Originally Posted by
Flying Ninja
I don't know your market so if you feel the MEI is going to net you more cash after you get it then go for that first. Clearly money is an issue for you. Personally, I don't know of anyone who started flight training in a multi-engine. Frankly, I don't think any flight school offers this as the recommended starting point. Thus, getting that MEI, while at fuel cost, may be useless. What this means is that you'll spend more money to add the single-engine, before you even make a dime.
If I were you, I'd get my CFI, CFII, then MEI. Fast money is at the CFI level. If you are smart about this, you'll heed the advice of doing your ground work first before you even engage an instructor for the flight portion. CFI is about teaching. If you can't explain and transfer knowledge, I don't care if you're Chuck Yaeger, you are going to fail as a flight instructor. This means you have a LOT of ground work to do, which can be done at a bare minimum of cost to you.
And I would take the check ride at the FSDO. If you're prepared and ready, you're not going to get the pink slip. I walked into the FSDO knowing that CFI certificate was mine and all the time spent with the inspector was a formality because I studied hard and meticulously prepared. 4 hours later it was a done deal. I'd like to say that the CFI I used for ground preparation helped but that would be a lie. His biggest contribution was signing the endorsement in my logbook. The rest I figured out all by myself and am considered one of the better instructors at the flight school I operate out of. I'm not saying this to toot my own horn. I'm just demonstrating that you can do about 90% of the CFI all by yourself. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.
I realize the MEI won't have an immediate return, I wouldn't even try to be employed with only that. But, I still think the cost of adding the CFI on to an initial MEI rating would be cheaper than paying the lodging and rates at another flight school for just the initial. I can get free instruction for the add on (just airplane rental). ATP does MEI as an initial so it's not entirely unheard of to inspectors.
The FSDO here has a 90% fail rate. I'll try my hardest to be as prepared as possible but I won't be suprised if I do. My boyfriend did the year long 141 school CFI program here and took his checkride with an inspector. The inspector told him at the begginibg of the checkride there was a 1 in 10 chance he would pass today. He got through the 6 hour oral, then was failed during the flight portion. The inspector explained to him he believed failing is part of the learning process. He came back the next week and did the same thing he did before and was passed.