Banner towing to build hours
 

This company is in Daytona and is getting ready for the upcoming season..

http://www.aerialmessages.com/

Watch out for some banner tow companies
 

Some banner tow companys make you pay for your own training. They will tell you that you are paying for required FAA flight training and an instructor's sign off, when actually there is no requirement.
They may charge you $1000-$2000 so that they don't have to pay to train their own employees.
This is just another way that some aviation employers try to screw their employees. A good company that values it's employees will cover the expense of training. They are investing in you as a professional.

I'm a little past this stage after flying for the last 16 yrs.. but if I only had 250 hrs and could open a door for flying a 100 hrs a month..... $1000 is a small investment to jumpstart my career. How bad do you want it? You can sit at home all summer waiting for a company that will take you in off the street... or you can drop some training money and start flying. Every month you're not flying that 100 hours is another month of your life wasted while another guy gets hired ahead of you at your dream airline. If you're making $12-$15 per flight hour.. it won't take long for that training to pay for itself... or you can flip burgers and stare at the sky everytime you hear a plane fly over.. your choice.. but hey.. waiting for a company to respect you with your 250 hours is important too :rolleyes:

whats wrong with flipping burgers!!!!

i agree with schnides. There really isn't another way for a 250hr pilot to put down some serious hours. Instructing 100hrs/month is suicide! I know that from personal experience. Cargo opportunities won't come till later either. Then again, maybe daytona has already paid his 70000 dollars to Joe Blow Aviation Academy that guaranteed and then didn't deliver, and now he's just bitter that the guy who spent 1000 is pushing the autopilot button instead of him? ;)

With regards to flipping burgers, those guys are making more than I am! Never thought that it would be an upgrade to go from and FO to an assistant french fry monitor! DOH....

What other pilot job is there that enables you to have such a close view of hundreds of practically naked women on the beach? :eek::rolleyes:

What? Instructing is suicide?
 

Airblazer,
What do you mean instructing for 100 hrs a month is suicide? 100 hrs a month is good flight time. You will be very tired if you work that much every month. After instructing for 1000+ hours, you are very marketable to regional airlines. Towing a banner in single engine, piston, slow flight, VFR airplanes, you're not nearly as hireable.
Instructing is one of the best ways to gain experience, knowledge, and confidence as a commercial pilot.
Instructing is what I did for almost 2 years and I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot, flew some cool airplanes (Cirrus, Lancair, Cessna, Bonanza, Aerostar's) and met some good friends. The only thing I didn't like about it was the low pay.
No, I didn't go to one of those flight academies that "guarantee an interview" and I never paid for training, did you? I wonder since you seem to think it's a good idea.
I guess you're free to pay for training if you want to. I ,however, think aviation employers should pay to train their employees, just like every other industry in the country does for its' employees. It's just one more aspect of this industry that brings all our salaries down and managment knows that.

"They will tell you that you are paying for required FAA flight training and an instructor's sign off, when actually there is no requirement."

Then what is that talk under part 119.1 about having a waiver from an authorized instructor???

I used to tow banners many years ago. I basically did a few training flights with one of the guys who was already working there and then had my observation flight.

The observation flight was me alone in the a/c picking up and dropping a banner while the FAA was observing from the ground.

Cost to me? $0. Experienced gained? Priceless :)

Tipsy

Tipsy,

Can you post the name of the company that you worked for? I know there's one in Jax FL that works that way out of Craig field (KCRG). The owners name is Joel and he wants his pilots to have a CFI. They do traffic watch as well.

Island Aerial Ads
222 Grand Ave
Shirley, NY 11967-1923

Located at Brookhaven Calabro Airport (HWV) on LI

Paul Calabro is the owner....great guy to work for!

I flew traffic watch for him as well.

I don't know if this is still a valid phone number, but it's the only one I have...631-281-1244.

Good luck!

Tipsy