Safety Pilot on CV
 

Hi, what do you put on a CV if you're a safety pilot? How do you write it?
Many thanks

"Safety Pilot":E

Thanks for your reply........I'm more after a description as to what to write after the words "Safety Pilot"

Are you a safety pilot flying commercially or have you done one of these 'safety pilot' PPL courses? What is your experience?

Do you mean Safety Pilot as in qualified pilot on type and supervising another pilot, during instrument practice for instance, or just along for the ride with less experienced owner/pilot?

Don't put it on your CV full stop as nobody is interested in it.

Sorry.......a bit of background about me. I'm a CPL/MEIR holder (FATPL) and am doing some safety pilot work for a company. I'm not type rated so can't log the hours or get paid for it, but it's just good exposure to airline flying and improves my radio work

Still doesn't mean anyone being interested in it.

You can't get insurance reductions for the time. And in the grand scale of things its no exposure at all the airline flying.

Passenger!

Well, I don't agree! As safety pilot you get some experience as well so why wouldn't you put it on your CV. Especially if you don't have much of experience...

Just write:

Safety pilot: where, what you do, what you learned and tell them why you do this.

Instead of saying "motivation" in your qualities...

I am afraid the chaps are correct on all counts. In actual fact there is no such thing as a 'safety pilot' as such. If it's a single pilot aircraft you are either the commander or not there as far as logging/claiming anything goes. Effectively a passenger that knows about flying.

If you can't log it, normally not worth putting on a cv. If you put it, it looks like you've not done very much, hence having to put it on a cv. But as mentioned above it could show your motivation to get into the industry, just don't hang your hat on it!

You need to differentiate between what is good exposure to airline ops, and what actually looks good on a CV.

Putting this on your CV won't be impressing anyone, however it will help you to look passionate about the industry when they ask questions about what you have been doing the last year or so at interview. Certainly it should look better than just having a non-aviation job and hardly flying at all.

I certainly wouldn't be putting the hours on a CV though, looks like you're actually trying to claim the hours for some purpose, which won't look good to a potential employer.

The hours arent loggable, you know that already. Should you mention it in a CV? Personally, probably not as it makes no difference to the actual total time. I would however mention in a couple of lines in a covering letter that I had gained some experience in a covering/assisting/safety(call it what you think appropriate) type role, assuming of course its a reasonable amount of exposure to the role and not just a couple of right seat jolly's. It shows commitment and enthusiasm. In years gone by some smaller operators employed right seat pilot 'Assistants', not sure if that sort of thing still go's on. As others have mentioned though, its good experience and assuming its in something with reasonable performance like a King Air then it puts you in the real world IFR environment which is good exposure. The MEIR teaches nothing other than procedures, it doesnt teach real world flying. I fly with new FO's regularly, most of whom are typical low houred frozen ATPL's. As well as getting to grips with the aircraft and the procedures, theyre also trying to get to grips with the radio and the environment, and in particular the pace of that environment. Most have come from a GA/instructing background so any previous IFR time in a TP is good exposure, whether loggable or not.

Steggers,

Not logging hours for safety pilot is normal but did you say you were doing it for a company for free? Why would you assist someone to earn revenue and you not charge for your services? They obviously need a safety pilot for whatever reason so why are you doing it for free?

It all depends on why, is it interesting and of value? I flew a single pilot aircraft in a war zone and due to insurance we had to have a second pilot in the right seat. He only had the minimum hours for a CPL but flew on every flight and although could not log the hours I would think it was worthy of inclusion on his CV.

I would say include it. If you are at the beginning of your career anything that gives you a potential "edge" over so many in your position is worthy of a mention. Employers should recognise it as being an attempt on your part to improve your position and hence place you above someone else with similar hrs and the basic cpl/frozen atpl licence. That said, it isn't real flying as such as I'm sure you're aware. If nothing else, your safety pilot work could potentially be rewarded by a permanent position with the owner/company if you continue.

As mentioned here, for gods sake don't try and log the hrs as that won't fool anyone. In my mind 90% of interviews are won through the text in the covering letter, not your cv. Your licence and hrs just open the door to allow you to apply in the first place. Be humble, be honest and you will find a job eventually.


I'll add that you must be able to answer and justify your role as 'safety pilot' and what it entails should you get an interview as it is an obvious form of "attack". If you are able to defend its inclusion on your CV intelligently you will stand to gain more ground than omitting it. I would suggest that the following question may be along the lines of 'from your experience, what/how do you think the role of safety pilot applies to our operation'.

The Cv I saw it on that came across best.

They called themselves competent company representative. And then list the dutys (which was basically everything from flying ops person to emptying the toilets) and under skills learnt. Sense of humour in the face of overwhelming odds.

Perhaps the words safety and pilot should be avoided?

"Pilot's assistant", "operations assistant" or "passenger gaining professional environment experience" might come across as more honest. And could be listed on the CV without fear of embarrassing yourself.

If you're not qualified on type, how can you be the safety pilot? surely the safety pilot has to be able to take control when the 'pilot' gets into difficulty?

I suspect a commercial pilot not qualified on type would still have an excellent chance of landing should the PIC be incapacitated. Sure they may not be as tidy doing it but the basics would be enough to return to the nearest suitable airport.

Remember that a safety pilot is normally only carried on a single crewed type such as the Pilatus PC12.