Originally Posted by allds83

Of course it varies, but I probably only got about 20 hours of actual in a season. Sometimes we would take the planes up on an IFR day and just shoot a few approaches to remain current or just for fun. At AA you get paid 3.5 hours as opposed to the minimum 2.5 hours if the hobbs meter moves that day (if you only flew for 0.5, you got paid for 3.5). It was supposed to be an extra incentive to "scout" the area if the weather was marginal for imaging. However, we usually just flew some approaches or made a few laps around the pattern to make a few extra bucks. Last year I worked into the middle of July, but only because they put me in an Aztec. You can leave whenever you want with no penalty after your contract is up (was May 15, not sure if that's being changed).