Comm Pilot looking for work

[Anderson, Paul 0]

Hi everyone. My name Paul Anderson and I'm hoping to find work as a skydiver-driver. I have a comm license with multi engine and instrument ratings. Any and all help is appreciated. 

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

I'd suggest the "Diver Driver" site. Chris Schindler put together a really comprehensive page.

http://diverdriver.com/

As "sexy" as Otters & King Airs are, plan on learning to throw people out of a 182 first.

Don't plan on paying the bills with just jumpers. With a few very prominent exceptions, most DZs are small, weekend only operations. 

The easiest way would be to find the closest DZ to wherever you are now (or want to be), head out and introduce yourself. It may take a few tries at a few places to find one that needs/wants you. Some places have enough pilots that they don't need to add more to the 'list'. Other places have had bad experiences with newer pilots and tend to shy away from 'new guys' (which doesn't necessarily mean 'low hours'). Once a place has found out how expensive & inconvenient cylinder scoring from shock cooling is, they tend to get a bit picky.

It's a real blast flying jumpers. The mentality on the DZ is like nowhere else in the world. 
It's a good way to build hours. You get a lot of takeoffs & landings. You are usually operating out of little airports, with short (often grass) runways. Takeoffs are often at (or above) max gross. You also get a good bit of experience in engine management. Full power climbs all the way up, level off for a couple minutes and then back down as fast as you can without damaging anything. Keeping the mixture rich enough to keep it from getting too hot, yet lean enough that it produces power, keeping an eye on head & oil temps, being very careful on descent not to shock cool it. Also, running enough fuel to be safe & legal, yet not so much that the weight is an issue.

There's a hell of a debate about pilot training. That the current airline pilots are 'book smart', yet have little practical experience. I personally like the idea that they should spend a season or two flying jumpers (or other stuff) to find out all the little stuff that can catch a pilot off guard. 

 

Good luck.