Hey guys, this is Alex…I’m the one that started a career change at 39 and got back into aviation. You all helped me out a lot already. I really appreciate that, you guys are awesome!
Here I am, got all my currency back (flight review, instrument proficienty check, night currency, etc.) and I am about to start a job as a CFI in few weeks and start to build my time. Yay! I currently have 340 hrs. No much, lol.
Down the road I would be really interested about exploring some flying opportunity in Alaska with one of those part 135 job up there and possibly heading towards the bush pilot route for maybe couple of years or longer. I would also like to get me a seaplane rating and try to see if I can fly one of those over there at some point. I did look online and it seems like some companies are hiring between 500 and 1000 hrs… any thoughts about going this route? Do you guys know anybody that went that route or are you able to give me any tips to steer in the right direction?
All I found online so far it’s that they are really low paying jobs, you work a lot between flying, loading and unloading planes and extreme weather conditions. I’m ok with all of that, I’m a truck driver and I’m used to do the dirty job and cold weather lol. I wonder if it’s feasible to try to go over there once I have between 500 and 1000 hrs or am I saying something totally crazy?
I’m not in a hurry to build flight time for the regional yet, I’m looking more for a lifetime experience flying in Alaska that is pretty unique and wild. I would rather do this and maybe in two three years come back and then go to regional (assuming they are still hiring by then lol).
Hi Alex. I’m not of much help but equally interested in what you are talking about. I am brand new,as in two days new to this site and a bit further back in my process of becoming a pilot, like the beginning. I’m 37 and was highly skeptical that I might be to old to make this career switch. However, I keep running into inspiring stories like yours that keep telling me to go for it. Not really trying to plan my career before I get a license but also have always had a likening of seaplanes. I will be eager to see the responses to this and best of luck to you.
Hi Alex,
I have no answers to your questions, but I have a few for you. if you don’t mind. When you say you got all your currency back, how long had you been out of aviation, and how long did it take to get your currency back? What did that involve? Reviewing? Testing? Simulator time? Checkrides? What exactly?
Thanks!
Laura
Alex,
I actually know a guy who did just that. Long hours, lousy pay, some hairy experiences but great stories. Def not for everyone but def doable and an option for the right guy.
I actually once had a very long discussion/arguement with him regarding deicing. He said airline pilots make too big a deal about deicing. I had to explain the differences between a 25 ton swept wing jet and a 1 ton Super Cub. Good times 
Adam
Alex,
Adam summed it up pretty well. Low pay, high risk, pressure to get the job done when you probably shouldn’t due to WX conditions.
That said I know a handful that have done it. One seaplane, one cargo, one CFI. All with good stories. Not for me.
Tory
Hi Timothy, I had the same wonder about my age and I listened to the pro here and seems like at our age it’s still not too late…we may not make it to the major, but it seems we still have pretty good opportunities to fly something. And what I can tell from my experience do not give up like I did! Go get your rating and do whatever it takes to put your butt up there! It’s an awesome feeling, I went through lots of frustration and almost got depress not pursuing my dream in the past. Do it, do it, do it. I feel a brand new person right now and I didn’t even start my CFI job yet! It’s so rewarding!
Hi Laura, of course I dont mind to answer. Anytime! I got my ratings between 2009/2010 then I stopped flying. Nine years without flying…that’s sad! I kept my CFI license active (to do that I only had to take an online test every two years, just to not let the license expire).
Now, in the past few weeks I got back into flying, I hired few instructors and a cessna 172 and went back to fly. I completed a flight review, instrument proficiency check and night currency all on the Cessna 172. It took me about 12 hrs of flying to get my flying skill back and got the logbook signed off. Yay! Now, a good pilot is always learning (quoting Jason Sheppard here lol) and I felt like I wanted to fly some more to get me more comfortable and knowledgable, so I kept flying with these instructor to practice the maneuvers and the instrument flying even more. I flew a total of 25 hrs since I restarted and now I got me a CFI job that I’m about to start in few weeks. I’m really excited about it. On top of that in the past three months I’ve been studying and refreshing a lot of ground material (private pilot handbook, instrument pilot, flying handbook etc.). So basically your private and commercial licenses never expire. If you wanna be able to fly you need to pass a flight review every two years and have done at least three take off and three landings in the past 90 days.
As far as the CFI, every two years you can just do an online refresher course and answer some quizzes to keep it active (that way you dont have to retake the checkride). And for the instrument you have to do an instrument proficiency check with an instructor if you haven’t done 6 approaches over the previous six months.
Hey Adam and Tory, thank you for answering… deicing a super cub huh? That sounds like another of the task that you’re required to do in Alaska other than flying lol. I still think that would definitely be more fun than chain up an eighteen wheeler in the mountain during a blizzard! (Speaking by experience here lol).
Hey, any chance you guys are still in contact with some of those pilots that have been in Alaska? If it’s not too much to ask, any chance you would be able to get me in touch with some of them for few question? Once I get some more hrs on my back working as a CFI, I plan to take a trip to Alaska, contact some of those part 135 companies and show up and talk to them in person. But I need some advice, tips, directions and help from somebody that has some experience that can give me some help to prepare my plan. Thank you.
Alex,
I think everybody here has summed it up pretty well. The jobs y9ou are looking at are low pay, lots of work, and semi-dangerous, but afford the pilots that want them with great experiences. It certainly isn’t for me, but some people love it. I think a trip up to Alaska to do some in person job searching would be very beneficial for you.
Chris
Thank you for such a detailed reply, Alex. That’s awesome! It sounds like you’re really on your way. Best of luck to you!!
Laura