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Msg ID: 2765290 CoPilots? Any advice? +0/-5     
Author:Curious
2/15/2023 11:42:50 AM

Been asked to Co for a heavy operator, and all the ones I've talked too that have done it in the past are telling me to run for the hills. They said it's mostly just sandbagging and having to be a window washer, not to mention having to get drunk with the command pilot 24/7 after hours. Any actually have any good experiences?



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Msg ID: 2765292 CoPilots? Any advice? +2/-2     
Author::-)
2/15/2023 11:45:07 AM

Reply to: 2765290
Highly dependent on the operator dude.


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Msg ID: 2765295 CoPilots? Any advice? +1/-1     
Author:If you
2/15/2023 11:53:05 AM

Reply to: 2765290

If you have to pay them dues then pay them dues. If you already have the twin time or medium or heavy time then do what makes sense to you. 



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Msg ID: 2765313 CoPilots? Any advice? +3/-0     
Author:X. Perients
2/15/2023 1:35:34 PM

Reply to: 2765290

Have co-pilots do the pre-flight 





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Msg ID: 2765316 CoPilots? Any advice? +8/-0     
Author:No more utility for me
2/15/2023 1:57:52 PM

Reply to: 2765290

I did the co-bubba gig at Columbia Helicopters when I had 1500 hours of Robinson time. Worked in the back woods of Alaska for 6 months. Food and other pilots was good, accomodations were adequate, not seeing a woman for that amount of time was rough.

As a non drinker, non hunter it wasn't my scene but it was what I needed to do get on in the industry. They did send my overseas, month on/month off and that was a good gig. Per diem and a free round trip airline ticket every month allowed me to see most of the places in the world I may never have seen.

Some pilots allowed me to fly as much as I wanted, and one guy handed me a clip board and said stay off the controls. The twin turbine time helped with a Sikorsky PIC job soon after  I was furloughed so it was worth it to me.

Single go for it, married???



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Msg ID: 2765465 CoPilots? Any advice? +0/-0     
Author::-)
2/16/2023 4:05:07 PM

Reply to: 2765462
Yes. There are many carriers out there who provide what's called "Per Diem" as part of your compensation package. Per Diem is generally meant to offset expenses related to food, meals, and a few other random expenses incurred when a pilot is away from their domicile, gateway airport etc. With many carriers, the Per Diem rate is much higher than what one would spend on their meals. Thus one can have a little more discretionary income to spend on top of their basic pay rate or salary. That said, I have no idea what the per diem rate is at the random, un-named operator about which the OP was asking.


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