own purpose. A select few get to take fare paying pax to those strips. Check out the 'More photos' thread in D&G for strip flying shots.

[The Green Goblin]

Or you can come to Australia and constantly talk about how crap Australia is and how much better New Zealand is. You will then get a job at Vuncint and join the worlds greatest aviators :ok:

Fully Sick :}

[CharlieLimaX-Ray]

Priceless Green Goblin!

You won't be laughing when Vuncents get there sux Dush-8's with the sux bladed props for there sux new RPT routes.

[glekichi]

New Zealanders must never refer to Dash-8s as such. They're Q-somethingorothers! :suspect:

[andyturner]

Chaps,

Given that I haven’t even started my PPL yet, if we could stick with "English" as a common language then that would help me enormously - Thanks!

Mr Goblin, did you mean http://www.vincentaviation.com.au/ (http://www.vincentaviation.com.au/) ? If so then thank you, these people are exactly the type of operator I'm looking for. Does anyone know who their main competitors are?

I disagree with Toolowtoofast,“I don't believe you 'contemplate' rotary or fixed. You either are or you aren't.” For me, I love both forms of flying just like I love Red heads, Blondes & Brunettes equally :ok:

Cheers
Andy

[DeltaT]

If you have the option, go helicopter. NZ has the highest number per capita in the world and plenty of ways to clock up the hours, especially frost protection.
The fixed wing GA scene is pretty F_ _ _ _ _ d in NZ and its a joke compared to the rest of the world the conditions that are around.
As has been mentioned, there is no salary for new pilots, hence the remarks you are getting. Even say 1500-2000hrs experience if you are lucky to get into GBA will only see you with $100 a day for a long days shift.
Make the right decision early on...

[Konev]

do you have a cherokee sex or cessna oh sex rating?

main besh pilot company in seuth island is eir feordland, Russel does most of the werk though.

[Steve Zissou]

Green Goblin (Goblin by name or nature...?) - you got a chup on the shoulder there cobber? :)

[horserun]

Just like to point out the New Zealand accent has been voted the most "socially attractive" in the English speaking world by.............The English.


Poms reckon New Zild accent's rilly choice | Stuff.co.nz (http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/2957186/New-Zild-accents-rilly-choice)

[mattathm]

Bahaahahahahahahaa

Andy..... stick with what you have, Ie NO pilots licence, and go get a real job.


The flying scene is now coozed in Au and NZ and if you dont even have a licence its a hard yard to the top + you will behind 7863532954239472034826 million pilots that want a job as well that already have a licence.
Good luck.

[The Green Goblin]

Nah bro

It's just been a few weeks sunce we hid a good shut fight on here eh.

I thought I might start it eh bro......

[mattyj]

Like mattathm and zissou, I have been flying for a living for the last 2.5 years and now find myself too useless to work a real job...best advice is start drinking hard liquor now..then head to Darwin...they give flying jobs to the last man standing at the Casuarina Beachfront on friday night:}

[lilflyboy262]

Damn it, I knew I was doing something wrong when I was up there....
I just stayed at the backpackers and got on it with the euro chicks :(

[ZK-NSN]

go helicopter. NZ has the highest number per capita in the world and plenty of ways to clock up the hours, especially frost protection.
I dont know what your smoking dude, but I suggest you dont operate heavy machinery until it wears off. Choppers are harder to break into than fixed wing.
Choppers or fixed wing? Pick whatever type you most enjoy because as has already been pointed, you will make bugger all money for a while so you might as well enjoy your flying while you struggle your way through the system. If you really want to get through, put in the work and prove your not a total dick then you will get through.
I have had "real" jobs before and can tell you they suck (most of these guys probably havent). Now I work 3 days a week, get paid well and hoon around the country drinking coffee and talking crap with a bunch of good c*nts........f*ck real jobs.

Good one Green gobling-him.

[horserun]

Now I work 3 days a week, get paid well and hoon around the country drinking coffee and talking crap with a bunch of good c*nts........f*ck real jobs.

Thats why I love this job!!!!!!:D:D

****** spot on!!

[The Green Goblin]

I have had "real" jobs before and can tell you they suck (most of these guys probably havent). Now I get paid well and hoon around the country drinking booze and talking crap with a bunch of good c*nts........f*ck real jobs.

Few of them in the territory mate, look under any tree :cool:

[toolowtoofast]

Chaps,

Given that I haven’t even started my PPL yet, if we could stick with "English" as a common language then that would help me enormously - Thanks!

Mr Goblin, did you mean http://www.vincentaviation.com.au/ (http://www.vincentaviation.com.au/) ? If so then thank you, these people are exactly the type of operator I'm looking for. Does anyone know who their main competitors are?

I disagree with Toolowtoofast,“I don't believe you 'contemplate' rotary or fixed. You either are or you aren't.” For me, I love both forms of flying just like I love Red heads, Blondes & Brunettes equally :ok:

Cheers
Andy

we are talking english mate. you'll get used to it if you end up down here mate. i love flying both too mate, but i couldn't afford the brazillion $$ to fly flappy wings mate. i'll have to stick to the too oh sux instead mate.

[framer]

If you have the option, go helicopter. NZ has the highest number per capita in the world and plenty of ways to clock up the hours, especially frost protection.

Think before you take that advice. It may not be for you. I have rotary friends and they are often giving me a hard time because I earn three times their wage and have a roster that doesn't change and work about 75% as much/often as they do. As a consequence I quite often can be found at a cafe with one of their wives while they are working hard. Gotta think 10 yrs down the track , not just the next one or two.

[frigatebird]

Would have liked to have had a crack at choppers, if the military had paid for it early, ..but when I thought about it later, decided I didn't want to sit on a platform of sticks on a mountaintop with unshaven geos. or surveyors in the remotest parts of the world. And to get that far, would have had to had done years of mustering first in Robbos. After the initial vertical take-off bit, they (the ones I tried the controls of, Robbo and H.500) felt less impressive in cruise than a 172. Lots of the feel of all the screwed together dangly bits flying around, feeding back through the cyclic.
Was cool though, to watch the reaction of a big old man roo one morning, when I had a ride with a doctor in his Jetranger, when he couldn't work out where the sound was coming from til the last couple of seconds as we came up behind him and landed in his paddock.
Horses for Courses. Pick the one you think you can win with. :ok:

[Bla Bla Bla]

Lived in NZ lived in Oz and its official you all have a bloody awful accent and can't talk properly.:ok:

[j3pipercub]

lilflyboy

Damn it, I knew I was doing something wrong

Nah, it was just probably cos you were kiwi...:}

and andy...

I love Red heads

ME TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CharlieLimaX-Ray]

Most young Kiwis have that burning ambition to fly for the Nu Zuland Air Farce, then get a job with Air Nu Zuland just like there uncle Jum.

If that doesn't work out they move over to Australia and get a government job and live in Bondi and do their CPL then try and get a job up north and then hopefully a gig with Vuncents on the Dush-8.

[Offcut]

CharlieLimaXray,
So, leaving all the pointless banter about our funny accent (everyone in the world has one), your big critcism of NZ pilots is that some of them want to join the Airforce then fly for their national airline. An airline that still employs pilots on a good contract, with no type rating fees, plenty of leave, lots of time off, great route structure, modern aircraft, good staff travel, etc etc... What a bunch of wa..kers hey!

As for the constant Vincent bashing, I understand that it rubs a bit having a Kiwi company operating in Oz but we seem to manage it over here ok. We have had a constant stream of Ozzie airlines in NZ for the last 20 years, employing kiwis on **** contracts and Ozzies on much better terms. If some of the Vincent boys have an attitude thats a shame but I'm sure they arent the only ones around. In fact, when I worked for Vincent (in NZ) ALL the pilots in Darwin (except the CP) were Australians. Wow, what an a--hole Pete Vincent is! How dare he come to Australia, start up an airline doing work that no one else was (Timor) and employing a bunch of Ozzies!

[frigatebird]

Yeah, Petes a good guy, quite an entrepreneur, good to see him going after the niche markets to keep his aircraft flying and his pilots employed, just a pity he had a Dash captain who was so far up himself when he wasn't flying the 3-holer.

[The Green Goblin]

Yeah bro, if you work for free for long enough you gut to fly an Aztuc across the ranges at night in freezing conditions on a casual day rate eh. You might thun be able to sull the VB Commodore and git a Skyline!

All you need to do is 100 hours unpaid ICUS over sux months. Fully sweet bro, Nulsuns wull be bugging you to wear a cap after that eh.

[Stationair8]

Peter Vincent is one of the smarter blokes in the aviation business, like everyone is had is good times and bad times but is always out looking for the next dollar.

Yes he might be a Kiwi but he has come along way this he started with a couple of Dc-3's and a Heron.

[framer]

Why do people get so threatened by Kiwis? There's only 4 million of them , Ausi's outnumber them 5 to 1.

[Offcut]

Green Goblin,
Good work mate, just keep up the mindless cliches. Its hard to imagine why employers aren't lining up to offer that 380 command and a million bucks. Whats your point? GA is tough, pretty much everywhere. If you can't stomach it then go back to the real world. The money is rubbish, the work is (hopefully) hard. New CPL's are like fresh BA graduates, only less educated. Once you climb the ladder its not so bad. Thats the whole point. I didn't realise that was unique to New Zealand. In fact, I know its not.

My advice to anyone here considering aviation downunder as a career is to not take all the negative comments on here too seriously. If you work hard, have a good attitude and stay out of trouble it will all fall into place. The first few years can be tough but stick it out and you'll be in that jet talking sh-t with good bastards and eating rare steak before you know it.

[AutopilotEngage]

Australian girls :}

Andy mate don't let anyone talk you out of what you want to do, there's opportunities out there, you've just got to look. However before then you need to do a bit more research and get a few licences/ratings.

Best of luck aye!

Oh and fling wing := vs fixed wing :ok:, you'll have to decide for yourself.

[Bla Bla Bla]

To be honest I have flown in Oz and in NZ and yes you get a bit more money in Oz but you generally live in a dusty dump and have f@#$ all to do In the little spare time you have.

On the other hand in NZ you live in a much nicer environment and usually have a huge choice of things to get up to when not at work, also due to the size of the country you can often get home for a few days here and there. If home is NZ of course.

I don't come from either Oz or Nz, so I can tell you if you do head down this way you will find out that the Ozzie's think the Kiwi's are backward and the Kiwi's think the Ozzie's are arrogant but you will think they are all the same if you come from the top of the world. They all suffer with unimportant Island syndrome its just the Ozzie's Island is big dusty and hot and the Kiwi's Island is green with mountains and beautiful. To the rest of the world they are both a sleepy back water but that's the appeal.

[The Green Goblin]

you'll be in that jet talking sh-t with good bastards and eating rare steak before you know it.

I'd love to know which airline you're talking about there mate! :}

[CharlieLimaX-Ray]

My old housemate Undy was from was from Nu Zuland his dud worked in the uggie business in Nu Zuland muny years ago. Young Undy came over to Oz to do his Commercial Pulots Licence a few years ago. He drove a neat little Furd Uscort but really wanted a big sux cylinder car like his Aussie housemate's. He used to love watching Jum Richards driving at Buthurst in the Nussan Skyline.

Translated lated into Ostralian, Andy's dad was a cropduster pilot in New Zealand for many years and didn't work in an Ugg boot factory like we assumed initially.

[dabz]

The Green GoblinQuote:
you'll be in that jet talking sh-t with good bastards and eating rare steak before you know it.


Yes! eating rare steak is the light at the end of this long pilot careers road!
I can't wait to get mine :ok:

[The Green Goblin]

You boys are dreamin' Rare steak? you'd be lucky of having something even resembling steak!

The best you can hope for is meat (you can't really identify where it came from, pig, cow, sheep etc) or chicken........

By the time you're flying an airliner you'll be lucky to have vending machines behind the flight deck :ugh:

[Offcut]

Well,,,,, we get the odd rare fillet steak. I should say that we also get a fair bit of "meat of unknown origin" as well. We just need to get it sorted like the Air France guys so we can wash it down with a red wine.