View Single Post
Old 11-26-2014, 04:44 PM
  #6  
Toonces
Gets Weekends Off
 
Joined APC: Aug 2013
Position: FO
Posts: 627
Default

If you still have the post 9/11 GI Bill available, use it to help earn your instrument, CSEL and CMEL ratings - in that order. Only use it for the instruction, don't waste it it on time building toward airplane PIC requirements. With the time you have, those ratings should be a piece of cake once you are back into the fixed wing swing. Do your CSEL and instrument concurrently if you feel confident.

At this point in the industry, your large amount of helo time won't be a detriment. Your military flight time is looked on favorably. Most regional airlines will at least give you an interview, if not a job offer, based on that alone. Since it will take a bit of time to earn those ratings, don't worry about the ATP requirements (written test) quite yet. By the time you have your ducks in a row, there will likely be a number of places that have worked out a way to get you through the required CTP to allow you to take the ATP written.

I've been there. I was a Navy helo pilot and less than a year later I am happily employed at my second fixed wing company. I had less than 200 hrs total fixed wing when I was first hired to fly a plane. Network, look for opportunities hard, don't put all your eggs in one basket. Once you get hired somewhere (anywhere!), it is resume fodder that will open up doors and prove that you're not just rotor trash.
Toonces is offline