Alternative Flying Jobs?

[Stacksey]

Hi all,

I talked to someone the other day who knew someone who had wanted to fly for the British Antarctic Survey. It got me thinking what other jobs there might be out there other than the standard big jets. As a current member of the Royal Navy and, hopefully, a future CPL/IR I'm interested in slightly less mainstream pilot jobs, anyone got any suggestions, or know of anyone who flew for ..... etc.

Thanks in advance for the comments,

Stacks...

[Mr Magoo]

McDonalds and BurgerKing are always recruiting, (Min frozen ATPL plus MCC pref 100+ Hrs Multi)

[big.al]

A little bitter and twisted about the current situation are we, Mr Magoo? This doesn't really help our friend Stacksey much...

An article in this month's Flyer magazine is a little more upbeat about the future - albeit not immediately. It is interesting to note that each time there has been a crash in the airline industry, the rebound has (eventually) been back to higher levels than pre-crash (or so I have read - I do not claim to be an expert..). So chin up lads/lasses, it's a New Year in a few days!

[Springbok220]

Hi Stacksey

My fiance is a doctor and I always thought that being a pilot for the flying doctors in Oz would be an interesting way of life (with the mrs as a doc in the back).

I'm considering the RN FAA as a career at the minute and am meeting with one of the recruiting guys in the new year - do you recommend it and have you any ideas what they will be looking for (and what should I be looking for) at this stage.

Sorry to hijack your thread also <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

Cheers

SA220

[redsnail]

There is quite a lot of variety out there if you choose to look and have some experience under your belt.
You could try corporate flying. Hard to break into but have a chat to the guys that are doing it. They'll soon put you right.
Survey flying. Quite a bit of that around the world. Geosurvey etc.
Military support and coastwatch. In the UK, see FRA for that.
Instrument calibration, see FRA for that in the UK.
Medical flying. A fair bit in Oz because of the distances involved. Hour and experience requirements pretty tough.
I have done scenics/charter/coastwatch and regional flying in Oz. Ironically, I now want an "airline" job in the UK. However, a job with FRA just might suit me better <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

[Hornetboy]

Dunno bout your interest levels in this Stacks but how about aerobatic flying? You could fly for an aerobatic school, compete in aero competitions.....sounds like good fun. Check out this site <a href="http://www.aircombatusa.com" target="_blank">www.aircombatusa.com</a> (I think that's the right one) I'm not sure if there's that sort of thing around you, but they seem to have some radical uses for aerobatics at that "school". Look into the biographies section of the instructors and you'll find them all ex-military.

[4g_handicap]

Hi there,

I flew for the police for a while - also interesting work.

But, any flying that can't be done with a cup of coffee & a newspaper in the hand is far too much like hard work. :) :) :)

[Stacksey]

Cheers for all the replies guys, keep them coming, I'm hoping to avoid McDonalds and Burger King but with the cost of flying training who knows!!

Springbok, I would certainly advise the FAA as a career, apparently they are guaranteed 8 hours a day in their beds!! Seriously though I tried to become a pilot but fell foul of the eyesight limits, I’m hoping the same doesn’t happen again when I do my Class 1 medical next year. If you want to send me your e-mail address I’ll send you my thoughts but generally they are really short of RN pilots at the moment, although I’m not sure if that has affected recruiting. There’s usually a lot of competition to get places, also the latest issues may well have stopped pilots leaving the Navy recently.

[Springbok220]

How's it going Stacksey,

My email address is [email protected]

Your profile doesn't have a function to enable me to email you.

I was just wondering what the RN are looking for - ie what kind of characteristics etc

Look forward to hearing from you,

SA220

[WO]

Sorry to appear ignorant, but who or what is FRA? I'm hoping to break into the more alternative aviation market, so this sounds like something I should check out

WO

[Paul Hickley]

Whiskey Oscar, there are two major defence contractors in the UK who employ civilians to fly for jobs supporting the Armed Forces. One is Hunting and the other is Flight Refuelling Aviation (who do a great deal more than just flight refuelling - it's an old name).

Hunting run the Joint Elementary Flying Trainnig School, the Skyvans at Oxford for parachute training and the Hawks at Culdrose. FRA run the EW training contract at Tees-side, various target facilities operations, and the military airfield instrument approach aids calibration contract.

However, both firms take only experienced pilots, the majority of whom are ex-military, so these are not really jobs for wannabes.

All the best

Paul

[WO]

Thanks for the advice, i'm still going to check them out, but I won't hold my breath!

Just one other question, it was mentioned that there is usually a lot of demand for geological survey pilots around the world. Where can I get more info about this, and what's the usual requirements? What about bush flying? I read somewhere recently about a charity based airline in Africa that flies supplies etc out to remote villages etc in central and western Africa, but I forgot to make a note of the name! If anyone has any info that relates to this, I would really appriciate it.

WO

[Cruise Alt]

Stacksey - I used to be a Pusser but came out and did my FATPL. I have been job hunting for a year now and currently instruct. Drop me a line and I can let you know all the stuff I wish someone had told me when I started out. One thing I can say is not for one minute have I regretted leaving the mob to spend my time in the sky :) :) :)

[Genghis the Engineer]

If it helps, I've been keeping an eye out for a juicy job at FRA for a while, although the only think that's cropped up was at FRL - nothing like so much fun. FRA is part of Cobham Engineering (Alan Cobham founded Flight Refuelling back in the 1930s) and their vacancies are at <a href="http://www.cobham.com/vacancies.htm" target="_blank">http://www.cobham.com/vacancies.htm</a>

It is a better place to look for an Engineers job than an Aviators mind you.

G

[mickey mouse]

Cruise Alt, I read your post regarding "the stuff you wished someone had told you when starting out", could I drop you an email sometime to see what info you might have on that very subject?

[Stacksey]

Cruise Alt,

Definitely up for a bit of info if you're willing...
:)
My e-mail is [email protected] I'm currently a WE (Bubblehead) <img src="tongue.gif" border="0"> so about as far from my hoped for future career as it’s possible to get, but hey a change is as good as a rest so they say, and I suspect flying may be better than 1 in 4 duties alongside (just! :) ). My return of service is up end of ’05 so that should just give me enough time to get FATPL before/as I leave, with a bit of luck. Where do you instruct then? When did you leave? Any hints/tips would be appreciated… Cheers in advance (beers on me if we ever meet in a cockpit!!! :) :) :) )

Stacksey….

PS Springbok, I’ll e-mail you off line….

[ 02 January 2002: Message edited by: Stacksey ]</p>

[warrior161]

Stacksey
What about flying for the UN or Red Cross in Africa?
Have a look under the African forum and you'll find lots of info.
Regards,
Warrior