unusual flying jobs

"C J Campbell" wrote in message ...
Well, if you want unusual flying jobs, it would be tough to beat the one
that Bill Raisner had. He used his ultralights to film scientific
expeditions for National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. He won
several awards and left a priceless legacy of film. Unfortunately, he and
his camera man were killed in an accident in the Galapagos in 1999. His
company, Leading Edge Airfoils, continues to build ultralights.

I met a guy up in northern Alaska that had a similar job. He used a
1934 T-craft with 4 remote digital cameras mounted at various points
on the airframe. The hat rack behind the seats held the recorders.

At the time he was filming native tribes hunting whales off the
north coast for Discovery or NG. He told me that he and his plane
were pretty much booked year-round by various educational networks.

Nice work if you can get it.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

I know it's not cool to follow up your own posts,
but I thought the group might find this interesting.

Here is what airserv.org had to say about their F/O
requirements:

"
As a First Officer Air Serv requires a minimum of 400 Hours total time, a
Commercial Pilot Certificate, Airplane multi Engine Land and Instrument
rating, Make and Model Check out. Most valuable is second languages,
particulary French and Portugese. We are always looking for individuals that
have some experience with missionary work or life experiences in a
developing country. It takes very unique people to do this type of work
with an ability to sign year long contracts. Mechanical backgrounds or
interest is always a plus also. If your intent is flying, then focus on
that and collect the required hours. If you can gain experience in a
variety of aircraft that is a big plus. If you have a chance to check out
the website it will reflect many of the aircraft we are flying.

Hope this helps!

Wendy Irmischer
Recruiter
"

take care,
-- dave j

(Dave Jacobowitz) wrote in message . com...
ost (Ditch) wrote in message ...
I have this kernel of a romantic dream of flying
around Africa for a couple of years for some relief
agency or something.

Check out www.airserv.org
They even pay as opposed to jaars, which is volunteer.


Yeah, these guys look cool, though their requirements
mean that this adventure would be set back several
years:

MINIMUM EMPLOYMENT QUALIFICATIONS

PILOT QUALIFICATIONS
Captain of Aircraft US License PIC Turbine PIC ME PIC
Single Engine Recip FAA CPL/IR 1200
Single Engine Turbine FAA CPL/IR 1500 100
Multi Engine Turbine FAA CPL/ME 1800 100 500


At 220 hours, I've got a ways to go. I guess I was
imagining seeing requirements in the 500 TT range.

It's not clear if they have lower FO requirements,
however.

I had a talk about this with my instructor (many thousand
hour ATP rated codger type) over lunch
the other day, and he seems to be of the opinion that
these requirements for such lowly and dangerous jobs are
ludicrous, and that the invisible hand of economics will
swing back and adjust them to more reasonable levels --
as more would-be pilots realize that it's not worth it.

I wonder, though if the lure of aviation is just so
great that it will continue to swamp rationality forever.
After all, it has with me. On the other hand, I really
don't plan to make my fortune in aviation. I just don't
want to lose it that way.

-- dave j

On 03 Jan 2004 03:13:28 GMT ost (Ditch) wrote:

BTW, driving a cab pays better than most flying jobs.

So does being a golf caddie...but flying is a lot more interesting to do as a
living.

Being a caddie for Tiger might be fun. But it goes without saying
that flying would be more fun than a cab or a caddy job.


R. Hubbell



-John
*You are nothing until you have flown a Douglas, Lockheed, Grumman or North
American*

On Sat, 3 Jan 2004 23:24:45 -0800 "C J Campbell" wrote:


"Bushy" wrote in message
...
| Did they recover the film?
|

They did. They had already completed several days of shooting. Raisner had
done this before for National Geographic, and they had tested the setup
before going up the side of the mountain. The IMAX film "Galapagos" is
dedicated to Raisner.

Yes and a great show that is, I think they did a deep submersible
dive in that as well. So they had all points covered.

Al Giddings did that film.

R. Hubbell