Coastwatch minimums?

[langey5]

Does National jet crew for coastwatch? if so do there min. apply.

cheers

[Poto]

Do a search for their web site, you can apply online. Very different minimums to NJS.

Good Luck:ok:

[Transition Layer]

Whilst on the topic, thought I'd throw a few questions round as well.

I have been told that they have been known to bend on either the number of renewals (3) or the night command hours (100) - can't seem to remember which though!

Also, what about multi time? Is it possible to crack a gig with say <100hrs total multi?

Cheers,
TL

[stuck]

From what I have heard they don't bend on the Night requirement, however sometimes on the renewals, if you have a decent amount of actual IF.

Not sure about the Multi time, I don't think there is an actual requirement though.

But who really knows!!!

[twentyelevens]

Other way around. 100 hours night command has been bent to >100 total night, but min 3 renewals required. (ie MECIR held for min of four years) Have heard of many doing say two or three renewals in the space of 4-5 months (just to make up the numbers) but that is fairly transparent and I don't think they have had too much luck

[The Voice]

National Air Support are the 'parent' company after buying out National Jet. As a result the old NJS has been split into 2 bits, one being rpt the other being Surviellance Australia.

They are a pretty slick outfit and they may smudge the lines a little bit with IR's however the night hours are pretty fixed, (doesn't so much apply with the BN2B, but if you're lucky enough to get a guernsey flying that, there is absolutely no scope to get the required night hours once flying, as it flies normal office hours only, ie daylight.)

Whilst I wasn't employed as a pilot with them, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with them as a 'backender'.

They are an excellent mob to crank up the piston then turbine hours .. flying is consistent as per the contract and the conditions are pretty good too .. I believe that a new EBA has just been agreed to, which to me seemed fairly reasonable.

The big difference these days is not being paid monthly but bi-monthly which makes it easier for the masses to survive!

[dodgybrothers]

the only thing they bend, is bendover their pilots (pardon the pun). Thats about all thats slick about them.

[WaldoPepper]

I flew with them a few years ago, and what has been said hear is pretty spot on. Multi time though...there is no requirement. I trained someone on the islander with only a bare twin endorsement, ie: about 10 hrs dual.

It's the best flying you'll do, in a job that pays quite well and you'll see many parts of remote Australia that people pay thousands for.

I hear from friends still there that they may be recruiting soon, so go for it.

[Next Generation]

It's the best flying you'll do

Compared to what ?????????????

[compressor stall]

Buzzing boats and patrolling low level along remote coastlines has got to be better "fun" than flying at FLs.

Sure the lifestyle wouldn't be great ($$ and location etc) compared to turbine/jet etc, but for seat of the pants fun, not much would beat those the low level patrols?

CS

[ITCZ]

Not a S.A. pilot but a few things that come up in discussion.

SA are wholly owned subsidiary of NJS

SA pilots do not have seniority in NJS, and vice versa. Treated as completely separate companies. Got 8 yrs in SA, join NJS, you go to the bottom of the list.
Rostering and pay is different.

Some in SA not happy with the seven days only roster notified seven days ahead (NJS rosters for the calendar month, issuing the roster seven days before the month commences).

About four years ago they had some direct entry Dash 8 crew from New Zealand to plug an experience gap -- one or two of the Kiwis complained about SA being the lowest paid Dash 8 job they knew. Other SA pilots grumble about having to wash the plane themselves.

Most of the minimum requirements are not set by the SA management -- they are 'customer' minimum requirements set by Customs.

Give them a ring to find out the exact minimums. The only one I am sure of is the 1,500 hr total time. The 3x IFR renewals has been there since inception. Suggestion: there is nothing to say that all those renewals should be 12 months apart.... They will also want to see your IF skills when they are recruiting, some of the candidates with 3 or more renewals couldn't enter a holding pattern, so bone up on the AIP and do some practice before you turn up.

Advantages: unlike a lot of operations, you know that you have a job at least until the contract runs out (AirNorth or Rex could fold next week) provided you pass the checks. You get trained and do checks in simulators rather than bashing around the circuit doing 'touch drills' and you get experience in a more disciplined and better supported aviation environment than if you got a job banging around in a Baron full of wawas. Disadvantages, some noted above, and it is preferred you start at the bottom in an Islander, at a remote location.

Morale seems to be good, sure the SA guys (like everyone else) spot the odd bit of greener grass elsewhere, but they get paid every month while the contract exists, and where else do you get paid to look UP at the wheelhouse of an oil tanker as you scoot past at 200+knots?

[Capt W E Johns]

where else do you get paid to look UP at the wheelhouse of an oil tanker as you scoot past at 200+knots?
Pick an Airforce, any Airforce.

[compressor stall]

200 knots? In an Islander?? :}

[The Bullwinkle]

I once had a ground speed of 160 kts in the climb in a BN2 out of Cairns, just before the airport closed due to an approaching cyclone. To do 200 kts, you would have to be IN the cyclone!

I reckon Coastwatch might be exciting for a little while, but it would probably get boring after a while. Not to mention the effect to one's hearing!

[The Voice]

ITCZ

Respectfully, I draw your attention to my earlier post .. National Air Support is now the company that owns NJS and all that went with it .. there is a statement on the Surv. Aust. web page that SA is part of the NAS group of companies .. it used to be a wholly owned subsid. of NJS ..

the flying I found to be a bit more seat of the pants stuff in the BN2B and to some extent the f406 .. more mundane in DHC8 .. the pilots in the slower machines go at lower Alt's on surveilliance where as the dash flogs around at a higher and more constant alt. which is determined after considering factors for the most suitable alt. for the best radar range/detection .. that doesn't mean to say the dash doesn't go down lower, it does. The gear onboard (HDTV, IR for night flts etc) together with LSALT's etc. prohibit the 100' passes as made by the BN2B and Reims down the side of things to read the names of vessels or to see what's on board those vessels.

There has been the switch from coastwatch pilot to blue/red tail flying but it is the exception rather than the norm. There are a few pilots who are quite happy with their lot.

As for the 7 day flypro/roster debate .. Ops (they now have an ops cell, when I was with them, they didn't) can only do the best with what they have, and Customs being the client does put out a flypro which is really as good as drifting sand. Incursions don't happen according to customs wishes. Nor, for some reason do druggies follow the customs plan either. Both instances lead to changes, inevitably more when intel suggests that something(s) are on the move southish ... I bet that the roster for 146 drivers cops a flogging changes wise somewhere within the 'set in concrete' stage too ... or don't tell me, Ops are finally getting it right?

Apart from the noise in the islander, it least it has aircon! If it don't work, the plane, she don't go ... I think the slowest I ever went in it was a something like 87kts beating into what was left of a cat 5 cyclone that blew the collywobbles out of some far flung community on the W.A. coast that sent us scurrying into Kat for shelter.

[404 Titan]

The Bullwinkle & compressor stall

Don’t forget that SA has those Reams 406’s, i.e. C404 with PT6’s. I think they could do 200 kts. Maybe not at sea level but surely close to it.

The Bullwinkle

I haven’t found any aviation job that doesn’t get boring after a while. Most would give their left testicle to fly a heavy jet, but let me tell you that it is as boring as bat s**t flying one across the Pacific in the middle of the night. It’s even worse when the aircraft is fitted with FANS as you don’t have to talk on the radio. Some days I would give anything to buzz around at zot feet looking for illegal fishing boats.
:)

[The Bullwinkle]

404 Titan

Most would give their left testicle to fly a heavy jet, but let me tell you that it is as boring as bat s**t flying one across the Pacific in the middle of the night. It’s even worse when the aircraft is fitted with FANS as you don’t have to talk on the radio. Some days I would give anything to buzz around at zot feet looking for illegal fishing boats.

So why did you apply for a job that you didn't want to do ?????

I have known for years that long haul would be a boring job, so I have never applied to a long haul operator.

Seems simple enough to me.

[404 Titan]

The Bullwinkle

Never said I didn’t want to do it. Far from it. You obviously didn’t get what I was trying to say. I was simply trying to convey to you that all jobs have their boring parts, even long haul. Personally there is no other job that I would want to do except fly planes even with its boring aspects in all its realms.

[hoss]

Yep the F-406 has a Vmo of 229-213 from memory, whatever it was it was the best speed for doing 'beatups':) .

But I wouldn't do that sort of thing now, Merry Christmas. hoss:)

[dodgybrothers]

hoss, that iron trap memory never ceases to amaze!!!

[surfnsun]

A little clarification on company structure.

The NJS group were split a couple of years ago after being bought by FR Aviation, a subsidiary of Cobham.

The two Australian companies became NJS and NAS, with separate MD's and reporting structures. Surveillance Australia was situated as a subsidiary of NAS whilst NJS retained the RPT contract, charter and freight side of the business.