Yeah, truth is I could only afford to have the lifestyle and toys I have now from the left seat of a Boeing. To each his own though, happiness is the key.

TVATIVAK71 wrote:I was fortunate to be able to network with a few southwest Alaska air taxi and lodge folks early on and as a result was hired with just above 500 hrs. But then again it was the early nineties and it really helped that I grew up in Dillingham. In fact the lodge I worked at hired a plane/pilot during our busy time to help out. We finished the day guiding anglers at the Agulukpak River and there was no room for me on the first plane so I waited for the hired plane/pilot to pick me up. The 206 landed and as we were getting ready to go the pilot jumped in the copilot seat and barked at me to get in and get this show on the road. I really appreciated that as a young up and coming flyer. After nearly 20,000 hrs I still remember that day vividly. It was a DonC from Alaska Air Guides.
Just knock on lots of doors and network away! Eventually it will pay off

Hi Art those days working with u guys and Bud at the Narrows was the highlight of my season. Like being on vacation and getting paid for it. Can't believe he paid us for that time I would have done it for free if he asked ....but he did not. First class Lodge and operation. Glad our meeting encourage u to get into flying..........which sounds like it was the right course for u 20,000 hrs ...wow

bump

Left seat in Boeing What does the world look like from up there Back in the day they would let us ride in the jump seat if cabin was full, happened a few times. Hank Rust and I were going Pheasant hunting in Kansas. Seats were all full...asked about jump seats they put us both in cockpit. Hank spent the time talking to capt about WW2 flying and the co pilot spent a lot of time asking me how to get a float rating About halfway thru the flight they realized we were air Taxi guys not airline types. Copilot said hell we could get some time off for this...capt said hell with it..I need some time off Think I did tell gate agent we were Alaska Air airguides

That's funny! At the Airline I work at there is a very large contingent of former air taxi pilots from all over the state. Many of us have known each other for decades and one usually can find us in the crew rooms reliving the days of pre GPS and stand alone NDB crap, shitty cannery airstrips, fish hauling and the like. Still is odd to wear a uniform rather that standard issue xtra tuffs and carhartts.

Just curious, I am IFR/commercial rated with almost 1,000 hours. I have never flown commercially for anyone. For air taxi operations, what hoops do you have to jump through to be let lose with paying passengers? I am told that you still have to do a check out with a FAA examiner for air taxi with flight check and oral? Just what is that examiner really looking for? What is he looking for in the oral for air taxi? Also, are they more stringent for those who have never flown commercially before? Is it easier to break in with a job other than air taxi?

whynotfly wrote:Just curious, I am IFR/commercial rated with almost 1,000 hours. I have never flown commercially for anyone. For air taxi operations, what hoops do you have to jump through to be let lose with paying passengers? I am told that you still have to do a check out with a FAA examiner for air taxi with flight check and oral? Just what is that examiner really looking for? What is he looking for in the oral for air taxi? Also, are they more stringent for those who have never flown commercially before? Is it easier to break in with a job other than air taxi?

It's been a long time since I flew SE charter, but my "hoops" weren't too difficult for the several years I did it, back in the late 70s through the mid-80s. The ATCO checkride (required by regs once a year, or more often if the FSDO requires it--for reasons not known to me, we had to do it every 6 months) is much like a commercial checkride, without the "commercial maneuvers". The oral consisted largely of understanding the applicable regs (both Part 91 and 135) and how to handle passengers, which included both the reg requirements (pretty simple--seat belts, alcohol, etc.) and some practical issues, like what to do if a passenger is or becomes ill or if flying an injured passenger. The flying part of the checkride, the FBO owner required very smooth operations (fly the Cessna like an airliner, he said), so that's what I did for the FAA Inspectors each time, and for all passenger flights. The Inspectors emphasized emergency operations mostly. I actually found the FAA Inspectors to be pretty accommodating, but by the time I took my first ATCO ride in a 182, I had several hundred hours in 182s, so the flying part was always pretty easy for me. As usually happens with any checkride, I always came away with some new nugget of information, some better way to do something.

An oddity of the regs is that all the SE charters had to be flown VFR, but the pilots all had to be current and proficient on instruments. The only one of our pilots who was authorized to fly SE IFR charters was the Chief Pilot, and he had to take a more rigorous checkride with the FAA, in the T210 which had a fully operational 3 axis autopilot, part of the requirements for SE IFR 135 ops. I remember acting as safety pilot for him while he practiced for that checkride, and frankly I'm still jealous of how smooth and precise that guy could fly. I'm no slouch, but he made me look like one.

My very first 135 flight was a baggage flight. We stripped the seats out of a 182, and I hauled the baggage while our Chief Pilot flew the 310 with the passengers, who were the daughter and grandchildren of the CEO of Revlon, from the A-A Ranch near Saratoga, WY, to Denver Stapleton. For that, I got my hourly pay (which I don't recall) plus a $20 tip from the Revlon daughter's lackey. Wow!

From then on, I flew pretty regularly, although it was only a part-time job while I practiced law--great diversion from the office. I suspect I flew once or twice a week for all the time I did it, maybe less at times. I met a lot of nice people, saw some great country (Wyoming, northern Colorado, and one flight to Iowa City), flew to places I might not otherwise have seen, and all in all, enjoyed it very much. I was never pressured to take a flight that I thought was inadvisable due to weather; in fact, if I said it was a no-go, it usually meant either it didn't go at all, or if it did, it had to be done SE IFR with the Chief Pilot in the T210, or ME IFR in the T310 by one of the other pilots (I'm not ME). Nobody in their right mind takes chances with Wyoming weather.

Of course, every operation is different, so others' 135 experiences are likely a lot different from mine.

Cary

I thought about this once for something to do in the winter then the notion quickly and thankfully passed.

A friend of mine was director of operations for a new start up with all new airplanes. Long story but they didn't last long. Anyway, there was something called initial operating experience or IOE for short. I think the specifics are different for every air taxi according to their safety manual but basically you are tethered to a senior pilot for like 40 hours or something. This experience will get you accustomed to the company and environment you'll be operating in. They'll get you ready for your checkride then.

There are folks here that actually do this, hopefully one will chime in. But that's sort of an overview.