Different Aerial Imagery/Patrol jobs?

[TooPlaneCrazy7]

Hi guys,
I am in the IT field and am finding out that I hate it more and more everyday.
I do not want to be working in front of a computer for the rest of my life. I
started my business and I guess I am doing okay, but I'm 23 years old and want
to fly or do something with airplanes. I keep finding myself hanging out at the
local air museums/airports here in town and can't seem to pull myself away. I
occassionally do some aerial photography work in the area and love it, but
there's not enough of that kind of work down here in South Texas.

However, I am at a loss as to what specific aviation jobs are out there in the
world. I like the following: aerial photography, wildlife, patrol (non-law
enforcement), ranches, small towns, single engine aircraft, cropdusting (if the
pay is decent), aerial firefighting.

Can someone help me connect the dots and tell me what aviation jobs may
interest me? Is there a list somewhere online where I can get an idea of the
different types of jobs involving the use of an airplane?

One more thing, I have a bit of hearing loss and so I am sure I'll be limited
on some of these jobs.

Thanks for any advice!

[pilot]

I am in a similar situation except I already have my commercial license.
I used to own a computer company for many years but was bored to death
with it and decied to pursue my boyhood dream of becoming a pilot. Now
I am a pilot with no job.. lol


--
pilot

http://www.pilotboard.com I love this place!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
pilot's Profile: http://www.pilotboard.com/forums/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=1
View this thread: http://www.pilotboard.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=3060

[Edward Todd]

In article >,
(TooPlaneCrazy7) wrote:

> Hi guys,
> I am in the IT field and am finding out that I hate it more and more
> everyday.
>

The IT field will pay you more than piloting will. Use the IT money to
buy a plane. Then suffer thru the week knowing that you can fly all
weekend. :)

ET

[Steven Barnes]

"Edward Todd" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> (TooPlaneCrazy7) wrote:
>
> > Hi guys,
> > I am in the IT field and am finding out that I hate it more and more
> > everyday.
> >
>
> The IT field will pay you more than piloting will. Use the IT money to
> buy a plane. Then suffer thru the week knowing that you can fly all
> weekend. :)
>
> ET

Just don't come to Illinois with your IT work. The way this state feels
about IT, you'll be working in aviation sooner than you think...

[zatatime]

On Mon, 05 Jul 2004 16:20:07 -0500, Edward Todd >
wrote:

>In article >,
> (TooPlaneCrazy7) wrote:
>
>> Hi guys,
>> I am in the IT field and am finding out that I hate it more and more
>> everyday.
>>
>
>The IT field will pay you more than piloting will. Use the IT money to
>buy a plane. Then suffer thru the week knowing that you can fly all
>weekend. :)
>
>ET

This is good advice and is how I've structured my life. IT is a job
that helps me finance my passion. I also do some part time
instructing for people as another outlet to flying. As long as I can
gert another IT job, I'm going to keep with this approach. After my
house is paid for I'll consider "doing aviation" cause I'll be able to
live on alot less money. I plan to "work" in aviation from then until
the day I die.

HTH

z

[NW_PILOT]

I have been in the IT field writing code for IC chips & PCB design for the
last 8 year's. I feel like TooPlaneCrazy7 feels about it, I am getting burnt
out on it's getting very hard to find good paying jobs/contracts. That's why
I became a pilot take the stress away. All I have to say is thanks for the
few years of excellent business, so I could afford my dreams of being a
airplane owner/pilot. But I fell like I am cheating on my computer! I know
the IT industry is going south in my field fast. Next year at this time I
don't think that I will be able to find 1 good paying contract that will
support my bills and addiction to flying. Saying the IT field will pay more
is more of a dream than reality in my opinion.


"Edward Todd" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> (TooPlaneCrazy7) wrote:
>
> > Hi guys,
> > I am in the IT field and am finding out that I hate it more and more
> > everyday.
> >
>
> The IT field will pay you more than piloting will. Use the IT money to
> buy a plane. Then suffer thru the week knowing that you can fly all
> weekend. :)
>
> ET

[CVBreard]

<<I occassionally do some aerial photography work in the area and love it, but
there's not enough of that kind of work down here in South Texas.>>

I wouldn't be too sure about that...

If you have construction projects of, say, a million $$ or more (apartment
complexes in particular, or governmental buildings, etc.), or have fair
commercial real estate (excluding residential) activity, you may be able to
generate "new" aerial photography business as I did.

[The Weiss Family]

"NW_PILOT" > wrote in message
...
> I have been in the IT field writing code for IC chips & PCB design for the
> last 8 year's.


Where are you at? I've been doing similar things out on the West Coast.
FPGA design, Firmware, PCB design, and even software.
If you can stand CA, there's a ton of work (even now).
I couldn't, so I came back to NV, which has a growing tech economy.
Companies like GE, IGT, etc.

My wife and kids have gotten too accustomed to our lifestyle for me to not
be an engineer (although I can still dream).
Anyway, I'm still trying to work up to buying that first plane. I think
within the next 12-18 months I will make my first purchase.

Then I'll do what was mentioned: work all week to fly all weekend.

At the end of the day, I still enjoy being an engineer, though.
I'm pretty lucky with my job, I get to jump around and do SW, HW, FW, FPGAs,
etc, so I don't get too bored of the same thing...

Adam

[NW_PILOT]

"The Weiss Family" > wrote in message
...
>
> "NW_PILOT" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I have been in the IT field writing code for IC chips & PCB design for
the
> > last 8 year's.
>
>
> Where are you at? I've been doing similar things out on the West Coast.
> FPGA design, Firmware, PCB design, and even software.
> If you can stand CA, there's a ton of work (even now).
> I couldn't, so I came back to NV, which has a growing tech economy.
> Companies like GE, IGT, etc.
>
> My wife and kids have gotten too accustomed to our lifestyle for me to not
> be an engineer (although I can still dream).
> Anyway, I'm still trying to work up to buying that first plane. I think
> within the next 12-18 months I will make my first purchase.
>
> Then I'll do what was mentioned: work all week to fly all weekend.
>
> At the end of the day, I still enjoy being an engineer, though.
> I'm pretty lucky with my job, I get to jump around and do SW, HW, FW,
FPGAs,
> etc, so I don't get too bored of the same thing...
>
> Adam
>
>

I am in Portland, OR I will not ever move from this area again! I work for
myself I used to subcontract out to other company's and do their overflow
work it used to be steady work, Most of my work was coding for
microcontrollers and pcb design for small business, most customers projects
went only to prototype and small run production's. I have had a many go to
large scale production. I have excellent relations with my contract mfg's in
Hong Kong. I still get kicker checks in the mail when one of the larger
customers dose a reorder. That side of the industry is going away to
overseas company's. Korea is taking a lot of it away from the US market.
What is still going strong is the replacement & programming of SMT devices.
I can program over 11,000 different IC's and have full SMT rework shop. I
can handle most any surface mount rework contracts.

I was almost thinking of contracting out to aviation radio shops to fix
things they are not equipped to do like their SMT work "narco, gps, ect" but
not sure of the legal requirements would be if any to replace a part in
aircraft electronics then have the radio shop do all the final testing
certifying.

[The Weiss Family]

> I have excellent relations with my contract mfg's in
> Hong Kong. I still get kicker checks in the mail when one of the larger
> customers dose a reorder.

That sounds like a pretty cool contractor agreement! I've never heard of
that.

> That side of the industry is going away to
> overseas company's. Korea is taking a lot of it away from the US market.

Too bad. That sounds interesting...

> I was almost thinking of contracting out to aviation radio shops to fix
> things they are not equipped to do like their SMT work "narco, gps, ect"
but
> not sure of the legal requirements would be if any to replace a part in
> aircraft electronics then have the radio shop do all the final testing
> certifying.
>

I often wonder that, too. In fact, I was think more of designing avionics
(nav, com, transponder, gps, etc).
I wonder what kind of insurance you need...

Adam

[tom c]

>
> Where are you at? I've been doing similar things out on the West Coast.
> FPGA design, Firmware, PCB design, and even software.
> If you can stand CA, there's a ton of work (even now).
> I couldn't, so I came back to NV, which has a growing tech economy.
> Companies like GE, IGT, etc.
>

Where In NV? My wife has an MS in computer science and can not find
programmer work.

Tom C

[TooPlaneCrazy7]

And so I'm still wondering what interesting aviation jobs are available. No
more microchips and computer mainframes please! I want to be away from
that,....well except for the stuff in my cockpit.

:)

[bryan chaisone]

I'm on the east coast, there's a lot of construction here. How does
one "sell" aerial photos or rides? How does one develop this
business?

Bryan "The Monk" Chaisone

(CVBreard) wrote in message >...
> <<I occassionally do some aerial photography work in the area and love it, but
> there's not enough of that kind of work down here in South Texas.>>
>
> I wouldn't be too sure about that...
>
> If you have construction projects of, say, a million $$ or more (apartment
> complexes in particular, or governmental buildings, etc.), or have fair
> commercial real estate (excluding residential) activity, you may be able to
> generate "new" aerial photography business as I did.

[Larry Dighera]

On 05 Jul 2004 18:23:34 GMT, (TooPlaneCrazy7)
wrote:

>Can someone help me connect the dots and tell me what aviation jobs may
>interest me?

Someone once said, the fastest way to make a million dollars in
aviation is to start with two.

There are a lot of folks passionate about aviation out there, so
expect the competition to keep the wages lower than you'd like.

Short of an airline carrier, it's difficult to meet your obligations
with an aviation job. It's all about niches. If you can find that
one position aerial testing and delivering aircraft as they leave the
production line, demonstrating executive jets, or doing the freeway
traffic report on the local TV news, you'll achieve your dream. But
it won't be easy. You've got to be 'connected' and possess superior
skills and talents to be considered for such positions.

If you're the entrepreneurial type, which it seems you may be, you
could start your own aerial advertising business flying banners. The
equipment costs aren't too prohibitive, but you've got to go out and
sell your service as well as do the flying. Transitioning to aviation
employment can probably best be accomplished gradually on a part time
basis at first.

Talk/network with other pilots. Inquire about jobs they may be
familiar with. Put the word out, that you are available for aviation
work, and that you posses the requite ratings, skills and time in your
log book. Given sufficient desire, you will find some success.

I've always found that combining two or more skills can lead to new
and creative opportunities. Perhaps you can envision a way of
employing the aerial venue to broaden IT's scope. I didn't say it
would be easy.

[Nathan D. Olmscheid]

As an owner of a company in the IT field I can not understand how one can
become bored!?

There are so many opportunities out there.

Nathan


"pilot" > wrote in message
...
>
> I am in a similar situation except I already have my commercial license.
> I used to own a computer company for many years but was bored to death
> with it and decied to pursue my boyhood dream of becoming a pilot. Now
> I am a pilot with no job.. lol
>
>
> --
> pilot
>
> http://www.pilotboard.com I love this place!
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> pilot's Profile:
http://www.pilotboard.com/forums/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=1
> View this thread:
http://www.pilotboard.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=3060
>

[Nathan D. Olmscheid]

>Saying the IT field will pay more
> is more of a dream than reality in my opinion.

I guess it depends on the emphasis in IT field.

I own web hosting and custom web application company and we struggle keeping
up with the demand. We are in Minnesota, but we do most of our work for
companies in LA. Another great thing about the IT field. We are busy busy
busy!

We write custom web applications, build eCommerce sites, and then also do
web hosting and dedicated servers and such.

Nathan


"NW_PILOT" > wrote in message
...
> I have been in the IT field writing code for IC chips & PCB design for the
> last 8 year's. I feel like TooPlaneCrazy7 feels about it, I am getting
burnt
> out on it's getting very hard to find good paying jobs/contracts. That's
why
> I became a pilot take the stress away. All I have to say is thanks for the
> few years of excellent business, so I could afford my dreams of being a
> airplane owner/pilot. But I fell like I am cheating on my computer! I know
> the IT industry is going south in my field fast. Next year at this time I
> don't think that I will be able to find 1 good paying contract that will
> support my bills and addiction to flying. Saying the IT field will pay
more
> is more of a dream than reality in my opinion.
>
>
> "Edward Todd" > wrote in message
> ...
> > In article >,
> > (TooPlaneCrazy7) wrote:
> >
> > > Hi guys,
> > > I am in the IT field and am finding out that I hate it more and more
> > > everyday.
> > >
> >
> > The IT field will pay you more than piloting will. Use the IT money to
> > buy a plane. Then suffer thru the week knowing that you can fly all
> > weekend. :)
> >
> > ET
>
>

[Edward Todd]

Pilot job info:

http://money.cnn.com/2004/07/06/news/fortune500/delta/index.htm?cnn=yes

[10Squared]

Larry Dighera wrote:


> If you're the entrepreneurial type, which it seems you may be, you
> could start your own aerial advertising business flying banners. The
> equipment costs aren't too prohibitive, but you've got to go out and
> sell your service as well as do the flying.



\ \ _ ______ |
\ \ / \___-=O`/|O`/__|
\ YOUR NAME HERE 888-555-1212 \_______\ / | / )
/ / `/-==__ _/__|/__=-| -GM
/ / * \ | |
/ / (o)



Ascii art courtesy of http://chris.com/ascii/

[CVBreard]

>I'm on the east coast, there's a lot of construction here. How does
>one "sell" aerial photos or rides? How does one develop this
>business?

I wouldn't waste my time trying to develop business selling rides.

But selling aerial photos is another story.

Set aside about 6 months to a year and enough money to pay for, oh, maybe 25-50
hours of flying time and a decent camera, then spend a lot of time shooting
sites you believe might be salable (usually the bigger the better).

After you've produced some decent images, identify the general contractor, call
them, find out who the project manager (other players may be the decision
maker, however), contact them (good luck), ask if they're using aerial
photographs for construction progress documentation (usually shot monthly), and
hope you can get your foot in the door...

The aerial photography business is about running a small business and SELLING,
not about airplanes or photography. Not everybody likes SELLING.

But then again, we're all 'selling' something, huh?

[Doug]

"The Weiss Family" > wrote in
:

SanDiego is a great place to work as well! Tech Economy here is doing
awesome!
>