Originally Posted by
cbire880
Wow you guys are getting ripped off. There are no additional formal training requirements to go from commerical to CFI. Buy a ground school kit ($300-500), find a CFI buddy with 2 years in(initial signoffs), get the damn thing in a week. Its not that hard and you shouldn't have to pay a pilot mill for the extra training. $4k is absurd. $10k is downright robbery. Its not that hard if you are fresh out of training. Of course, it doesn't hurt to do your commerical training from the right seat either.
I wouldn't skimp on the training. If you were able to get a CFI right out of the gate...awesome. You must be one hell of a pilot. Unfortunately, the majority of the CFI, CFII, and MEI checkrides I've done for students, it required a lot more training then that. It's not about being able to DO the maneuvers...it's can you actually TEACH them.
Get your CFI/CFII and go instruct at ANY university that offers a flight program. A lot of places will offer an MEI for free to their employees (obviously with strings attached). Usually pays a little more and it's a guarenteed student base. I made a LOT more as an instructor then I do as a regional FO...but they don't let you teach commercial students in a turbine aircraft so I had to make the jump. By the time you make it through all that, it'll be one year later, you'll have a lot more hours and be able to go to any regional you want and be ready for it.