MercuryBirdman

I've recently realized that I really enjoy flying relatively low and looking at the landscape below. I think I would really enjoy pipeline or some other form of flying job that scans the terrain. What is out there for this type of commercial flying and what are the average requirements? Any input on this would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

StartUp161WanaB

Banner towing......

ERJF15

I've you're up at Tinker, there should be a few pipeline companies around OKC. When I was stationed at Sheppard, I flew pipeline for about a year out of Kickapoo. Eagle Pipeline Patrol was the name of the company.

MilitaryAV8R

I saw an ad for this type of work a few days ago on the "orange site". While I am not going to post the entire ad on here, the company website is

Northern States Aviation, Aerial Survey, Reliable Airborne Platforms, Imaging, Sensing,

I am not sure about your times or anything, but it seems very low time requirements and you would fly a C-172. Not sure what the pay scale would look like. Also from reading the info it seems that you go on the road for about 5-7 months at a time with them.

Take it for what its worth.

Blackwing

Not much viewing the scenery doing aerial mapping. Due to the tight nav tolerances most of these gigs have, the pilot's eyes are usually glued to their guidance display the whole time. Power line / pipeline patrol would be a good option though.

ERJF15

Let me fix my own "...." up

rpatte1637

Hello, I've flown pipeline patrol for the last two years, most of my lines are flown once a week and about 200' AGL (Cell phone tower height). I normally fly about 4 days a week and around 130 hours a month. Looking back at my logbook for the last year I had a total of 1500 hours. I usually have to overnight out of town once or twice a week and the company pays for a hotel, rental car and food. The company I work for is single pilot operation (there are some pipeline company that require their aerial patrols to have a pilot and observer), so I have to fly the plane, watch the right of way, record any items that may be a danger to the pipe line and take photos. After completing a day of flying, I head home or to the hotel to complete reports for each line section (usually 7 to 15 reports a day, according to the lines flown), sort pictures and emailing my reports to my contacts. It may sound like a lot of head aches at times, but I pretty much set my own schedule and hours, as long as the lines get covered and the pipeline companies are happy, my company is happy. The company I work for 750 hours was the minium to be hired, but I have heard that some companies are as high as 1500 hours, which is usually a requirement from the pipeline company themselves, I believe. Pipeline inspection is not for everyone, but if you don't mind a little bumpy flying at times and don't mind actually flying, not to just setting the auto pilot and letting the plane do the work, it can be a pretty good living. Also, since the DOT sets the requirements on how often a pipeline must be inspected (most are once every 27 days and at least 26 times a year), you have job security.

TonyMaff

Could you throw out a few companies that you know of? I've been looking online but all I can find are companies that 1500 hrs. and an ATP written done.

rpatte1637

The company I work for is Eagle Sky Patrol and the other company that I know of is Barr, I'm not sure if we are hiring at this time. I have met the Barr pilots in in Spartanburg and Houma and they have both pilot and observers on those runs. I'm sure there are other out there, but those are the two that I have knowledge of.

tlove482

What about Underwood? I know they use to do pipeline patrol. There's also a company that flies Caravans from Texas up to Canada and back. TransCanada is the name i think.