You Can Fly - 2021 edition - 28

WHY I FLY

CASEY WALKER

" All I've ever wanted to
do was fly warbirds and
keep them flying for as
long as possible. One of
my life goals is to educate
the next generation about
what these airplanes and
the men and women who
flew them did for us, long
after all the World War II
veterans are gone. "
-B-25 demonstration pilot
Casey Walker

The average pay for a MAF pilot is
$75,000 and most of that must be raised by
the individual.
28  FLIGHT TRAINING YOU CAN FLY 2021

$18,000 to $40,000 per year.
CERTIFICATED FLIGHT
INSTRUCTOR
Imagine a career where you could set your
own hours, create lifelong friendships, and
get paid to fly. It seems impossible, but
for professional flight instructors it's the
norm. While most pilots consider flight
instruction a necessary evil on the way to
bigger and better things, modern professional flight instructors have shown it is a
job fully worthy of being its own career. To
be a great instructor you must be knowledgeable, but willing to admit when you
don't know the answer. You also need to
put your client's needs ahead of your own,
and most important, be patient.
Many instructors start at about $20
an hour, but professionals with a strong
specialization can make six figures.
CORPORATE PILOT
Corporate pilots fly aircraft for businesses,
frequently acting as a sort of aerial car service for executives and other employees,
transporting them to business functions
at far-flung locations. Corporate pilots can
work for a huge corporation that has its
own fleet, such as Walmart, or a regional
construction company whose owner has
one airplane but sees the value of being
able to travel to one state for a morning
client meeting and to another state for an
afternoon meeting with a supplier.
Varies widely depending on schedule
and equipment, but $30,000 to more than
$100,000 is typical.

BOTTOM LEFT: JAMES TOURTELLOTT, MIDDLE LEFT: DAVE FORNEY

MISSION PILOT
A life of service, giving back, flying in challenging places, and spreading the gospel
that even your wildest dreams cannot
predict. Mission flights can take place
in remote areas such as Indonesia, the
Congo, and Ecuador; rugged aircraft such
as Cessna Caravans and Daher Kodiaks are
preferred by missionary pilots. Mission
Aviation Fellowship-U.S. serves in 17
countries around the world and MAFInternational serves in 37 countries. These
pilots are sponsored through donations
and contributions from churches and
other groups that support MAF; the pilots
and their families are responsible for telling their stories and soliciting donations at
intervals throughout their terms.

TRAFFIC AND NEWS PILOT
Traffic is a nightmarish fact of life for
millions of people, so thank goodness
for news operations that employ traffic
pilots to help commuters cope. While not
always a full-time job, it is an excellent
way to build time and craft your radio and
navigation skills. You'll patrol metropolitan areas in VFR conditions, usually with
a reporter aboard, monitoring rush-hour
patterns; construction delays; and on
weekends, traffic delays associated with
sporting events and the like.
Traffic pilots fly fixed-wing or rotarywing aircraft. Split shifts generally entail
three hours in the morning and three hours
in the evening, with occasional midday and
weekend slots. Pilots for TV and radio stations perform similar functions, although
they also travel to the scene of breaking
news that benefits from an aerial point of
view, such as a building fire or a car chase.
You Can Fly - 2021 edition

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