flying for money

In a few months I will begin training as a firefighter. I figured
that becoming a pilot would be a great second career. I haven't taken
any schooling for my pilots license and am just curious if anyone has
any advice they can give me?

For instance: Is it profitable? Is it very difficult to get a loan
for a plane? How long does it take to become a pilot of a six to
eight passenger plane? If I'm using the plane for personal use, is
the gas consumption for a multi engine incredibly high?

Thanks for any advice.

wrote:
In a few months I will begin training as a firefighter. I figured
that becoming a pilot would be a great second career. I haven't taken
any schooling for my pilots license and am just curious if anyone has
any advice they can give me?

I can't help thinking this is a troll, but
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

I think scheduling issues would eliminate the
possibility of firefighting and flying for
profit. How are you going to reconcile the
the hours you're going to be on-call and/or
on duty with the fire department with your
flying customers' variable needs?

I'm gonna guess you're something of an adrenline
junkie and you've decided that hanging out at
the firehouse isn't going to do it. No offense
intended, but you probably ought to pick one
career first and get good at it. You could
always be a lifeflight paramedic and meld the
two.

For instance: Is it profitable? Is it very difficult to get a loan
for a plane? How long does it take to become a pilot of a six to
eight passenger plane? If I'm using the plane for personal use, is
the gas consumption for a multi engine incredibly high?

Go to your bookstore and buy a couple books on
aircraft ownership. Hang around here and see
what it costs to keep a plane in the air. Learn
what an AMU is before you have to spend a few.

Getting a loan is as easy as your credit is
good. You could be a fairweather private
pilot in 6 months. Longer, probably way longer
for instrument, commercial, multi-engine.

Yes the gas consumption is high and expensive.

On Sep 24, 3:03 pm, wrote:
In a few months I will begin training as a firefighter. I figured
that becoming a pilot would be a great second career. I haven't taken
any schooling for my pilots license and am just curious if anyone has
any advice they can give me?

For instance: Is it profitable? Is it very difficult to get a loan
for a plane? How long does it take to become a pilot of a six to
eight passenger plane? If I'm using the plane for personal use, is
the gas consumption for a multi engine incredibly high?

Thanks for any advice.

I know that in California the CDF is always looking for Firefighters/
Pilots. They do require a fair amount of low level time (most guys
start their career by dusting) and they highly prefer you have an A&P
ticket as well.

-Robert

Not sure what a troll is, but thanks for all the advice. I know
someone who knows two people that are piloting and firefighting. We
work one day on and two days off. I assume they just set up a
schedule that allows for flights during the two days off. I never
thought about the lifeflight thing. That may be worth looking into.

I'm not so much of an adrenaline junkie as just looking for something
that can help me out in a few ways and make some extra money-
firefighters don't make very much. Here's some of my thoughts why I
thought it would be a good idea. I market art and have family that
lives all over America, so I have to travel a lot. I kind of figured
that this could be helpful in visiting family and cities where I have
to take art.

I'll definitely hit the book store. Do you know any good books?

Thanks again.

Thanks for the help Robert. I haven't thought about going to CA, but
that makes a lot of sense. What is an A&P ticket?

On Sep 24, 7:11 pm, "Robert M. Gary" wrote:
On Sep 24, 3:03 pm, wrote:

In a few months I will begin training as a firefighter. I figured
that becoming a pilot would be a great second career. I haven't taken
any schooling for my pilots license and am just curious if anyone has
any advice they can give me?

For instance: Is it profitable? Is it very difficult to get a loan
for a plane? How long does it take to become a pilot of a six to
eight passenger plane? If I'm using the plane for personal use, is
the gas consumption for a multi engine incredibly high?

Thanks for any advice.

I know that in California the CDF is always looking for Firefighters/
Pilots. They do require a fair amount of low level time (most guys
start their career by dusting) and they highly prefer you have an A&P
ticket as well.

-Robert

On Sep 24, 4:57 pm, wrote:
Thanks for the help Robert. I haven't thought about going to CA, but
that makes a lot of sense. What is an A&P ticket?

Mechanic. During fire season they position their planes in some remote
areas so they like to hire pilots who can work on the planes. I've
known a couple of guys who have flown for CDF. Usually they know that
is what they want to do and spend a couple years dusting crops to get
a lot of low altitude time.

-Robert

wrote:
In a few months I will begin training as a firefighter. I figured
that becoming a pilot would be a great second career. I haven't taken
any schooling for my pilots license and am just curious if anyone has
any advice they can give me?

For instance: Is it profitable? Is it very difficult to get a loan
for a plane? How long does it take to become a pilot of a six to
eight passenger plane? If I'm using the plane for personal use, is
the gas consumption for a multi engine incredibly high?

Thanks for any advice.

Is it profitable?

Depends on so many variables that it is impossible to tell if it would be
for you. There is an old saying in aviation. "It's easy to make a small
fortune in aviation. Just start with a large fortune."

Is it very difficult to get a loan for a plane?

Relative to other business loans you might get, not really.

How long does it take to become a pilot of a six to eight passenger plane?

Really depends on how much time you can spend each week training.

If I'm using the plane for personal use, is the gas consumption for a multi
engine incredibly high?

For a 6 to 8 pax, yes it is pretty high. Unless you are making way more than
most firefighters our pilots you won't be using your 6 & 8 pax plane for
much personal flying.

One thing you might look into is becoming and instructor. It would probably
work better with your schedule and will allow you to build hours. I say this
because it sounds like you think that you can get your commercial
certificate, a 6-8 pax plane, become a charter operator on the side and fly
around in your charter plane when you are not on firefighter duty and not on
charter flights. It just isn't going to happen unless you have a lot of cash
and don't mind parting with a large chunk of it.

Thanks man. I kind of figured it would be tough, and I'm definitely
not a rich man by any stretch. I'll look into the instructor thing.
How many hours do you need to start as an instructor? Just thought of
something else, how do you obtain clients? Is it necessary to be
based close to where the clients are, or can you pretty much take
clients from anywhere within a short flying distance?

Thanks again for the help.

That's interesting. So, these guys don't use their own planes I'm
assuming? Is that better pay than a typical CA firefighter?

On Sep 24, 11:10 pm, "Robert M. Gary" wrote:
On Sep 24, 4:57 pm, wrote:

Thanks for the help Robert. I haven't thought about going to CA, but
that makes a lot of sense. What is an A&P ticket?

Mechanic. During fire season they position their planes in some remote
areas so they like to hire pilots who can work on the planes. I've
known a couple of guys who have flown for CDF. Usually they know that
is what they want to do and spend a couple years dusting crops to get
a lot of low altitude time.

-Robert

On Sep 25, 3:32 pm, wrote:
That's interesting. So, these guys don't use their own planes I'm
assuming? Is that better pay than a typical CA firefighter?

They certainly don't use their own planes. I'm not sure about the pay.
Its got to be better than the ditch diggers though. They are flying
tankers and drop water on fires.

-Robert