Originally Posted by
MilHeavyTester
If I do nothing except my 9-5, it will be 7 years when I retire since I last flew manned. What can I do to have a shot with that long of a break in flying manned aircraft? Any suggestions out there as to how can I get back into being competitive at a major.
As a UAS test pilot and retired naval aviator with very similar hours, I will give you the best advice I can: beg, borrow and steal your way to get as much turbine time as you can in the next 20 months. PIC time not an issue but currency definitely is. I have not flown manned turbine aircraft in 10 years other than 25-50 hours/year in light single engine recips. Nobody has called me to interview. So now I am flying king airs part time for a part-91 operator in hopes of getting 50-100 hours and maybe an interview somewhere if I am lucky.
On the other side of the coin, if you want a job as a test pilot in manned or unmanned at a defense contrator, as a TPS grad, I think you could get a job tomorrow well into the six figure salary range.
Good luck and get some flight time because the airlines could care less about the UAV time. If you don't do any flying in the next few years, my guess is that your lack of recency will stop you dead in the water. That is, unless you want to fly for a regional (post retirement) for a while to get current.