Bush piloting in Australia

[JNN]

Hi i am a swedish student pilot who is looking into bush flying in Australia and i could use some help. Will soon have my CPL:A with night qualification. 150 hours about 10 hours instrument flying. 50 CC PIC. 5 hours Night.

Any experience in OZ bush flying would be very nice to hear, if someone have some knowledge about conversion to be able to fly in OZ that would be realy nice.
Do i Need to convert yo FAA?

And about the jobsearch. Do i need ATPL:A IR and/or ME?

What region in OZ should i go to, to find a job ? Are there any perticular hotspots?

Would like to add something that came up. My flight school is in sweden yes. But all the literature and the examinations are though Oxford. One of the brittish flight schools and they stand under CASA to right? would i still need to get a Aussie CPL?

will be very happy for any reply. Thanks beforehand // JNN

[tail wheel]

Do i Need to convert yo FAA?

No, you would require an Australian CPL/ATPL.

What region in OZ should i go to, to find a job ?

Use the forum search function. There is a surplus of low time pilots in Australia and it would be unlikely you will find employment as a pilot.

You will not be granted a Visa to work in Australia as a commercial pilot.

[Wanderin_dave]

Whoa! Way to shoot a guy down Tail Wheel!

While I know it will be extremely hard (damn near impossible) for an 18 year old Swede to find flying work, you are wrong on the Visa info. Swedes are able to apply for the working holdiay visa scheme which would meet the visa requirments to work as a pilot.

Hell if I was an 18 year old Swede i'd do it, what the worst that could happen? Get stuck in sunny QLD for a year without flying......not too bad!! :ok:

Not that Sweden ain't bad. I spent 3 awesome years living there!

[tinpis]

He could find verk as a Chef ja?

Boom...boom!
http://www.flicks.com/~martin/basil_brush/circlebasil.jpg

[carlbgc]

I have 1000 hours, an MECIR, instructor rating...if you find a job, can you point me in the right direction? LOL.

[Bla Bla Bla]

Hey mate, Come on out but don't expect to much things are tough right now. If you are looking for bush pilot work consider Africa or PNG etc when things get better. Flying in Australia is good but it is a long way from being a bush pilot, this is a well organized efficient country with strict rules with regards to aviation. the operators up North do suffer a bit of bad weather during the wet and some of the strips are not great but otherwise its quite straight forward.

I will probably get shot down in flames for saying it but compared Africa/PNG its quite tame. That is not to say it is not good, it is and you can learn allot from it but its not the bush flying you probably imagine its more charter to some dirt strips.

Before you all reply saying I'm slating Oz, I'm not its just an opinion.

[tail wheel]

Wanderin_dave. You are correct, however the work limits imposed by a working holiday visa would make it almost impossible or impractical (not to mention, financially not feasible) for JNN to obtain an Australian CPL, IR and ASIC if required and find a flying job, whilst working within the Visa limits.

I was hoping he would consider and address the Visa and CASA license issues and constraints first, prior to getting his hopes up of finding pilot employment in Australia.

His hope can only be with a working holiday Visa, including all the limitations implicit with that Visa, as it is highly unlikely he would be granted a Visa enabling permanent residence and full time work in Australia.

At age 18 or 19, with:
"...CPL:A with night qualification. 150 hours about 10 hours instrument flying. 50 CC PIC. 5 hours Night."
the reality is that his chances of obtaining a "bush flying" position in Australia must be very slim....... and impossible in PNG.

[neville_nobody]

compared Africa/PNG its quite tame

Yes in terms of terrain. In terms of Weather, well it's either the same or worse. Australia gets some killer thunderstorms and cyclones that will rip your aircaft apart.

However the big difference is that in Australia you are a one man band. How many pilots in Africa/PNG move fuel drums around, load unload, flight plan, push aircraft, clean aircraft, clean up spew/nappies/urine etc etc?

In Australia you have zero ground support, and depending on the company you work for probably have zero support from them too. It is all up to you. That is what makes it tough.

[Bla Bla Bla]

My heart bleeds for you with your lack of ground support, I guess you haven't been there or you would know what I'm talking about. I did my time up North and in Africa and I'm quite clear in my mind that up North was the easiest and safest of the two by a long way.

I'm not knocking flying up North I'm just saying it pretty straight forward most of the time. I think you will find your storms/cyclones are not isolated to Oz.

Happy flying I'm off.

[bushy]

Oh poor bugger me.
I thought Australians were capable, reasonable hard working people. After reading some of the posts on here, I am beginning to think I may be wrong.

[Torres]

How many pilots in Africa/PNG move fuel drums around, load unload, flight plan, push aircraft, clean aircraft, clean up spew/nappies/urine etc etc?

Dunno about Africa but in respect to PNG I can honestly answer "All!"

[neville_nobody]

My point is that in foreign countries you often have cheap labour that can do the mundane stuff for you. In Australia they're call pilots. Yeah sure in OZ you won't get shot down on short finals or speared in the leg, however I personally doubt there would be another job where you would have to wear some many hats than in bush GA flying.

[Killer Loop]

Neville, I can't resist. Have you flown a single piston in PNG (or a twin piston for that matter)? Clearly not. Rubbish concerning fuel etc. Who is going to load your aircraft in the bush? You, that's who! I think I must have loaded 100 dead bodies on to my aircrafts plus with blood rushing between my feet on one or two occasions on short finals, the bodies were that fresh! You have no idea what you are talking about! Yu rabis man.
JNN, I would agree with Wanderin dave. If you can sort out the work visa there are far worse places you can spend a year as an 18/19 year old than Australia. Good luck.

[Bla Bla Bla]

Neville, you must have a large head to wear all those hats, without knocking them off pat yourself on the back!

:ugh:

[Tempo]

Yet another thread drift.......

Some guy from sweden asks about getting a job in the NT and next thing you know it's a debate about where the toughest pilots have done their GA time.

This seems to be a trend on Pprune these days.

[The_Pharoah]

lol...elementary my dear Watson.

GFC = more pilots out of work = more time to hang around on PPRuNe = thread drift :}

[goldypilot]

**** yer i agree. I have more time to sit on PPrune and write stupid **** that makes me laugh. GFC is it and the answer to the question.
GFC = thread drifts = alot of pilots sitting around = no job for young non Australian pilot from flight school.

[mic310]

However the big difference is that in Australia you are a one man band. How many pilots in Africa/PNG move fuel drums around, load unload, flight plan, push aircraft, clean aircraft, clean up spew/nappies/urine etc etc?

In Australia you have zero ground support, and depending on the company you work for probably have zero support from them too. It is all up to you. That is what makes it tough.

North West Regional Airlines you get to do all this:}
Happy Flying and Good luck:ok:

[Lineboy4life]

JNN

Aussies love their red tape (Immigration, licensing, FEE'S etc) - maybe try APNG (PNG) as a co-jo on their otters with your time or www.susiair.com (http://www.susiair.com) (Indonesia) as a co-pilot on the caravan, both companies have a little bush flying and all nationalities are welcome to apply and on the payroll.

Take it easy.:ok:

lineboy

P.s - they'll even let you throw a few 44's around or scrub the plane's if you want

[Fratemate]

His hope can only be with a working holiday Visa, including all the limitations implicit with that Visa, as it is highly unlikely he would be granted a Visa enabling permanent residence and full time work in Australia.Tailwheel is correct as 'Pilot' has been taken off the Skilled Visa list i.e. you cannot get the 60 points you were able to previously. Even then you needed to have your skill assessed by CASA and that meant getting an Aussie licence.

Skilled occupation information

Points awarded for General Skilled Migration purposes are shown in the table below.

The table also shows if this occupation is on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL), part of the Employer Nomination Scheme and on the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL).

Points SOL ENSOL MODL
0 No Yes No See: Points (http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/points-test.htm), SOL (http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/skilled-occupations/skilled-occupations.htm), ENSOL (http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/skilled-workers/ens/ensol.htm)

Skills assessment authority

Before you can migrate to Australia as a skilled migrant you must have your skills assessed by the relevant national assessment authority. The assessment authority for your occupation is:
Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA)

[206greaser]

Haha! GFC!!! That's the reason for everything! LOL!

Cheers,
Greaser

[YELOSUB]

Convert ur license to Aus CASA CPL. Instead of spending ur money on ATPL or MECIR. Get 200tt with 20hr C210. Get Dangerous goods and senior first aid too. Get a reliable car to drive around to all the remote bases. Call up the Cattle stations etc. Jobs are not easy to get. Its all about ur perseverance.

YS

[the air up there]

I really feel sorry for some of these low time guys trying to get jobs. I wonder how long some them stick with it?

[XanaduX]

Things must be really bad out there in the wide world when you get Europeans wanting to come to Australia because they can't find jobs in their neck of the woods. Not long ago, Aussies were converting their licenses to the JAA because that's where many of the the low time opportunities were.