Originally Posted by
cubpilot802
Ideally I am looking toward pilot jobs flying seaplanes but open to job opportunities in the agricultural sector and firefighting sectors as well. I have little desire to go to the airlines. Currently plan on attending the NAAA convention later this year in florida for options in the ag sector.
What would be your top company choices to look into? After going through many threads about individual companies on the forum. I have seen some good candidates, but maybe there are some diamonds in the rough I am missing.
With an A&P you should be a decent candidate for ag since they do a lot of maintenance during the off season. Right now in CA rice season is in full swing and the sky is dark with operators seeding fields. A pilot can make $125k easy out here, but it's a grind right now. Farmers need their crops taken care of like yesterday so it's frenetic, so much so it's risky trying to fly into their strips like I have to do because they're constantly landing, reloading and blasting off again. I basically orbit at 1000 feet until I see a window and dump my C-182 down before the next guy lands. Radio communication is non existent.
But this is the allure of ag flying. The last real seat-of-your-pants flying job. But you won't fly IFR and rarely climb above 500 feet. The equipment is battered and repaired countless times. In the season you may ball up an Agcat on take off, leave it there in a heap to hustle back to another airplane to finish the jobs for the day. If this sounds appealing, then make connections at NAAA. I know for certain that there is work for the right pilot/mechanics. Some guys even take low timers and train them up. Now this is specific to California, not sure about the Midwest/south. If I had to do it all over again, I'd get into Ag flying/wrenching. I'm a comm pilot/A&P as well...but then I got married.