where to from the ground up

[cornelious-rinitus]

I was wondering what the best course of action would be in terms of job opportunities for low hour pilots preferably in NZ, at this time im not that interested in taking the instructing route, yet hour requirements limit a high percentage of jobs out there, where do I go from here, any advice would be great thanks!!

[mattyj]

Target some part of the industry with entry level positions..spend all your time at the business..find out everything..pay for some of your training..basically bend over backwards.

How many hours?

[cornelious-rinitus]

yea thats what i thought, fresh cpl so looking into getting the hours on the way up by any means, does anyone have any information on kiwiair??

[hershey_86]

I think kiwiair are 500+ hrs min and alot of ground based stuff before you actually get to fly. try banner towing. theres an outfit I know of based at Ardmore that do it. after you have about 300hrs you can start paradropping. its a good way of building hours in NZ which is a pretty limited industry. I didnt go down the instructing path either. quite glad of that though went out and got some real jobs and real skills. theres heaps of jobs when you get 500+ hrs, and even more when you pass 1000.

if your from ctc maybe you should try mt cook. i hear they're hiring

[cornelious-rinitus]

yea paradropping does appeal to me, yea I was told you have to work the trucks for a while for kiwiair or something along those lines, although I was told you just had to have a cpl and ir...

[hershey_86]

A friend of mine tried kiwiair and wasnt accepted, he had around 400-500 hrs at the time. paradropping is quite fun. I fly the turbine down in canterbury. just dont go to Mercer, its not the best place to start. thats where I started and its done more harm then good! Nothing like burning around the mountains blasting ur ipod and joining in on the fun of the jumpers. good atmosphere and good piss ups

[Mr_T]

Kiwi Air would be a brilliant gig to get involved in. If I was was in your shoes again I would head to Gisbourne and do whatever it takes to get in with Andy. You will drive trucks and work hard long hours, but thats what he expects. If he see's your a hard worker you'll be travelling the world getting paid more than anyone else in GA before you know it.

Other than that you could sacrifice your sole and sign a huge bond to work for Mountain Air..

[cornelious-rinitus]

yea that sounds like a good place to start the 750xl is a wicked machine and you build hours relatively quickly!! from what i've heard anyway!!

[hershey_86]

what ever you do dont go to mercer. it'll do your resume more harm then good! (not to mention the fact you wont get paid properlly, if at all)

[twista]

I had a friend who flew for Kiwi Air, a word of caution, don't go there if cutting corners is not your cup of tea. Might sound glamorous from the outside but believe me ask any person who has flown for them and they will all tell you its only a matter of time before a serious accident is about to happen.

[aileron_69]

a word of caution, don't go there if cutting corners is not your cup of tea

Dont fly for anyone if cutting corners is not your cup of tea. I havent seen a single operator anywhere that doesnt take a few little shortcuts. That aside, you would prob be better to head to Aussie for a bit. You wont have to muck around wasting time on the ground, you'll do more hours, you'll get paid more, and you'll learn a lot, fast!! If you want to go surveying you will get more money working for an Aussie Company. I had heard Kiwiair work their boys pretty hard, doing very long sorties with long range tanks. As someone said earlier, the XL is a mean machine!!

[hershey_86]

taped on ailerons always did me the world of good. and the holes in the sides are a mixed blessing. breezy in summer but the water gets in during winter.

[twista]

For sure ozzy is where it is at, convert and get over here!