I am probably the least qualified person to offer career advice, however, since you asked for opinions, I will share my opinion & maybe my views will help you to make a better, more informed decision.

My opinion may be contrary to the popular school of thought.

Your Plan:

$25 per hour dry is a good rate if you can secure a plane.
Find a safety pilot to share the expenses & duties, it will cut your costs in half.

30 to 40 hrs per week every week are a little on the high side, having 2 days of 10 fight hours with a couple of days 3-4 hrs mid week is doable. 25 hrs per week to about 100 hrs per month is more of a normal sustainable average which will work out for long term without burning out yourself.

Your questions:

Is this a wise idea?

It Depends... It totally depends on your personal, family & financial situation, how old you are, how are you situated in life etc. etc.... ????

If you are in your 20's, single, basically free to move around, then it will be better to take the CFI route. If you don't want to be a CFI, then time build to 500 TT & then fly Aerial Mapping / Jump pilot / 135 cargo route to ATP mins.

So, for a younger person this route will NOT make sense, financially or otherwise. Taking one of the traditional routes will save you a lot of money & make you a better, well rounded pilot.

BUT.....

If you are in your mid / late 30's or 40's & you have the family commitments to take care; If you are well set in your professional life & if you have a job/profession/business which pays really well; Taking a big pay cut to become a CFI will NOT be a feasible option for you and you have the funds to do this, then this self sponsored time building route to ATP mins WILL make more FINANCIAL sense.

Am I a fool and wasting my money?

The answer is NO depending upon as mentioned above

What would you do?

I personally have been in both the categories mentioned above.

I started flying 24 yrs ago, when I was 16, took very long to finish my Commercial & then I became a flight instructor, have about 300 hrs of dual given & also used to fly PA-31 for a corporate.

Then I took a 12 yr exile & When I started planning my comeback about 3 yrs ago in 2011, I became the 2nd category, late 30's with family commitments etc etc.

So, I built almost 750 hrs on my own dime, sharing the flying, doing the safety pilot with 2 other partners, whom I met here at this forums, who were also in the similar age/ professional category as me.

For me, it was much riskier to become a CFI again, I'd have to quit my main profession & income would stop, I'd risk everything I had achieved. So, it was cheaper & safer for me to build 750 hrs on my own dime.

I have a job offer & a class date from a regional. I have interviewed with Skywest & also had / have interview offers from Air Wisconsin, Express jet, PSA & Legacy American Eagle (Envoy).

I have gone to job fairs & told everyone that I don't have a flying job & how I built the hours. No one said anything about my time building...

The 2 flying partners that I flew with & shared flying time & expenses:
1st guy had multiple job offers & is already flying the line with Express Jet. He was never became a CFI, went from Pvt to Commercial to ATP mins on his own dime. 2nd Guy is finishing up his ATP mins, should be done next month, he also has multiple job offers in his pocket & confirmed interviews from all the companies that matter.

Bottom Line: If you have ATP mins with a clean personal record & no check ride failures, then regionals don't care how you got there....


I personally know 4 other people who built time on their own & are all now in the either working at various regionals or are in training right now. I also know 5 more people building time same way & taking the same route.

But they are all in the 2nd Category I mentioned above.....

Best of luck in whatever you choose to do.

If you have questions, feel free to ask me.