Temsco

[captkirkyota]

Kirk,

 

A contract pilot is a pilot who flies a contract or charter. It is just your line pilot with a different name.

 

I would recommend getting time or better yet, OAS carded, then apply for some of the contract positions. The pay would be better for you than if you came on as a first year tour pilot. It's not so much the turbine time that they look at but rather the experience you have (if you flew previous tours, flew fire, did sling, have medium time, can move a drill...) all of these can influence your pay for the better. The best way to get hired though is a recommendation from someone Temsco already knows. Email or PM me and I can get you more details on who to contact and what to do.

 

A little history: Temsco was one of the first companies to hire lower time pilots with no turbine time and transition them into turbine positions (mid to late 80's). They found that they could train piston pilots and have a good pilot they could keep on (if they had the attitude and judgment that they needed). As time has marched on and pilots have become more scare, other companies started doing the same (GOM, Grand Canyon Operators...). They found a wonderful resource in lower time pilots. Now Temsco needs to start another program that will bring in a good batch of pilots. We are working on that now.

 

One thing I realized is pay is not everything. I worked a job that would have paid me $94,000/year with 3 weeks on/2 weeks off. Problem was, I would have no life. This was in 1998 during my 8 year break from flying with Temsco. I have looked at higher paying jobs (over six figures) but I find as I get older that it is quality of life, how I am treated by the company I work for, and being home that gets to me more than the pay. Pay is still important (you need to pay well to pay for living expenses and have enough left over to be comfortable (I have that now)) but having a life is just as important to some pilots. If we could have a life, have good pay and benefits, and have respect from our company I think we would all be happy. Wouldn't this be great? I sure hope it will happen with all in the helicopter industry (Pilots, Mechanics, Ground Crew...)

 

I totally agree on the pay thing. I left a job where all I had to do was comply with DOT reg's and deliver the cars I was dispatched, other than that I could start when I wanted and had no one looking over me and I made between 125k - 160k on average a year, but I was not really enjoying it all that much, so we totally restructured our lifestyle and cut all our living costs down to a bare min. to do this. Ak is what I want, I thought I'd reduced my life enough to live on what a first year guy could scrape buy on with a non working wife and 2 boys..... guess not, so I will definitely look into some of those acronyms you mentioned once I look into what those acronyms mean.

I will also keep the offer to pm you for more info in the future as right now since I'm not quite even a private pilot yet, it would be premature to ask you do take up any more of your time than you already have, so thanks very much for the offer and your efforts this far.

Kirk.

[hotrodturbo7]

CAPTKIRKYOTA, can i have your old job?