Bush flying beats IFR for earning money

[rightseatwonder]

., I hear the Greece deal is going well. Its good to see that the DHC-6 is still finding new places to open markets and increase efficient tourism and transport. Hope things continue as planned out there.

As for float ratings vs IFR. In my case thats exactly what happened. Was in a aviation college, left before grad to snag a big break (dhc-6 floats) because of all the people I knew, the ones who weren't worried about finding a flying job (or keeping one) were the dhc-6 captains who've been around, broadened their horizons, and built a background of experience especially on the dhc-6. Theres always someone somewhere looking for an experienced pilot with dhc-6 time. Plus, DAMN its fun! I miss it for sure.

I went to fly in some cool places, and did some challenging flying.... and made a lot of money doing it! In fact I am still making a fraction of what I was making-2 yrs later and I'm in a major airline. (theres a cost for every move you make in this industry hidden or otherwise) I've never bent an airplane, never had a vilolation and never paid for training and still made great money not swiss-cheesing my resume scratching at "bigger and better " things. I will always have the 4500 hrs of dhc-6 time in my book, and I will always keep in contact with some of the people whom Ive met along the way who made their own decision to stay in that part of the industry. With no exceptions, they are all doing well and are enjoying their jobs and lives.

Theres a ton of directions to go... I say don't pigeon-hole yourself. Go fly floats if you can! you'll never regret it! ask anyone who knows! I find it strange that people consider this to be "settling" for a "lower" sector of the industry!? baffling.

Greece? Floats? Island hopping? 85G's/yr? 4 months off? There are few better gigs.

Good luck out there ..

[Chuck Ellsworth]

Thanks rightseatwonder:

Here is a picture of an Air Sea T.O. in Corfu last Sept.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e353/ ... 0137-1.jpg

As you can see it ain't all that bad a place to be.

['79K20driver]

Awfully temping, .! Are they all 300's on whips?

[Chuck Ellsworth]

Awfully temping, .! Are they all 300's on whips?

Yes, at the moment there is one on Whip Amphibs.......and my advice to them was to have about 25% Amphibs in the fleet.

Also to fly in Europe they must have GPWS so you can close your eyes and you are back in an Airbus with voice prompt to take all the guess work out of landing the suckers.

But for real fun flying my last job was O.K. too.....

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e353/ ... ate033.jpg

That was not my ride , mine was parked down the ramp.....that was taken at one of the last air shows I flew in in Holland before I had enough and quit.

Fu.k I'm looking old...It's no wonder the young tighties are not swarming around me anymore.

[rightseatwonder]

Yeah, they look great!

I have a few friends who have flown there for a season or two and all said its a great gig.

Any trouble finding experienced crew?

cheers,
RSW

[Chuck Ellsworth]

Any trouble finding experienced crew?

Not yet...the plan is to buy an FTU in Vancouver and train their own...I was in Vancouver last week and the deal is almost done.

That is one of the reasons I got the new Husky as an ab-initio ride and then put them in the T.O..for the last bit.

I have decided to retire when I hit eighty now...seventy was just to soon.

[N2]

Cripes . if they will take some of us older guys I'm there!

[Chuck Ellsworth]

The guy I hired is 63 and counting...with 12,000 hours on the T.O.

He should have it about figured out by now.

[cessnafloatflyer]

Who's getting $85K float flying???

[Chuck Ellsworth]

Who's getting $85K float flying???

Hows things going Dave:

Twin Otter pilots at Air Sea Lines in Greece make over $85,000.00 after taxes two months on one month off.

[bin landin]

Edited

[QFE]

Not so bin landin.
At Jazz the RJ200 & 705 must be hand flown using the HUD for all Cat II & Cat IIIa approaches.

[Hoov]

[quote="bin landin"]Pika wrote
[quote]Can you name me one[quote]

Actually, I can name one for sure, and I think there are others that are similar. where you are qualified to do a Cat 111, it is always done on the autopilot, and at least one major airline wants the crews to trust the autopilot, so it is used on every landing.....no touchee auto pilot.

quote]

So you say you can name one, and then don't?

[cessnafloatflyer]

Man... what are the requirements for this gig?

[outsider]

pointless bickering

heres my 2 cents, i have done both the bush and IFR, i know have combined the 2 to where it suits me fine, Waterbombers in the summer, twin otter in the winter at various tropical locals, live at the cabin in the summmer, great sked, live in a 2 bedroom apt on the beach in the winter, wouldn't trade it for a seat on the space shuttel, point is follow your own mind, not what someone else says is the BIGTIME, and i stll make over 100 grand a year

[Cat Driver]

Man... what are the requirements for this gig?

O.K...the 3000 on the T.O. on floats was only my idea.

Air Sea Lines have the following as their requirements.

3000 T.T. as a pilot.

1000 hours on floats any kind of Airplane.

1000 hours as PIC on the T.O....

The float time on the T.O. is flexible depending on previous experience.....

At this time Air Sea Lines have enough Captains for the four airplanes they should be operating in the new year.

The working conditions are about as good as it gets for flying floats as far as location goes.

The two months on and one month off can be flexible as well.

[Carrier]

There is no easy way to decide whether or not $85K is reasonable. One must look at the complete employment package and then factor in other issues. Each individual must decide for himself, bearing in mind the actual job itself, working conditions, taxes, living costs, living standards, lifestyle, etc. where he is located or earning such a sum. Readers may remember the Wings magazine editorial in their first aviation industry salary survey. This was in about 2000. Basically they said that in Canada it was not worth earning more than $4,000pm ($48Kpa), as that was the point above which the taxman collected 50%, and that if you could earn your $4,000pm in Saskatoon you were well ahead of someone earning the same in Vancouver after paying for living essentials. Similar issues apply to an international comparison.
$85K might be good if there are no income or sales taxes, the climate is sub-tropical with no heating or air-conditioning costs, housing is dirt cheap whether to buy or rent (or company provided), health care is free and of good quality, a company car is provided with fuel allowance, and you can use the same range of clothes year round with just a sweater or light jacket in the brief colder weeks. On the other hand, if you pay Soviet Canuckistan tax rates and want to live in decent accommodation in Vancouver then your spouse will need to work or you will need help from the in-laws or your parents. Don’t forget to factor into your comparison other issues such as personal safety, health care, broken public utilities, cratered roads, ongoing food shortages, etc. You may be able to earn well in Iraq but would you want to take your family there? I am assuming that the one income should support a family in decent living standards and that you also want something available for savings and vacations. Being treated decently by the company, having good equipment and safe maintenance and operating procedures also feature somewhere.
Tax Freedom Day for Canada in 2007 was on 20 June according to the Fraser Institute. The UK’s TaxPayers’ Alliance gives an earlier date for Canada but in its international comparison it puts the 2007 date for Greece as being ten days later than in Canada. Unless housing, food, fuel and other after-tax costs in Greece are considerably lower than in Canada this means that a much larger annual income is needed in Greece as against Canada to maintain a similar living standard.
This raises some interesting questions about the fact that certain pilots in Greece clear $85K AFTER taxes. Presumably their gross pay is well into the six figure range in order to give such a large nett figure. What is their actual gross pay? What sort of benefits does the company offer? I assume this company has some sort of standard pay scale and benefit package or matrix and has no problem with mentioning it to prospective employees.

[Cat Driver]

This raises some interesting questions about the fact that certain pilots in Greece clear $85K AFTER taxes. Presumably their gross pay is well into the six figure range in order to give such a large nett figure. What is their actual gross pay? What sort of benefits does the company offer? I assume this company has some sort of standard pay scale and benefit package or matrix and has no problem with mentioning it to prospective employees.

This pay package was what I advised Air Sea Lines to pay.

The exact pay agreement is as follows.

5000 Euros per month, all taxes paid....in other words the company will pay all applicable Canadian taxes...you clear 5000 Euro per month.

You work two months in Greece and then have one month off and the company will pay your transportation costs back to Canada and return to Greece.

You get 600 Euro per month as a living allowance when in Greece plus a daily expense allowance of 35 Euro for food if you are away from your home base.

So the bottom line is you make 60,000 Euro's a year, tax free in Canada.

Also Air Sea Lines will give you the training to acquire the JAR license if you want to get one.

The above is the agreement that you will have if you are hired through me, I can not answer what you would get if you were hired in Athens.

At this point in time I have only hired one pilot as that was all they needed to this point in time......he is back in Canada quite happy with his job having worked there since Sept. and will return to Greece in the last week in Jan....and his pay has been put in the bank as per the agreement.

[Carrier]

That seems like a very fair deal. Thanks for the info. I may very well be interested later next year. I notice the long term plans that the company has. And yes, these days I would rather be paid in euros than sinking dollars.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

No problem carrier.

Now that I am at the end of my career I want to make life better for those who follow me.

[shimmydampner]

There is no easy way to decide whether or not $85K is reasonable.

Christ what a wet blanket.
$85K after taxes for 8 months of work in the Mediterranean sounds reasonable by pretty much any standards.

if you could earn your $4,000pm in Saskatoon you were well ahead of someone earning the same in Vancouver

Except you have to live in Saskatoon, so...not really.