Job hunting- Where to spend that extra money?

[IFlyPlanesSometimes]

About to head off on the classical job hunt up north within a few months, I have found myself with roughly $5K to burn outside of the expected relocation costs.

I'm wanting to use this to gain something to boost my stock standard 250 hour resume. Any recommendation on what would help me stand out the most? i.e one of many GA starter courses to build a bit of C200 series time and learning basic pilot maintenance? or even gaining a NFVR on top of my instrument rating.

key ones I'm looking at is Flight Standards in Darwin, 5hrs C210, LAHSO approval, pilot maintenance, and obviously Darwin familiarisation. Price $4K

There is also Pearson Aviation Mildura, 10hrs command C206 + 2hrs dual, pilot maintenance. Price 5K (best value personally)

Also, in Melbourne, the AJPA, offering Turbine Endorsements for $4K or a JPA for $2.5K

I apologise if this topic has been beaten to a pulp before, but couldn't personally find anything on this particular topic, any help will be appreciated, thanks!

[DeltaT]

"classical" is exactly right. The place of historical significance. I am sure all the oldies will tell you that WAS the place to be in their time.
The up to date place to go for the job hunt is to the West.

[Bend alot]

Is this "pilot maintenance" practical or theory?

[IFlyPlanesSometimes]

From what I understand its practical taught by a LAME.

[Duck Pilot]

Forget your instrument rating or turbine training. Best bang for the buck would be to do the training with the school in Darwin that you have mentioned.

[lo_lyf]

Stay clear of AJPA. Awful training and if you do get a look in afterwards you'll be paid below minimum wage. All whilst they expect the world from you. It's a real pity that such a lucrative company treats its pilots in such a way.

What sort of flying is your end goal? That's pretty relevant information for people giving you advise on the topic.

[IFlyPlanesSometimes]

Stay clear of AJPA. Awful training and if you do get a look in afterwards you'll be paid below minimum wage. All whilst they expect the world from you. It's a real pity that such a lucrative company treats its pilots in such a way.

What sort of flying is your end goal? That's pretty relevant information for people giving you advise on the topic.

Definetly more the GA route, RFDS in the long term. And thanks for confirming what I’d heard of AJPA

[Ixixly]

I'd go with Flight Standards in Darwin, still plenty of work to be had up North and Cameron has been in amongst it for a while now, getting familiar with Darwin and how to avoid its pit falls will put you ahead when it comes time to hire and they'll have their fingers on the pulse when it comes to who is hiring around there. If you go at it with the right attitude they'll be sure to help you along and definitely know the area and the industry up there very well. Take the other $1k you have and get yourself an LR Licence, Forklift Licence and H Endorsement will have you ready to go straight away in a bunch of jobs, not just Aviation. You'll still be in a bit of queue as often it comes down to those that have taken the time and gotten to know people but I'd imagine getting amongst the crowd from Flight Standards you'll get to know the players pretty quickly.

[outnabout]

Does GA Ready still offer 5 hour and 10 hour courses - from memory, somewhere near Albury?

[Flying Bear]

GA Ready will refer you to Flight Standards in Darwin nowadays, as Talia is mostly occupied in her own flying business with the Outback Spirit C208EX and C210 - both based in Darwin (no longer in Albury). These aircraft are also crewed by the Flight Standards pilots when Talia and her own team is not available.

The current Outback Spirit C210 pilot is a “graduate” / referral from the Flight Standards GA preparation course.

[IFlyPlanesSometimes]

Thanks guys, has anyone had any experience with Pearson Aviation in Mildura? Their course has 7 more hours of flying for roughly $900 more than the flight standards course (albeit in a 206 vs 210).

The options seem to be down to bang for my buck with 12 hours flying in a 206 for $5K, OR get in with someone knowledgable in the industry up that way, ie Cameron and Flight Standards and gain 5 hours C210 while I'm at it for $4K.

Also seems like northwest is the way to go presently? Alot of movement with CP's especially in the NT from what I've heard.

[jamsquat]

Peninsula Aero Club at Tyabb have a 206 for hire now. $375 solo, $475 dual. Not sure on the minimums for solo hire though.

[Brakerider]

Thanks guys, has anyone had any experience with Pearson Aviation in Mildura? Their course has 7 more hours of flying for roughly $900 more than the flight standards course (albeit in a 206 vs 210).

The options seem to be down to bang for my buck with 12 hours flying in a 206 for $5K, OR get in with someone knowledgable in the industry up that way, ie Cameron and Flight Standards and gain 5 hours C210 while I'm at it for $4K.

Also seems like northwest is the way to go presently? Alot of movement with CP's especially in the NT from what I've heard.


Whilst you may get more hours at Pearson, with CM @ Flight Standards, you're getting top experience and an excellent contact/starting point in the NT to start your career.

[Seagull201]

About to head off on the classical job hunt up north within a few months, I have found myself with roughly $5K to burn outside of the expected relocation costs.

I'm wanting to use this to gain something to boost my stock standard 250 hour resume. Any recommendation on what would help me stand out the most? i.e one of many GA starter courses to build a bit of C200 series time and learning basic pilot maintenance? or even gaining a NFVR on top of my instrument rating.

key ones I'm looking at is Flight Standards in Darwin, 5hrs C210, LAHSO approval, pilot maintenance, and obviously Darwin familiarisation. Price $4K

There is also Pearson Aviation Mildura, 10hrs command C206 + 2hrs dual, pilot maintenance. Price 5K (best value personally)

Also, in Melbourne, the AJPA, offering Turbine Endorsements for $4K or a JPA for $2.5K

I apologise if this topic has been beaten to a pulp before, but couldn't personally find anything on this particular topic, any help will be appreciated, thanks!

If you ask me, you should have already been there in March, not wait a few months.

I've seen that website and 4K is ridiculously expensive from a flying school offering 5 hours training in a C 210.
It's important to have some basic aircraft maintenance knowledge, the hanger work will help.
A charter company advertised last week for a for low time applicant with 10 hrs C 210 time and 250 hours total.

Unless you been up there before,the landscape and environment up there (NT), is totally different to flying from a capital city airport (Syd/Mel/Bne etc).
Don't forget ,there's tonnes of other people in your position that are already there and have analysed their chances of getting their first job on a single.

You might have to concentrate on getting any non flying job first and be prepared to stay there (DRW) for a while, until you increase your networking ( contacts),
something could come up sooner or later.
If you had a flight instructor rating, you could even get into the local flying schools as a junior instructor.

My experience with DRW is, a person can walk into most single engine C210 jobs, if they are a LAME or have a couple of hundred hours flight time, or can run the flight department office,
or are at the right place and time for a pilot position opening. I'm sure you'll work it out.

You may need to spend another 4K the longer you stay to keep yourself current.

[Power]

Save that money to do your ATPL exams if you haven't done them already

[Flyboy1987]

If i were you i’d keep that money in your pocket.
very easy to spend money when unemployed and it can dissapear fast. All you need is something to go wrong with your car and you’re on the back foot.
i would get up to Darwin and do the rounds. Most pilots I know all got a start without “200 series time”.
If someone gives you a bite you could save 5k.

[111fairchild]

Agree with the last few posts. $5,000 can buy you a few extra weeks on the road if you decide to venture beyond Darwin. A trip to Broome with stops through the NT will cost about that in fuel and cash flow while waiting for an income.
Presuming you completed the CPL and IR fairly recently? Was it an MECIR? If so, I’m reasonably confident the performance and complexities of your light twin will be comparable to that of a C210 or C206.
I would be using the $5K if after 6 months I hadn’t got a job and needed to get current again. Or if a renewal was due in the next 6 months.
That’s something for you to weigh up. I have every confidence that Flight Standards in Darwin will give you the right guidance and advice regarding when to invest your money. Although I haven’t used the school, I have been put through my paces by Cameron and am all the better for it.

[Duck Pilot]

A Flight Instructors Rating would also be a very valuable rating to have and it certainly should get you an instructing job pretty much anywhere even with a fresh Grade 3 provided that you have the right attitude.

With CASA now driving the requirement for all Check and Trainers in CAR 217 organisations to have instructor ratings, the only way to get into this is to have a FIR. Knowing what I know now, I wish I had done my FIR before heading North 25 years ago.

Don't leave home without all the ATPL subjects passed and an FIR would be my suggestion for anyone heading North, IR can be done anytime quite easily when required.

[compressor stall]

Given the fact that Arnhem Land operators are advertising, I’m staggered you need to fund anything extra.

[Duck Pilot]

Problem is that the standards have dropped over the years due to some schools giving CPL Licences out like lollipops.

It’s pretty bad when a brand new CPL holder shows up at an operator in Darwin dressed in thongs and shorts. Pilots not being able recall basic air leg questions and completely screwing up a simple flight check are quite common occurrences. Let these pilots loose unsupervised out at a remote location is only a recepie for disaster, which we have seen before.

[Pinky the pilot]

a brand new CPL holder shows up at an operator in Darwin dressed in thongs and shorts.

Please tell me that this is a joke. That no-one has ever done such a thing!!:eek::hmm::ugh:

Right... now that I've got that off my chest; I think I can assume that you are not joking and that some clown has done precisely that!:mad:

I lived and worked in Darwin from mid '79 to early December '81 (not in Aviation) but I shared a house with a then Coastwatch Pilot (Don L) and the Tropical rig for everyone was a shirt, trousers or proper shorts, not denim, long socks if wearing shorts, and shoes. If you turned up to an interview not wearing the above, you would not have even been given the time of day!:=

[Horatio Leafblower]

.....what exactly is "extra money"? :confused:

[Cessna 200]

Instead of spending time and money driving north, why don't you grab some mates in a sinilar situation and rent a C182 or better still any 200 series aircraft and go door knocking. The very least you can say you have flown to remote areas and have experience in "the bush". Tbere are private owners that will hire out their pride and joy, you just need to go and find them.

[Global Aviator]

Tough decision to spend that much money when really you shouldn’t have to. Yes it is important to stand out from the crowd however there are other ways. It’s all about attitude.

Here we go... back in the day didn’t have to pay for that elusive 210 time, if you had the attitude and persistence you’d crack a job. Yeah you may have had to clean a hangar, wash a plane, but then you’d find yourself with a job. The company would then invest time with ICUS whilst on revenue charters.

This paying to get a look in is crap. It’s like airline P2F, whoops a can of worms there.

Problem is damned if you do damned if you don’t!

A great time to look for a job, get to where you want to be, get a job doing anything, get out to the airport. Still not easy but ATTITUDE AND PERSISTENCE.

Once settled find a plane to private hire like you did back home, get familiar and have fun anyway. You’ll probably have a job before having to do that.

[Ck.]

Any update to whether you were successful on getting a job ?

[harrip]

When you hear that a recent entry-level Line Pilot job in Broome advertised on AFAP gets over 120 applicants in 4 days you have to recognise it is very hard to land that initial position. I wonder how many applicants an entry-level flight instructor position gets - does spending another $20K realistically increase your chances of employment?

[Seagull201]

When you hear that a recent entry-level Line Pilot job in Broome advertised on AFAP gets over 120 applicants in 4 days you have to recognise it is very hard to land that initial position. I wonder how many applicants an entry-level flight instructor position gets - does spending another $20K realistically increase your chances of employment?

120 applicants for the advertised C 210 position.
Don't let that surprise you.
It's 120 applicants that applied by the click of a mouse, at home from their personal computer.

It takes a lot of character for a person to leave their capital city and sit on a plane and head to Darwin or Broome and hang around for months,
hoping to get a job.
A lot of people think about, talk about, heading North, but don't end up doing it, because it's too hard, to leave the comforts of their home/city.

I believe if a person really wants to get into a Northern Australia charter operator, starting on C 210's, it will eventually happen for a person.
A person needs to get into any type of non-aviation work when they arrive there (unless they immediately get into a flying job), a person needs
to stay current, whilst not flying and get to know people/companies (networking).
It could take 1 month, 2, 3, 6, 9 or 12 months to score a job, it depends also, how a person looks, personality, also if they have the ability to do
the flying job.

Staying current, paying accommodation and other living expenses, costs money, but it can be done.
Darwin is a great place to meet locals and tourists from all around the world.