I’ve got a couple of interesting job openings to pass on today. These are very interesting opportunities for people with the right backgrounds (i.e. not me). If I thought I had an ice cubes chance in hell of getting either job I would apply for both these jobs, sell everything, and move. Unfortunately, I’m not even remotely qualified for either.
Virgin Galactic is looking for pilots with the right stuff
Image courtesy of Flickr user Armchair Aviator.
Virgin Galactic, which is arguably one of the coolest company names, is looking for it’s first batch of pilot/astronauts. You need a commercial pilot certificate, because interestingly enough, there are no specific FAA guidelines for issuance of civilian astronaut wings so they revert to your highest level of pilot certificate (i.e. commercial pilot = commerical astronaut). Additionally, they have some other requirements that can be found on the Virgin Careers site. So anybody who has 3,000 hours of jet time, several years of flight testing, and a certificate from a test pilot school program (like the National Test Pilot School) is looking good for this job. If you’re alarmed by such a huge pool of potential applicants, be not dismayed, “prior spaceflight experience is an advantage.”
The day to day of the job seems interesting. According to the listing, you start at Mojave in California assisting with the flight testing program and then transfer to Spaceport America in New Mexico once they start commercial operations. Essentially, the first few months/years of employment entail operating WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo, flight planning, and mission control. Additional duties include things like ground-to-air support, record keeping, and flight training under the watchful eyes of the Chief Pilot. When you put it that way, it doesn’t sound all that different from the average airline. Oh, wait, Delta doesn’t slip into sub-orbital space on the average flight…
The listing gives a closing date of 30th April, 2011 (that’s in 16 days) and states that they intend to hire one pilot/astronaut by June 2011 and two more at specific program milestones.
Aircraft Maintenance Manager at the Flying Heritage Collection
The Flying Heritage Collection, you know Paul Allen’s little aircraft collection, is looking for someone to manage their mechanics. While that’s perhaps less spectacular than repeated space flights, the collection is really nice. After all, where else are you going to get a chance to work with a Curtiss Jenny, a P-51D, and (for a limited time) a Mig 29 Fulcrum all in flying condition?
The average day in the job seems like a typical aircraft maintenance job, but it has the added stress joy of involving vintage aircraft for which sourcing parts can be difficult. The good news is that they really want someone with experience flying these aircraft in addition to working on them, so there is a really good chance you’ll get to add some models to your logbook if you got the job. Oh, also they have a couple of old tanks that they like to play with too.
You can find the listing on the Flying Heritage Collection Careers site or search for “Manager, Aircraft Maintenance #2145” on the Vulcan Careers site