Flying Seaplanes
Join Date: Jan 2009
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How new is new?
Do you mean a 1000 hr wheel pilot who just got his Seaplane rating?
Do you mean a CPL grad with 50hrs on floats?
Do you mean CPL and 7hrs?
Where do you live, where are you willing to go?
If all you have is a CPL license and a 7hr seaplane rating then your question should be how can you build more seaplane time. In this climate without a bare minimum 50hrs you're going to be on the docks for a long while. Even with 50hrs you're still looking at some dock work though I have heard of one or two guys this season getting a direct flying job with 50 hours.
Do you mean a 1000 hr wheel pilot who just got his Seaplane rating?
Do you mean a CPL grad with 50hrs on floats?
Do you mean CPL and 7hrs?
Where do you live, where are you willing to go?
If all you have is a CPL license and a 7hr seaplane rating then your question should be how can you build more seaplane time. In this climate without a bare minimum 50hrs you're going to be on the docks for a long while. Even with 50hrs you're still looking at some dock work though I have heard of one or two guys this season getting a direct flying job with 50 hours.
Just on this topic, I'm going to be heading north up the coast from Sydney in 2 weeks, looking for a first seaplane gig. I have 1000hrs and a new float rating, but haven't done the meet & greet before when looking for work, so I'm a little unsure about the best way to find work. I've found as many operators as I can between Rose Bay and Cape York, and I'm planning to pay them all a visit, but if anyone would like to post or PM any advice for me it would be enormously appreciated!
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Darwin, Australia
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Unfortunately it's not a big list.
The operators which only have turbines are extremely unlikely to be able to give you a start with a bare float endorsement - for a gig in an amphib caravan most operators will be looking for around 500 hours of float experience.
With floats it is very much is a case of being in the right place at the right time with the right attitude. The last time the company I work for advertised there were about a hundred applicants, some of which had thousands of hours of float experience (and others that didn't even have a float endorsement
).
In our case the minimum requirements vary depending on the level of experience of the pilots in the company at the time we're looking for another pilot. Sometimes a bare endorsement is enough to get a start, at other times significant experience is required. Historically most of those that got a start with a bare endorsement actually moved up with no offer of employment, found other work - and waited, and kept in touch by calling in regularly. On the same token there have been others that moved up and didn't get a start either.
The operators which only have turbines are extremely unlikely to be able to give you a start with a bare float endorsement - for a gig in an amphib caravan most operators will be looking for around 500 hours of float experience.
With floats it is very much is a case of being in the right place at the right time with the right attitude. The last time the company I work for advertised there were about a hundred applicants, some of which had thousands of hours of float experience (and others that didn't even have a float endorsement
).In our case the minimum requirements vary depending on the level of experience of the pilots in the company at the time we're looking for another pilot. Sometimes a bare endorsement is enough to get a start, at other times significant experience is required. Historically most of those that got a start with a bare endorsement actually moved up with no offer of employment, found other work - and waited, and kept in touch by calling in regularly. On the same token there have been others that moved up and didn't get a start either.
Join Date: Aug 2009
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Bush flight in Derby might give you a start but be careful they have a very long list of pilots leaving in the past as the owner is interesting to work for! They have a history of over promising and under delivering and the organisation within the company is bad even by GA standards. They only have one Beaver and one van amphibian as one of the senior pilots forgot to retract the gear after departure out of Derby and crashed on landing in Talbot bay recently.
I guess that's what after takeoff and before landing checks are for!
I guess that's what after takeoff and before landing checks are for!
Last edited by Bla Bla Bla; 8th Sep 2009 at 07:42.
Join Date: Feb 2007
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HH,
The lower the float time, the harder it is to get insurance (ie more expensive and higher excess for water operations). With the higher hull value and passenger numbers that go with the larger aircraft, float experience makes a big difference whilst turbine time doesn't. On the same token I do know of two pilots that got their first gig in vans - one had significant total time, the other already worked for the company.
Bla bla bla,
Apart from the outcome (aircraft inverted following a landing on water with the gear extended) I don't know what happened in that accident - and I'd be surprised if you do either. There have been NUMEROUS cases around the world where amphibious pilots have extended the undercarriage whilst doing their pre landing checks for a water landing. Unlike a land plane, the gear configuration changes depending on the surface - and green is definitely not safe. As distraction at the wrong time can result in disaster a disciplined set, check and challenge procedure executed religiously as the primary thought processes is essential. I would have thought that the change in performance with the Dunlops hanging in the breeze on a longish sector would be very apparent.
The lower the float time, the harder it is to get insurance (ie more expensive and higher excess for water operations). With the higher hull value and passenger numbers that go with the larger aircraft, float experience makes a big difference whilst turbine time doesn't. On the same token I do know of two pilots that got their first gig in vans - one had significant total time, the other already worked for the company.
Bla bla bla,
Apart from the outcome (aircraft inverted following a landing on water with the gear extended) I don't know what happened in that accident - and I'd be surprised if you do either. There have been NUMEROUS cases around the world where amphibious pilots have extended the undercarriage whilst doing their pre landing checks for a water landing. Unlike a land plane, the gear configuration changes depending on the surface - and green is definitely not safe. As distraction at the wrong time can result in disaster a disciplined set, check and challenge procedure executed religiously as the primary thought processes is essential. I would have thought that the change in performance with the Dunlops hanging in the breeze on a longish sector would be very apparent.
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Werbil,
You would be wrong I do know the guy who wrecked it and the CP I know exactly what happened and it is just like I said. No after take off checks and no landing checks. Gear down for the complete flight, a forty minute leg with extra drag.
You would be wrong I do know the guy who wrecked it and the CP I know exactly what happened and it is just like I said. No after take off checks and no landing checks. Gear down for the complete flight, a forty minute leg with extra drag.
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No wonder they prefer pilots with a fair bit of experience 
YouTube - de Havilland Beaver Plane Crash at Lake Hood (HD)
YouTube - de Havilland Beaver Plane Crash at Lake Hood (HD)
go the step taxi curve take off preferably into wind next time lol and dont rotate early it digs the floats and if you want to lift a float in a crosswind make it the leeward one 
Join Date: Feb 2007
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xxgoldxx - I assume you are asking me?
Last time I checked Lake Hood was in Anchorage, Alaska. I've had plenty to say on that crash - http://www.pprune.org/jet-blast/3832...r-give-up.html - the video was damning to say the least.
As to bla bla bla - who says:
So who told you what happened - the CP, the GM or Tom, Dick or Harry in the pub?
A wheels down landing on water is completely unacceptable irrespective of how it occurred - incorrectly performed checks are as bad as no checks performed. Interestingly there is nothing on the ATSB site - it will make interesting reading even if there is nothing more than a pilot statement as to what happened.
Last time I checked Lake Hood was in Anchorage, Alaska. I've had plenty to say on that crash - http://www.pprune.org/jet-blast/3832...r-give-up.html - the video was damning to say the least.
As to bla bla bla - who says:
I do know the guy who wrecked it and the CP I know exactly what happened and it is just like I said
A wheels down landing on water is completely unacceptable irrespective of how it occurred - incorrectly performed checks are as bad as no checks performed. Interestingly there is nothing on the ATSB site - it will make interesting reading even if there is nothing more than a pilot statement as to what happened.
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Quite a disbelieving chap aren't you, no not Tom or Dick or even Harry but the pilot who didn't do his checks told me. He had quite allot on his mind at the time and this obviously didn't include flying, I think this accident has allot to do with the term fit to fly. Mind else where when it should be in the cockpit, that is what happened.
Not everyone on pprune has an opinion based on what they think the facts are, some know the facts of certain events.
Not everyone on pprune has an opinion based on what they think the facts are, some know the facts of certain events.
Join Date: Oct 2001
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Amphibious airplanes have a horrendous record landing on the water with the wheels down.
These accidents are completely pilot error for the simple reason they landed in the water with the gear down.
The real bad part of these accidents that are 100% preventable is they kill a lot of the occupants of the airplanes that land in the water with the gear down.
If you are a high time float plane pilot and you start flying amphibious airplanes you are at higher risk of landing with the gear in the wrong position for the surface you are landing on than a newly trained float plane pilot.
These accidents are completely pilot error for the simple reason they landed in the water with the gear down.
The real bad part of these accidents that are 100% preventable is they kill a lot of the occupants of the airplanes that land in the water with the gear down.
If you are a high time float plane pilot and you start flying amphibious airplanes you are at higher risk of landing with the gear in the wrong position for the surface you are landing on than a newly trained float plane pilot.
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I'm sure the old saying has something to do with glass houses.....
unless I was a high time amphib pilot with a perfect record I would be very careful about casting opinions on others misfortune ..
just my opinion of course...
unless I was a high time amphib pilot with a perfect record I would be very careful about casting opinions on others misfortune ..
just my opinion of course...