Alaska Bushpilots

[Skaz]

Hi guys,
I'm a South African working in Botswana, have 3 years 1300TT & 350 ME bushflying experience.
How does one get into the bushflying scene in Alaska & how is the life up there?
Apart from cold...

[zerozero]

Hi. The best way to break into Alaska bush flying is to be in Alaska.

Right now there is a huge shortage out in the bush. Everyone has left for more cushy jobs down south.

The lifestyle can be pretty relaxed or it can be a lot of work depending on where and for whom you work.

Sorry for the real general answers. I can't really offer you any advice except to come here and meet some employers and see what they offer you. Here's a partial list:

Peninsula Airways
Bering Air
Cape Smythe Air
Hageland Aviation
ERA Aviation
Grant Aviation
Frontier Aviation
Warbelow Air Service
Arctic Circle Air

Good luck. Please feel free to follow up.

[Skaz]

Zerozero, thanks mate, eally appreciate it.
I understand from your post that you are working up there now?
Whats the living conditions like there? Out here in Bottyland its still hot enought to walk around in shorts and shortsleeve shirts even though its winter...
When does the tourist/busy season start up there, Workpermit/Visa required?
cheers
Skaz

[zerozero]

The living conditions run the spectrum from third-world conditions (no running water or electricity) to metropolitan (Anchorage).

It depends on where you work. Conditions are slowly improving in the bush.

I'm not too familiar with all of the immigration law and work rules because I'm a US citizen, but all of the same rules apply in Alaska as they do in the 48 contiguous states.

As for weather: Today in ANC it's sunny and 68F (19C). That's about as warm as it'll get all summer. In the interior (Fairbanks) it could be as hot as 90F (30C).

Winters are kind of the same: The interior will see the extreme cold -40F (-40C) and the coastal areas will be more mild.

And of course summer has long days (20 hours in ANC, 3 months in Barrow). And just the opposite in winter.

Take care.

[TowerDog]

Bushflying in Alaska was fun and it paid well when I did it some years ago.
Highly recommended, and yes the winters are cold. You will get used to cross winds and short strips. (Perhaps it is better now: In the 80s all the villages in Western Alaska had dirtstrips, perhaps 1600' (500 Meters)
Some were quite a bit shorter.

The hub back then was Bethel, about 5000 people and plenty of Air Taxi operators.
Just go to Alaska, find a job, then if the shortage of pilots is serious enough, you may get your working permit.

Any boys from Bethel on PPRuNe?
Hello from TowerDog, ex Bush Air, Coastal Air, Hermens Air and Free-Lance fish hauler.


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Men, this is no drill...

[Skaz]

Thanks guys,
just got back from Mfuwe in north eastern Zambia, so a bit tired, will peruse your info in greatter detail after some shuteye!
Sounds like a great place to go if you like bushflying and the great outdoors (plus freezing your ass off).
whats the gen on survival equipment and such

Skaz

- kick the tires & light the fires -

[DownIn3Green]

I heard you are required to carry a gun for Justin. (just in case)

My work with Northern Air Cargo in YIP revealed the Alaska guys to be a breed apart.

It seemed like they had a great bond. When I went for my line check on the 727, the Ck. Airman and FE showed up in their customary uniforms and I couldn't decide if we were going hunting or fishing.

Hard to break into the club, but once you're in, a great time can be had by all.

[zerozero]

I was in Bethel from 1995-98. I also spent nine months in Dillingham. I worked for Yute Air, Camai Air and Arctic Circle Air. I moved into ANC in 1998 as an FE on the DC-6 with Northern Air Cargo but they furloughed me 7 months later. Now I fly a Metroliner for Peninsula Airways.

Survival kits (including a gun) are required by state law. The gun, of course, poses a problem on flights to Canada.

Truth of the matter is: The company equips all aircraft with a minimal survial kit *without* a gun. It's a good idea to bring along a few extra things to supplement the little survival kit the company provides.

Fly safe

[TowerDog]

ZeroZero:

Northern Air Cargo was a great airline back in the eighties and the guys I knew really enjoyed the flying.
They out of business now?

Camai Air? Were they a native owned company?
I think they started in 1983 when I was up there.

Wonder if Bethel has changed at all? Still unpaved streets and durty taxi cabs?
Wild Goose still operating?
Still a dry town with beer flown in from ANC on special order?

Oh well, maybe I should go back there one day just to have a look..

------------------
Men, this is no drill...

[DownIn3Green]

TD,

Just talked to some of my NAC friends and the place is not the same apparently.

Loads of furloughs, but pilots being called to fly on their days off.

Several of the guys I know say they're dying to leave, but somehow Alaska has a hold on them.

Alaska is a place pilots go to and then are never seen in the lower 48 again...

[zerozero]

"Alaska is a place pilots go to and then are never seen in the lower 48 again..."

Man that's the truth: In more ways than one.

Right now I'm trying to decide what I want more: To live in Alaska or work for an airline (and not commute).

To be honest, I want to have my cake and eat it too. Right now I'm patient enough to try to have both, but who knows? I may do something desperate in the future--like trade places with our South African friend in Botswana...

NAC still is a great company in a lot of ways. The crews are awesome, the DC-6 is awesome, Alaska is awesome.

I remember one very cold and frosty morning going into McGrath. We had a great crew, Louis Armstrong was on the ADF and the morning was clear and brilliant. I thought I could probably do that job for the rest of my life. And then they cut me loose--oh well.

But, yes, I agree, NAC management leaves a lot to be desired. What's new?

It's just another family run airline like MarkAir, PenAir, Reeve Aleutian and others.

Bethel probably hasn't changed *too* much. It's still "damp". Camai was native owned until a couple "gussacks" bought it. Now it's called Village Aviation.

Fly safe.

[Skaz]

zerozero, email me, you never know maybe you need some time in the sun :-)

Botswana is soo flat, I can see my schedule for next month from up here! Kinda sucks if you are into mountainbiking !

[Skaz]

Howzit guys,
some more questions...which a/c types are used most often in Alaska?
Do they range from Super Cubs up to Twotters, wheels, floats, skis?
Navigation?...you guys use Gps a lot, other navaids?
Down here some a/c have gps, but mostly VFR nav as you learn the Delta and surrounds.

[zerozero]

Hi Skaz--you and I up at the same time, except it's a little late for me and kind of early for you. But the sun is up here; I wonder if it's up in Botswana yet?

To answer your question: All of the above.

But, by and large, the most common airplane will be the 207. There are a lot of cubs up here, but if we're talking about what delivers the mail, it's the 207. Also the Cherokee Six, Piper Navajo, Cessna 402, Caravan, Twin Otter, CASA 212, Shorts Skyvan--probably all the same equipment you see in Africa, with the exception of Soviet aircraft...

Almost every plane has GPS or at least LORAN. There are plenty of VORs and NDBs, but the problem is staying high enough to receive them. Often you'll be scud running at 500 feet (never lower, of course) and be 80 miles away from the nearest VOR or NDB. Ironically, you can almost always pick up the local AM radio station with its 50,000 watt transmitter (so you can always find town).

What aircraft do you fly?

[Skaz]

Howzit mate,
here in Botswana we have C206's C210's & Islanders , a few of the larger companies operate C208's . There are only 5 Caravans here, even though this is the largest number of C206's outside of the States in one place.

One company had an Twotter, but they sold it to someone in Nepal after losing a contract with a safari company.

We are 6 hours ahead of DC and 8 of Montana, dont know about Alaska! Winter here now, so pretty cold! Between 5 - 10 C in the morning and during the day it gets up to the mid twenties, Summertime you have mid twenties or higher at night and high thirties to low fourties celcius during the day ... pretty damn hot sometimes.

Which co. you fly for?

Skaz

[zerozero]

Alaska is GMT-8 in the summer. GMT-9 in the winter.

Your winter weather sounds perfect to me. Maybe I should consider split shifts.

I work for Peninsula Airways.

www.penair.com (http://www.penair.com)

fly safe

[AK-SF]

Regardin work in the bushAK. Good time to apply for work is not only spring and summer. Seasonal pilots leave in the fall and it is hard to find hardcore 'Bushrats' for yeararound work. So fall can be good if you do not mind dealing with the WX from the start. Midwinter could be hard especially if one is not used to winterflying. But one can always learn !

[Monguse]

Fly Alaska (http://www.flyalaska.com) has a fairly comprehensive listing of flight operations in Alaska. For a one-time $20 fee they also have a membership site with information on who hires, what kinds of aircraft they fly, links to their websites and other info.

I haven't found any other source of Alaska flying jobs information that comes close to this one for lots of info. There is also an interesting essay with diagrams on commercial fish spotting in Alaska, although it sounds pretty hairy to me.

[Bob Fleming]

Hi

I've seen another site called www.elliottbay.com - do you have any opinions on this one and if it's any better than the one you mentioned...(it's a bit more expensive)


thanks:cool:

[a pilot]

Talked to a lot about alaska.but the immigration issue is a big one,then faa paperwork and then go up there and check what stories are true...

[marpoo]

the immigration topic was touched on a little but i was hoping someone could shed a little light on it. i live in oz and would love to fly in alaska. please anything that would help would be appreciated.

['%MAC']

If you want to fly in Alaska, you pretty much have to be up there. Long, long ago I flew up there and our chief pilot flat told me "I won't hire anybody that isn't here, ya gotta make a commitment to Alaska first."

A lot of the posts seem really positive about flying up there, wasn't my experience - I wonder where they were flying? Galena or Bethel in the winter? So cold the Jet-A pumps don't work so ya gotta burn Avgas.... So cold ya gotta keep one running or you'll never be able to start again.

Summers in Anaktuvic, mosquitoes so big you dodge them in a king-air. Days so long you come home after a full day of flying and figure, heck I’ll wash my car and change the oil, when you’re finished you realize the sun’s still up and in two hours it’ll be your 5am show time.

And then weather reports are scarce and pireps are days old, runway conditions, awe who cares your flying the bush, runway – we don’t need no stinkin’ runway. Just remember if you’re flying beer or the mail the reported weather will always be good. And with that good luck, buried many many pilots up there, some very experienced.

[Freak On A Leash]

Hey guys!
I`ve checked out both previous mentioned links.Seems as if they`re doing the "pay-to-peek" gig, but before I cough up the dough I would like some input from the AK guys about whether the 135 operators are actually as desperate as it seems.
I`m familiar with the Anchorage bowl area as I did some flight instructing at Merrill Field a coulpe of years back, and also have a good idea of what the companies are like.
At the time I`m hanging out in Europe trying to get in with, well, anybody really.But if there is need for pilots in the bush I`d love to go back and do some real hands-on flying.Kinda got bit by the bug last time around, so any input is welcome:)

[Canadiankid]

If your looking at flying in Alaska, it would not hurt to take a peek at that rather large piece of land to the east. Flying in the Canadian arctic is a great experience as well. Add to that getting a visa "may" be easier in Canada. I stress maybe. Same deal though, you have to show up and prove you want to do it. Lots of incredible flying from Alaska all the way to Greenland. A massive and breath taking landscape.....Bush pilots are a breed unlike any other, no matter where the border lies.

Good luck

[Freak On A Leash]

The visa-deal is a lot easier with Canada, but I don`t have Canadian licenses:(
And I don`t think the Canadians will recognize European or FAA licenses without a conversion process either.
But, yes, I would love to do some flying in Northern Canada.I suspect that the experience is just the same as in AK, but with a lot more area to cover.Also tried looking at Greenland, but can`t really find any info on anything.Got any links Canadiankid?How`s Greenlandair doing?