Chapter 4: Aerial Survey Flying

I've given my current employer my two weeks notice and I am starting a new job flying as an Aerial Survey Pilot for a small company. This company is going to hire and train Krystle to be a photographer, and we will both get to fly around the US together for a few months at a time. I am sure it is going to be a great adventure for the both of us.

Last Wednesday I took the red-eye flight from Phoenix to Philadelphia and interviewed with the owners of the Survey company. I had a great first impression of the operation. Their airplanes are clean, have the latest equipment and are all well maintained. The majority of their fleet is Cessna 310's, but they also have a Cessna Conquest and a Cessna 206. I will start in the C206 for now. The company pays well and has promised an upgrade to their T310s within a year.

I got to observe a flight on Friday in a Cessna Conquest. We flew up north past New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. The flight was exciting to say the least. I think this line of work is the only civilian work that allows you to fly a turbo-prop airplane at low altitudes with no regard to fuel economy just to take pictures of the ground. I got to step foot in Bangor Maine and had just enough time to pick up a fresh lobster roll while the airplane was getting fueled up. The lobster was good.

The camera is a high quality gyro stabilized film camera that is mounted to the aircraft and a portal for the lens is cut into the belly of the airframe.

A Long Way From Yuma

America's Birthplace, Independence Hall

New Life

Broodie hen has hatched one little black chick. She's been a good mother and has done a successful job of protecting the little one from dangerious grackels. It's another sign that spring has arrived. The little chick is fairly tame and has a little white spot on it's head. It will be fun to see this little bird grow up.

Mig 21

Today I met a guy that really has a good job. He flys a Mig-21 professionally and gets pseudo-shot down a few times a day by marines in training. He was nice enough to show me around his airplane and even let me sit inside while I relieved my childhood by making airplane noises and moving flight controls.

Direct to Yuma

Another day at the office. Today I'm en-route to Yuma. The "D" with an arrow through it is the symbol for "Direct To." I was hoping for a leisurely day on standby duty, but my digital leash (pager) went off shortly after I fell asleep and said: "Ride to Yuma, Reposition a plane back to PHX." I enjoy flying most of the time, but I really don't like going to Yuma because that is where all sorts of company drama starts.

This time out there, I really felt as though I got "the shaft." As you may recall, I helped bail the company out of stupidity by living about a month out of El Monte to start up a run to El Centro until they could hire a 135 IFR pilot who lives in the area to do the work. My only compensation was supposed to be an additional $23 per day. I have seen now 4 paychecks since but no per diem. It turns out that nobody wants to take responsibility for why I haven't been paid. One of the owners even told me today that "Cargo pilot's don't get per-diem." The total amount of money owed to me is only a couple of hundred bucks but I'm more distressed about the principal of the situation. I don't make much money and have my wife to support until she's done student teaching so I budget every penny I make.

I did enjoy the flight though. Since all of our cargo runs are single pilot it was nice to have the change of pace and actually have somebody to talk to on the way over. After a year of single pilot flying I'm starting to feel rusty on my general conversational skills.

Rainbow over Sierra Vista

Another Low Pressure System moves through bringing rain and a bow for Sierra Vista.