All -

Which forum here would be the best place to learn a little about actually flying for the FAA. For instance flying the King Airs that I think I have seen certifying IFR approaches and such? What other duties might pilots for the FAA find themselves doing? Any help and guidance would be appreciated.

USMCFLYR

 

I talked to a guy one day at an FBO in Eagle, Colorado who was a pilot for the FAA. They were cert. the ILS there. I'm not sure what forum here would have that kind of info, but if you were intrested in this I would contact Ok-City directly. If you are a millitary pilot maybe one of your higher-ups could help you out.

 

Jetjock -

I'm actually from OKC and will be there in late May for a weekend (Tinker AFB airshow) so I'm sure there will be a few FAA people around, maybe just not pilots; so you are right, I might have a chance to talk to someone then.

When you spoke with this person at Eagle, did he seem to enjoy the job? What kind of a/c was he flying?

USMCFLYR

 

Careful, I heard the FAA has a shoddy maintenance program.

 

Shoddy Maintenance, they just aren't subject to the same rules that we have to go by.

 

The branch your looking for is called the FAA Flight Inspections Operations aka "Flight Check". And they fly out of Flight Inspections Field Offices (FIFOs). There are only Five FIFO's in the US; Sacramento, CA, Anchorage, AK, Atlanta, GA, Atlantic City, NJ, and Battle Creek, MI.

They fly mostly Beech 300's and Lear 60's, except in AK where they fly a Hawker 800 and supposedly they have some Challengers. When I was in college in Battle Creek, I met one of the Lear 60 pilots on several occasions and he seemed to really love his job, QOL, and pay. He said that they generally fly in the part of their regoin that has the nicest weather depending on the seasons. Sounded like a pretty plush job, if you ask me.

I've never heard of any maintenace issues with any of their planes. If you'd like more information you can check out their website. http://naco.faa.gov/index.asp?xml=fioo/index

Hope this helps!

 

USMC Flyer,

Visited Atlantic City FAA center last summer and met a female pilot that flew the King Air 300. She loved the job and was on her way to be the rep at OSKOSH.
I was told to search the FAA website for open positions. I have been checking but nothing has come up lately. I did manage to talk to the flight director for the FAA testing division not flight check, they are expecting to be hiring soon as few guys in Jersey are about to retire.

If you like Oklahoma, ran into the CON AIR GS pilots flying 737s and MD-11s based out of Oklahoma.
http://www.usmarshals.gov/jpats/index.html
Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS): Mr. S. Rolstad, Assistant Director 816-467-1900.
Air Operations Mr. J. Hurd, Chief of Flight Operations Oklahoma City, OK 405/680-3400
The pilots are not Marshalls and can fly as long as they can keep a class 1 and no FLTC requirement.

Hope this helps,
Spanky

 

USMCFLYR:

I've seen FAA pilot jobs posted on http://www.usajobs.gov/ . If there's not any posted now, I'd keep checking back. There are other gov agencies with jobs posted there, too. Good luck.

RB

 

The requirements are ATP and TS security clearance.
Go to www.usajobs.gov and then click on "job search" then underneath select "series search" and then scroll down to "2181 pilot". It is tricky to find because it is listed alphabetically, but it falls between "aircraft ordnance" and "aircraft pneudralic," so really it should be "aircraft pilot." Most of the jobs that come up are GS flying jobs for the army and air force, but the FAA ones will come up here if they are available, CBP and US dept of agriculture, and US Forest Service will come up. Right now they didn't have anything available but keep checking back every couple of weeks. Goodluck

 

WMUPilot -

Thanks for the information. I never knew that they only had those few locations. Some of them I find appealing , some I'd rather not spend my golden oldie years in . The aircraft sound nice too - and hearing that the pilot enjoyed his job is a plus obviously. Thanks for the website too. I will be checking this out.

USMCFLYR