By coincidence, this article is in today's New York Times.
Skybound Los Angeles Traffic Reporter Sees Job as a Dying Art
LOS ANGELES, March 12 - The first voice many Los Angeles commuters hear in the morning, when the clock radio bleats at 6, is that of Cmdr. Chuck Street, talking about traffic. He knows this, and so tries to put the good before the bad, to set a meditative mood with a poetic description of the rain, say, before launching into the annoyances or horrors of the day.
How about this for ingenuity in getting a job?
Chuck Street began his career in 1983. A helicopter pilot by hobby, he was down on his financial luck then. The rent was in arrears; the repossession man was nipping at his heels. Desperate, Mr. Street and a bare-chested woman hovered in a helicopter outside the 19th floor window of Rick Dees, the disc jockey. It paid off. Impressed with the derring-do of Chuck Street and the genetics of his female companion, Mr. Dees hired him a month later as a traffic pilot and reporter.
Link to full story in the New York Times
I spent a week with Chuck in 1997. For a PPL, it was a fantastic experience and, although I'm not qualified to judge, for what it's worth, I suspect 20-25 hours might be useful for a new CPL or someone hours building for a CPL.
If the pilot's interested, it's not just straight and level. In our breaks, we practised pinnacle landings, confined areas and roof-top helipad ops.
Useful experience, extremely enjoyable and very cheap 206 flying. Recommended.
