Bush Flying

[Supermattt]

Hi,
I am intersted in how one would get into bush flying. I posted the below last year on the 'non-airline flying jobs' board:
"Are bush/remote area pilots generally very high hour, very skilled pilots that are in high demand and could you only get a position after years and years of flying or is this type of job viewed more as the kind of thing operators can't get anyone to do and consequently is easier to get into? Is it at all viable to do a CPL and get taken on low hours at some small outfit in the middle of nowhere who only fly boxes of beans and blankets?"
Is it still possible to get a job flying smaller aircraft hauling freight and work your way up? Is it ALL IR work or can you still be employed for VFR work? What is the typical route into this type of flying these days? If there is anyone involved in or knowledgeable of Canadian Bush flying I'd love to hear from you.
It's early days for me (15 hours PPL) but I'm looking to the bright flying future!
Cheers
Matt

[rigpiggy]

Go to one of the canadian/jar schools, it will cost you less for more hours and you can do both licenses at once. After that, supply and demand

[Supermattt]

Thanks for your reply RigPiggy,

My question was more along the lines of how to get into bush flying in terms of obtaining initial employment, the ailines that fly remote services etc. rather than obtaining a Canadian license. It's a good point though and I may well consider doing a commercial licence in Canada (I am a Canadian citizen) though I will definately finish my PPL in UK first and likely do commercial here as I can earn more to pay for it doing what I do here!.

So airlines, routes into them and min hours/likley type of flying for breaking into Canadian bush flying? Anyone anyone?

Thanks again
Matt

[North Shore]

Generally, "Bush Flying" is seen as an entry level job....go in, get some decent (1-3k hours) time and experience, and then move on to the airlines. There are guys who fall in love with it, and stick around, doing the edgier stuff, and that is where the skill/experience/pay level rises - I'd hazard a guess that a decent off-strip twotter driver could easily make $100k plus a year...not Air Canada salary, but decent, and lots of fun...

How to get into it, though? There are dozens of small operators in the wilds - look for places that start with 'Fort" or end with 'Lake' and you'll generally find some sort of operator there. For the 'Lake' jobs, you might want to get some float time - the more the merrier. Sadly, due to insurance requirements, it seems to be getting harder to start new guys on floats, yet at the same time, many of the experienced drivers are quitting and going on to bigger machines. Medevac operations are another way to go - most, however, require 500 hrs to meet provincial standards. Then there's the standard pop/chips(crisps)/people flying done to isolated reserves - companies like Wasaya (Thunder Bay) and Perimeter (Winnipeg)
are two of the many there.

Minimum hours? 200 and a bare-ass commercial will get you in the hiring pool. Obviously, the more skills or hours you can bring to the table, the more likely you are to get a job. However, that might only get you in the door - then you have to spend your time 'paying your dues' which is loading planes, checking in people, running the computer system, etc...any one of dozens of jobs that a company will use to check you out to see if they trust you to fly their plane. Currently, the wait at Perimeter is about 1 year before they'll let you fly..unless, of course you have some applicable time - 1500hours of Turbine PIC would probably get you into the left seat straight off..
The dilemma crops up, of course, how to get time without a job, how to get a job without time?

Good luck and have fun!

oh, for more insight into the Canadian scene, try the forums at : www.Avcanada.ca

[Supermattt]

Thanks very much NorthShore just the sort of reply I was after

Cheers
Matt