Skylens Aerial Imaging
 

Hello there. Just trying to gather info. I'm working on my Commercial Multi and Single, should have them both done in a few months. I've been reading up on who actually hires people with 260-ish hours, like I will have after I finish these latest certificates, and Skylens seems like a good gig.

I've read that if you get on there you will work A LOT, which is great. Can anyone provide a little more detail as to what a typical day / week / month in the life is like there? Is it at all commutable or would I have to move to Louisiana? (Which I am willing to do).

Thanks in advance.

You basically fly all day, every day given weather and maintenance. Some survey companies give a couple week-long vacations periods, but I don't believe SkyLens is one of those companies. It's not a commutable job. You wouldn't necessarily live in Louisiana. You'd go there for training and then from there take your 172 wherever they assign you to work. Maybe you're in Seattle for a 2 weeks (they said you'd be there 2 months), and then you get assigned a new project outside of Chicago and now you're there for 2 months. The contracts you're working can change pretty quickly. Typical day, given good weather and a project to work on-- wake up, breakfast, weather check, fly 4+ hours, lunch break, weather check, fly 4+ hours, do some paperwork at the end of the day, hotel, dinner, sleep, repeat. The next day you could have low clouds in the area and you have the day off. The next day you could be ferrying from one location to the next.

It is definitely one of the best ways to build a lot of time very fast though. And SkyLens seems to be one of the better companies out there.

Thanks for the quick reply. If I can ask one more question. I know Skylens also flies twins. If I go in there starting in the 172, would there be an opportunity eventually to get promoted to the twins, given I’ll have my Comm Multi? It’ll be only the 25 hours of training I did, so would that make me eligible, or would I have to get more twin time on my own to qualify?

I believe the opportunity would be available to you at some point. I heard seniority with the company is more of what determines your eligibility with getting into the twin, while also being appropriately rated of course. Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

Another one to check out is Sandhills Aviation based in Lincoln, NE; it's another Picto vendor. I don't think they have any twins yet, but they do offer a rotation schedule, something like 4 weeks on / 2 weeks off, and they will fly you to/from the project locations out of your home airport. Some of the other vendors might also offer this type of schedule.

Good luck!!

Thanks for that, sounds like another good company to consider. They’re page says 500 hours total time req so I’ll have to wait till later for them, but it sounds like a pretty decent gig.

Bryan at SkyLens said that their multi minimums for insurance purposes are 50 multi & 10 in an Aztec. There's a thread over at Jetcareers in the employment/jobs available section started by Bryan from SkyLens. He said he'll post a new thread when he's ready for resumes, with the first class being early October.

I was hired there with less than half that.

Good to know, thanks!

SkyLens is a great company. I had such a blast with it. Your schedule does change a lot but Bryan runs a good company.

Is there an imager/ photographer with you? Or does pilot fly and scan?


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I've never flown for SkyLens but I'm assuming it's the same for all picto companies. There's no imager. The photos are automatically taken.

SkyLens
 

it's all single pilot ops.
you'll fly a ton; it's weather dependent but even with crap weather, you can (and are encouraged) to go "take a look" and that can easily burn an hour or Hobbs time… other times of year, you'll be praying for rain just to get a day off!
Bryan runs an great company; be honest and fair with him and he'll be honest and fair w/ you.

Applied last week. Still waiting to hear back. Anybody recently get a job with SkyLens or have any more info?

Hired 1-2 weeks ago. Bryan said this year is extremely competitive. Something like last year or two years ago there were 9 applicants with 8 slots to fill. It's more like 100+ applicants and 5 slots to fill. To be competitive you at least have to have ME. I think he was choosing between different MEI's who have all of their ratings. That being said I got a call from air America this week so they'll be starting up hiring I guess.

Horrible company, really shady. There is a reason they are called "scare America"

They're not really that bad. Every maintenance issue I've ever had it's been no problem taking it to local maintenance. The only weird (shady) thing they do is employ you as a private contractor instead of W2. Okay, so figure out how to do your taxes as a 1099 and you'll have no problem with that either.

I have no experience with Air America (apart from renting planes from them), but for tax reasons, being a 1099 would be very beneficial for a pilot who is building hours.

No, it's not at all.

I'd fly for them. I've been a contractor for 3 years already (different industry) and already have a corporation in place. With that said, I would only hire on through my corporation, meaning they had to pay my Corp or no dice. (Limits my liability exposure)


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2018 Season
 

Submitted my resume the first of the month and their application. They stated hiring would be complete by early September. Do you get a rejection email or just no response if you don’t make the cut? Still a couple of weeks to go, just curious.

If you met published minimums (250 tt real airlplane) and followed directions he gave, you will get a rejection letter or request for more info. If you failed to follow his directions or give him the courtesy of not applying with minimums he won’t respond. (It’s seen as a waste of time to say tbnt to someone who can’t follow directions or meet minimums)

Rejection letters will be sent out on 8/31. Calls for phone interviews started this week and will continue through next week. Resumes are being accepted up until tomorrow (8/15)

14 seats available, 3 already hired, less than 100 in the hiring pool this year.

Timeline
 

Thanks for that response. Nice to know what the timeline looks like.

Here is the link to his official thread he makes each year. He responds on here and it is the best place for updates.


https://forums.jetcareers.com/thread...season.262863/

Thanks
 

Registered over there as well now.

$90 per DAY?