ya, do not lower the bar for the industry, you deserve to be paid, and we do not need to be planting seeds out there that people will work for free.

Anyone know any jump outfits hiring in the Bay area??Looking for something on the side!

dropzone.com has a classifieds page that has employment

Oh yeah, definitely not doing it for free. I'm not that stupid, hahaha.

YEAH, I been looking on DZ haven't seen any around the bay area on there

Carry a spare set of mag keys. A favorite trick (from my Cessna 206 days) is the last jumper out the door will shut the mags off, and take the keys.

Free time is still time!
 

I have mixed feelings on this topic, this is a great way to build quality time if you get involved with the right operation. I am a new comm pilot and just took a job flying jumpers on the weekend, this this is a non paying job which I know is a major issue with some people, but this drop zone has been around for over 40 years and has NEVER had to pay a pilot. I am not happy about the no pay but the time I am earning is unreal. I don't even have my multi yet, but the owner is going to check me out in his Beech 18 after I get the multi rating. So only having only 260 hours and a comm ticket for 30 days I am already building time in a 182, plus the chance to log pic time in a twin turbine this summer. How can you say no to someone who offers you that chance? Maybe it is diff in other parts of the country but here in Ohio Comm pilots are not that rare (my neighbor is a Comm pilot) we have pilots all over the place trying to build time. I do not feel guilty about working for free to build time. That being said I will not take up a spot for the next guy in line, get in get your time, get out and help the next guy get in then move on, don't plug up the pipeline. I know this may upset some people but for those of us that didn't have airline captains as fathers to help us, or mommy and daddy to pay for then CFI rating while letting them live at home free while teaching, this non paying job is the best job I have ever had and I used to make 60k year.

You are right. You'll probably be taking some shots for these actions - and being that you are so new to aviation - it is a case of you not knowing what you don't know.
I'd probably bet that you opinions will change over time.

What you are talking about btw is called 'bartering'. One action or service in exchange for an equitable action or service. Quite common in the past , especially rural areas, and an acceptable means of payment for services rendered. Of ocurse this assumes that #1 - it is truly equitable, and #2 - that both parties keep their side of the bargain. In other words - I hope htat you truly build that PIC time and multi-time that you are betting on and this school/DZ isn't just getting a bunch of few hours out of you.

I built a little time hauling jumpers myself and can appreciate the time building aspects, but I still got paid $10 a load (and this was 20 years ago - which is a little disheartening to hear RickT say that the pay is about the same now!)

Your last few sentences come off a little scewed in my opinion too. You sound resentful of others that build time as CFIs and the whole 'mommy and daddy' thing is usually just a way to complain. What about all of those CFIs/pipeline patrol/banner towers who have none of those connections that you bemoan yet still never tried to defend reasons for working for free?

At least you nailed it with the 'get your time and make way for the rest to come up' (and even help them) attitude, but we'll all just have to wait and see if that deal comes through when the time comes too. ;)

USMCFLYR

Well the market is the arbiter of this and there are so many hobby pilots around the wages are depressed. They are not in it for the money to begin with. Here's an analysis showing the wages could be just about anything if the market approved.

Revenue
4 tandem jumps/hr @$250ea
-------------
1,000.00/hr

Cost
pilot 20.00/hr
aircraft @125.00/hr wet
hangar rent 10.00/hr
website 5.00/hr
packers 75.00/hr
misc. 25.00/hr
----------------
260.00/hr

Net
----------------
740.00 /hr

When I flew jumpers, I got paid per head. Bigger plane, more jumpers, more money. The system worked well. I got $2 for each licensed jumper, $6 for each static line student and $10 per tandem. (we didn't do AFF).

It wasn't unusual to turn 2 tandems each load all day in the 182 and 3-6 in the 206 and 207. To this day, the most money I ever made in aviation in a weekend was turning loads for 12 hours straight on a sat and sun. Don't work for free, if you can't get money out of your DZ owners, negotiate free jumps and get your A license.