Advice for 2017

[AirDoan]

Good evening! I know that this is not the first time someone has posted this kind of thing and I have read the road trip thread. But I am looking for some advice and recommendations for the up comming season so I can get my ducks in a row as early as possible.

I'm a 220 Hr CPL wonder, with a basic float rating done within the last month with Randy at Pacific Seaplanes. I have a very good potential dock hand position lined up for the new year here on the coast which has some benefits living wise, but they have been very straight with me saying I'll be on the docks for at least 2 seasons and I will have to impress the powers to get a shot at a seat. I am very mechanically inclined, have management experience, I have many years of client service, been labourer and used heavy equipment. I also grew up on the Gulf Islands and Ucluelet/Tofino areas. I know my way around out here, so I think I am in a good position to prove myself to them. That said 2 years is a while not flying regularly. How good of a chance is there in shortening that time? I'm in my mid 30s and am all in training cost wise (it took 4 years of hard work paying my way through). The 50 hour bush courses I would like to take are outside my financial abilities. So I am planning on road tripping with the aim of working float ops this spring to try and reduce that wait. When is the earliest that someone could successfully pound the proverbial asphalt? Which ones would appreciate the fact that I have been around the block a few times in life? I have already been sending out resumes with little to no luck there, but not expecting much at this time of year. Just casting my nets as often and as wide as I can but not discounting the opportunity above.

Thanks for any kind of leg up that can be offered! It will be gladly repaid with a double double or a pint of the good stuff if and when our paths cross!

Merry Christmas!

[Black_Tusk]

If you can go on a trip now to some of the operators that work year round but floats in the summer you could likely land yourself a job offer.

Out of all of them, the on place I have seen hire new pilots regularly and get them flying pretty quickly (same summer, and keep you on in the winter on the wheels) is Slate Falls Air.

[Rowdy]

Its fairly easy to see who the dock position is with. My advice? You'll have a whole bunch of brown nosing, younger kids pushing you out of their way on that dock.. Only to sit right seat in a twin otter for a few years, IF you get it. Its a bit of a longshot. I also haven't seen anyone go from the -6 into the beaver in ages (It doesn't happen) so you're stuck for PIC to do anything else.

Having knowledge of the coast compares you to exactly every other person on that dock too. Unless it's at the controls of a DHC2, it won't matter to the operators.

Randys a good dude, I've flown/worked alongside him. Operationally you'll have a better understanding having learned from him than many of the other floatplane instructors. His experience is vast..

Get out there and find a 180/185/206 float gig in ON,MB etc. Do a season or two and you'll be all set up to work for Seair, HA, TA, etc here on the coast in a beaver with over a thousand hours PIC if thats seriously what you want to do. Its a rough gig and usually also ends up being seasonal.... Been there done that

Lots of great opportunities east of the rockies. Slate falls, kissising, Kenora, etc etc all usually end up with at least one low timer in their Cessna's for the season. Check with all the ops in and around red lake. Atikokan, Ivanhoe, derry air if they're still around. A few more off the top of my head, sandy lake seaplanes, the chap in st theres has a couple..

Good Luck!

[AirDoan]

Its fairly easy to see who the dock position is with. My advice? You'll have a whole bunch of brown nosing, younger kids pushing you out of their way on that dock.. Only to sit right seat in a twin otter for a few years, IF you get it. Its a bit of a longshot. I also haven't seen anyone go from the -6 into the beaver in ages (It doesn't happen) so you're stuck for PIC to do anything else.

Having knowledge of the coast compares you to exactly every other person on that dock too. Unless it's at the controls of a DHC2, it won't matter to the operators.

Randys a good dude, I've flown/worked alongside him. Operationally you'll have a better understanding having learned from him than many of the other floatplane instructors. His experience is vast..

Get out there and find a 180/185/206 float gig in ON,MB etc. Do a season or two and you'll be all set up to work for Seair, HA, TA, etc here on the coast in a beaver with over a thousand hours PIC if thats seriously what you want to do. Its a rough gig and usually also ends up being seasonal.... Been there done that

Lots of great opportunities east of the rockies. Slate falls, kissising, Kenora, etc etc all usually end up with at least one low timer in their Cessna's for the season. Check with all the ops in and around red lake. Atikokan, Ivanhoe, derry air if they're still around. A few more off the top of my head, sandy lake seaplanes, the chap in st theres has a couple..

Good Luck!

Thanks Rowdy. I have had a few PMs from people on here so far (thanks to all!) and the consensus is to go east. That does make sense to me. So with that in mind I pulled up a listing of all the Air Taxi ops on the TC website and I'm going through them looking for the ones running floats that are similar to the ones you have mentioned. Making note of the types of planes they have, size of operation and marking the ones that have been recommended. I'll fire off my applications in the next week or two, then follow up with phone calls in the new year and road trip out that way closer to the start of the season.

I know. Flying to and fro across the Juan De Fuca doesn't sound exciting as a career goal. What can I say, I am an island boy at heart but who knows what might actually happen or where I'll end up. Maybe I'll love central Canada!