bush pilots

May 20, 2005 3:10 PM

Does anyone know a bush pilot, have contact with one, or know anything about the becoming one? I'm thinking about becoming one, and while I've found a great deal of narratives about bush pilot adventures, I haven't found anything that that talks about it as a career path, which is what I'm primarily looking for.
posted by Snyder to Work & Money (8 answers total)

For those with a more adventurous spirit in addition to basic tailwheel instruction, we also offer a bush flying course. Learn the advanced techniques that professional bush pilots use/learn how to utilize the edges of the airplane's performance envelope. Fly our bush equipped Husky A/A with vortex generators and tundra tires. Even if you never fly in the bush, the techniques you will learn will increase your proficiency and improve safety.

Good luck.
posted by airguitar at 3:29 PM on May 20, 2005

I'll assume by "bush" pilot you mean someone who does a lot of off airport work. You are in for a long, expensive ride, ghost. It will take a couple thousand hrs, I think, and alot of off airport practice to be safe and competent. Probably will take you that much time in your flight log to get a job also...
posted by airguitar at 3:39 PM on May 20, 2005

"There's no place else in the world to get the kind of training you'd get flying on floats that compares to the course I give in my own backyard. Right where I live in Moose Pass, Alaska is as spectacular a mountain setting as you'll find anywhere." Vern Kingsford, ATP, CFII
posted by airguitar at 3:42 PM on May 20, 2005

why are we whispering?
posted by five fresh fish at 4:23 PM on May 20, 2005

Are you a pilot at all? That seems like an important first step.
posted by smackfu at 5:51 PM on May 20, 2005

Response by poster: No, not a pilot yet. But I wouldn't mind trying to plan this out in advance, becasue it be a radical departure from my current and previous non-career/un-educational path.
posted by Snyder at 11:13 PM on May 20, 2005

I don't work for a bush-pilot organization, but we generally hire pilots who have flown for them.
Bush piloting is near the lowest rung of commercial flying, so generally what you need is a commercial pilot's license, maybe a hundred hours of PIC time in your log book, and the willingness to fly for shit pay in unspeakable working conditions. If you call up some of the bush airlines, they'll tell you what their minimum requirements are, which will vary depending on how well the airline business is doing and how hard it is for them to find pilots.
posted by cardboard at 12:37 AM on May 21, 2005

If you're doing this for the romance, be forewarned that all things lose their romance when you start doing them for a living.

If you're sitting in your cubical and working up a Plan B in your head, it would serve for you to be a bit more pragmatic.
posted by Elvis at 10:05 AM on May 24, 2005