Originally Posted by
Neptune
New member here. Love the info on this forum and I'm trying to soak it all up.
I can retire next summer and I'm starting to feel the crunch. There's a lot I feel I need to accomplish in my final year to make myself marketable. My goal is to make it to the airlines within 2 years of exiting the Marines. Here's a few things I'm weighing. I'd appreciate any advise on how to approach it and/or what to place a higher priority on. I'll be exiting with around 1500TT (1000 MV-22).
- Flying the MV-22 doesn't give me the FW PIC hours for the ATP. I expect to do a minimum of a year of civilian flying. Any downside to taking an oversees job (L3 type job) over a regional?
- I'm about 60 hours shy on FW PIC. Should I just pay for some Cessna hours and get the ATP done before retiring or would I just wasting money if I'll be flying regionals/charter afterwards?
- I read that many airlines using third party services to pool applicants and quals can build you points. I'm NSI, FRSI, STANI, ANI, Inst evaluator. Is there any value in testing out with the FSDO for a CFII, even if I don't plan on instructing? Also, is there anything else that would be looked upon favorably (other quals, ground jobs, volunteering, recommendations, etc.)?
Thanks a lot in advance.
What is your hours breakdown (aircraft flown/hrs outside of MV22 and PIC hours)?
Any B Billet time as a JTAC or FAC?
Are you an ASO?
Clearance up to date?
What FAA licenses/ ratings do you have?
I only ask because you're not giving enough info to determine if you're competitive for a job with an overseas contractor. I just saw one company say "Thanks and we'll keep you in mind if we're short even more pilots" to an Army helo dude turned RJ FO.
If you don't hit all the wickets for an ISR gig but are kinda sorta maybe close, the bubba network can help immensely In getting you a class date there. It's a fairly easy transition as a military guy- there are a lot of JOs seperating and a few O-4s and O-5s retiring into the job these days. You'll make as much in 6 months of rotations as your average O-5/20. Downside is you're gone 6 months a year.
Checkout the L-3 career listings for Pilot 2 and Pilot 3 and see how close you are to meeting the requirements. If you have some JTAC/FAC/ combat arms time in your past that could help bridge any gaps.