Ramp jobs: Buffalo Airways vs Air Tindi

[young grasshopper]

RADIALRUNNER,

All good points! It'd be a tough decision if I was starting all over again!!! I've always wanted to have some DC-3/4 time in the logbook...

[302sc]

flying these old radials is quite the experience I should know after doing over 6000hrs babying them but it is definitively not what the airlines are looking for these days in new recruits so if you are thinking big jet for your career, get into learning glass cockpit , fms fadec etc..etc.. by then the radials will be inching closer to museum time.

[Eric Janson]

flying these old radials is quite the experience I should know after doing over 6000hrs babying them but it is definitively not what the airlines are looking for these days in new recruits so if you are thinking big jet for your career, get into learning glass cockpit , fms fadec etc..etc.. by then the radials will be inching closer to museum time.

That may be the case in Canada - it's not the case overseas. DC-3 experience looks very good on your resume. There are still people at various Airlines around the world with DC-3 time (usually in the Airforce).

DC-3 time was the reason I got my first job flying jets. Things I've learned flying the DC-3 have kept me out of trouble flying jets.

[Cat Driver]

A DC3 is a real airplane.

A Jet is another machine.

[RADIALRUNNER]

Personally, I would much rather fly with someone with a 1000hrs in a 3 opposed to 1000hrs in a King Air. If you can fly a heavy piston pounder, you can fly damn near anything.

[Cat Driver]

Personally, I would much rather fly with someone with a 1000hrs in a 3 opposed to 1000hrs in a King Air.

Same here, but the comparison is really not fair due to the difference in airplanes.

[oneill10999]

This is probably a really dumb question, but im new to all of this. Are you saying that it was way better to get a job flying in alberta as opposed to northern canada?
and secondly, Where did you move? you said the dark continent... im preety sure i know which one this is.. but to be sure where is taht you moved? and why? for what?

I worked up North for 7 months, had the time of my life but I needed to fly, I earned my wings in the first week at buffalo! Screw that I quit and got a flying job In Alberta, Left for the Dark continent a year later...NOW 23 MONTHS LATER!!!!! My friend at Tindi is JUST getting on the King Air.

WHAT A JOKE! I cant even finnish this it gets me soo worked up!



Cheers

[young grasshopper]

He's saying he got on at Borek and then went down to Antarctica...unless I'm way out to lunch here (which I've been accused of before!!).

[yzfer]

how much experience do the rampies have when they get hired on at buffalo or tindi? (or a similar place, ie summit, arctic sunwest etc.) It's getting to that point in my training to start looking for a job, but I'm curious if, for the most part, rampies (there has got to be a better term) have their multi/ifr/floats even before they start their first job, or just their cpl? anyone have any idea?

[raven54]

Most rampies, we'll call them ramries then, have their CPL, and Multi IFR when applying for a job. If you want a job flying floats, a float endorsement would be a good idea, although you'd have time to get it later.

[young grasshopper]

I started on the ramp at Tindi with a PPL. I worked for the summer on the dock, asked and got a layoff in the fall, finished my commercial over the winter, then went back to the ramp in the summer. It worked out great as I got some of my "ramp time" done over the first summer, and my seniority number (or whatever you wanna call it) was good. I wouldn't suggest this if you need to make a lot of money over the summer, but it worked out well for me. Good luck!

[Marinth]

So is it rampies that get the 4 weeks on 4 weeks off at air tindi? and do you get any sort of deal on airlines coming down or is your flight bill just going to rack up like crazy? are there any other airlines up there that would be better for getting a flying job quicker? also how hard is it to get right seat on a twin otter at air tindi?

[young grasshopper]

I think rampies at Tindi do 4 on 4 off...but we're talking days, not weeks. Not sure if they have any flight passes with any airlines anymore, but you don't NEED to get outta here every week or two (I swear - its really not that bad. With around 20,000 people here, there's GOTTA be something to keep yourself busy with!). Summit/Tindi/Arctic Sunwest don't really seem to be hiring now as it is not real busy, but come ski season (January-ish), I'm sure they'll hire a few guys. I think the wait for a co-joe job on the twotter at Tindi is around a year and a half. Anyone feel free to correct me as its been a couple years since I've worked for Tindi. Good luck!

[old metal]

I think most people are getting ready for a really slow ski season. Hard to explore/develop resources when no one will lend you money...

[jspitfire]

I think rampies at Tindi do 4 on 4 off...but we're talking days, not weeks. Not sure if they have any flight passes with any airlines anymore, but you don't NEED to get outta here every week or two (I swear - its really not that bad. With around 20,000 people here, there's GOTTA be something to keep yourself busy with!). Summit/Tindi/Arctic Sunwest don't really seem to be hiring now as it is not real busy, but come ski season (January-ish), I'm sure they'll hire a few guys. I think the wait for a co-joe job on the twotter at Tindi is around a year and a half. Anyone feel free to correct me as its been a couple years since I've worked for Tindi. Good luck!

In January they'll probably be looking for a couple more ramp guys or FA/loadmasters for the Dash-7.

Wait time for the Twin Otter is looking more like a solid 2 years now with everything slowing down.

[FL001]

He's saying he got on at Borek and then went down to Antarctica...unless I'm way out to lunch here (which I've been accused of before!!).

Wrong. There is more than Borek in Alberta. He worked at the other end of Alberta then went to Africa (the Dark Continent). For 2 years, Mr. C. S. has done pretty well for himself.

[young grasshopper]

Ahhhhhhhh...gotcha. I hope you can see why I was thinking Antarctica was the "dark continent" (half the time anyway!). I realize that there is more to Alberta than Borek, but seeing as we were talking twin otters and such, I sorta just went with it...

[FL001]

Haha yup. Well I guess the other half of the year it would be the bright and shiny continent.

There is always work out there. Just a lot of jobs don't advertise themselves and you have to know where to look. Buffalo and Tindi are both very visible companies and do some pretty neat flying. However, there are much faster ways to get into a cockpit than with either of them.

[302sc]

flying these old radials is quite the experience I should know after doing over 6000hrs babying them but it is definitively not what the airlines are looking for these days in new recruits so if you are thinking big jet for your career, get into learning glass cockpit , fms fadec etc..etc.. by then the radials will be inching closer to museum time.

That may be the case in Canada - it's not the case overseas. DC-3 experience looks very good on your resume. There are still people at various Airlines around the world with DC-3 time (usually in the Airforce).

DC-3 time was the reason I got my first job flying jets. Things I've learned flying the DC-3 have kept me out of trouble flying jets.

quite right ,I stand corrected , however I believe it is getting thinner and thinner not many DC-3 are out there flying and their number are dwindling but what other airplane has been so widely used for as long as 70 years and change ! a legend in its own right .
sadly carriers in all of europe speaking of personal experience and I would guess probably asia ,do not really appreciate pilots with time on radials , since flying turbine on tight sked where time is money, the relevance of radials management become a moot point ..alas!
I still believe that new recruits would benefit from good knowledge of the new technologies used in modern cockpits , needle and ball are a thing of the past except of course when all electrics fails at 200 hundred feet on take off