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Part 91 and Low Time Jump pilots, crop dusting, and other Part 91 jobs

Northern States Aviation

Old 08-10-2011, 10:26 AM
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Default Northern States Aviation

Anyone know or have any information on NSA and how they operate, QOL, actual flight time, are they a good stepping stool, etc? They've been posting for several 172 pilot positions for aerial mapping.

Thanks in advance!
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Old 08-10-2011, 10:57 AM
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PM Me... I can give you all the good and bad of it...
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Old 08-14-2011, 12:46 PM
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NSA was a fun place to work once I got past a few nuances, but every company has those. The QOL is really up to the individual. You're on the road for 7-8 months straight living out of a suitcase. You're given a daily per dium in addition to salary to cover motel/food each day. I shared rooms/cars with the other guys and ended up stashing a good amount of cash during my time there. The boss tries to run with as little risk as possible, and maintenance on the planes is a high priority. The planes show their age, but they're not going to fall out of the sky. I got 600 hours during my season there. If you have any more questions let me know. I typed up a document a couple years ago for a guy that got hired there to give him the scoop on the whole operation, so if you want it, let me know.
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Old 08-14-2011, 03:53 PM
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Originally Posted by dtoTUL View Post
NSA was a fun place to work once I got past a few nuances, but every company has those. The QOL is really up to the individual. You're on the road for 7-8 months straight living out of a suitcase. You're given a daily per dium in addition to salary to cover motel/food each day. I shared rooms/cars with the other guys and ended up stashing a good amount of cash during my time there. The boss tries to run with as little risk as possible, and maintenance on the planes is a high priority. The planes show their age, but they're not going to fall out of the sky. I got 600 hours during my season there. If you have any more questions let me know. I typed up a document a couple years ago for a guy that got hired there to give him the scoop on the whole operation, so if you want it, let me know.
Thanks for the info! Did this lead into a job once you were done? If you don't mind, can you PM me the document? A buddy of mine are currently through the application process and were wanting info on them.
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Old 08-14-2011, 07:03 PM
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NSA was fun. The little risk thing was definitely true. I did about 400 hours my season, but the weather was bad. Some of the risk mitigating things that go on is that you will not build any night flight time while repositioning to the next assigned location, you must land at dusk which gets a little frustrating. Also, the boss isn't too keen on you flying IFR to your next location; if you have to because of unforecast weather enroute, so be it, but he doesn't like you filing to fly into known IFR...though honestly, at the time of year you will be working, it won't be an issue really since nearly every cloud is carrying ice at that time. You also have to call him with your flight plan and be released by him before you repo.

That being said, you will wind up using many skills you taught your students while being a cfi. You will learn how to fly extremely precisely, as following the gridlines for the photos is a lot like flying an ILS all day that punishes you for more than 5 degrees of bank or pitch, as well as speed, altitude, and deviation (.0024 of a mile left or right of center) restrictions. You will learn to multi-task. and most importantly you will fly with some of the coolest guys ever, and have lots of fun On bad weather days we all used to go out and look at local attractions, have a bbq, or whatever. It was easily one of the best times I've had building time. Oh, you will also learn to pee in a bottle and pack a lunch (usually taken from the hotel breakfast buffet) so you can stay up there for a while. With the extended range tanks I have been up there for 6 hours a pop before landing.

After this job I went on to drop skydivers, then I went to a regional, where I am now. It was a good time, great experience. Go for it.
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Old 08-14-2011, 07:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Wildflyin View Post
Oh, you will also learn to pee in a bottle.
Definitely the #1 thing I learned (at 9000ft in the middle of Denver Class B no less). What year did you fly?
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Old 08-14-2011, 09:14 PM
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I realize you change bases once in a while but how much X-C time do u get? Aren't you taking off and landing at the same airport most of the time or do you fly outside of a 50 mile radius so it can count toward the ATP X-C time?
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Old 08-15-2011, 01:40 AM
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Originally Posted by BeardedFlyer View Post
I realize you change bases once in a while but how much X-C time do u get? Aren't you taking off and landing at the same airport most of the time or do you fly outside of a 50 mile radius so it can count toward the ATP X-C time?
You relocate to new projects constantly thru the season. Projects are on average a week's worth of flying (barring bad weather). Some are less than a day of flying, and sometimes you'll be on one project for a month or more. It's all luck of the draw.

As far as cross country time, you're generally going to be w/in 50nm when working on projects, but the bigger projects often require you hiking 30-40nm away to reach the furthest plans. In that case just find an airport to refuel at that's over 50nm. Same idea when looking at point to point x/c for meeting 135 min's, you can always gas up at a different airport than you left from. Beyond that, 99.9% of your relocation flights between projects will be well over 50nm. My first relocation I flew was from Batavia, NY to Denver, CO. After a week of dodging weather I landed in Erie County, CO with some 20-25hrs cross country, 3-4hrs actual, and a couple very legit instrument approaches. Quite a change from burning up the traffic pattern with students just a month earlier.
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Old 08-15-2011, 06:43 AM
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I flew for Desert Wind Air Service, which is very similar to Northern States. Both companies operate for Pictometry, and do the same kind of flying.

It is definitely a young mans job... on the road for 8 months out of the year, and bunking up with another pilot. It was a lot of fun, and a great learning experience. At DWAS we didn't have to get "released" by the boss before flying, and he didn't mind us ferrying at night or IFR. I built up 1000 hours in my two seasons there, and then went to ExpressJet.

The most fun for me was that when they wanted us to reposition, they would say "we need you in Charleston by Friday", and it would be a Monday in San Francisco. But they didnt care how I got there as long as it wasn't vastly out of the way, so I would visit friends in Arizona, then friends in Dallas, then make it to Charleston.

Over-all it was a good experience and I would recommend it to any low time pilot.
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Old 08-15-2011, 01:27 PM
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Wow, I was looking into a low time VFR 135 job in Saipan for 18 months but this looks much better. Unfortunately I just broke my right arm, will take 2 months of cast time to heal so I will have to wait for next season. Good luck to those of you who applied.

zildjian_zach, thanks for the info buddy.
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