Originally Posted by
z06stinger
Professionals, thanks for the dialogue. I am a Marine helo pilot in a similar position: currently a planner on a Corps-level staff, but up for orders and want to run my plan by the experience/expertise on these forums. O5 currently at 20, but taking orders for 2-3 more for top 3 and GI Bill transfer for my daughter.
Basic data:
-~2450 hours total but no ME FW
-CPL FW & RW SEL, INST
-No flight time in 4 years, before that 14 years straight
-500x UH-1Y time
-1700x UH-1N time
-600x NVG time (~300 LLL)
-900x Instrument time
-Unknown amount of sim time (mostly helo except Primary flight training)
-20x AH-1W time
-15x Mi-24 time
-100x TH-57B/C
-90x T-34C time (SE FW)
-20x C-152 time
-NATOPS, INST, Division Lead, Flight Lead, Flight leadership instructor and evaluator
-half of RW time is instructional time
-I haven't converted any of this to CFI yet, but plan to before my exit plan.
Exit plan:
Goal - skip the regionals and fly for UAL (goal but won't be picky)
Base plan: take orders to fly UC-35 or C-12 to get FW ME time - options below
Option 1) CONUS flying - likely less flight time overall, but no moves & out in 2-3 years with ~600 hours of FW ME
Option 2) OCONUS flying - (Japan/Phil/Western Pacific) more opportunity for overall flight time, but two moves and retire in 2-3+ years after orders obligation and retirement move back to CONUS
Questions:
1) Is my goal plausible, or only with close to 1000 FW ME hours? What role does FW ME PIC time play in this equation? Is jet time (UC-35) a better choice than C-12 if I have an option?
2) Will international flight time flying around the Pacific translate into anything more than flight hours and excellent experience for my application?
3) Is it smarter to get out sooner with less hours or stay in for a couple hundred more hours? Does it matter what aircraft I am flying?
4) Does my UH-1N/Y time count as turbine time? multi? (UH-1N = twin T-400) (UH-1Y = twin T-700s) or does RW make that low quality time?
5) Does my aircraft commander time qualify as PIC time?
Thanks in advance for the insights.
Sorry man.... You aren't even close to competitive with a major with that plan in the CURRENT environment, especially UAL/DAL/AA/SWA/FEDEX/UPS. I don't have a crystal ball, so I won't try to guess what things look like in three years. (Caveat- I do not currently work for a major, and am retiring in a couple of months after nine years out of the cockpit. I am making this statement based upon a year of preparing for my transition and closely monitoring hiring trends and data. I am sure there may be others out the with differing opinions.)
Right now you don't qualify for an R-ATP, but I think would be an easy in for a regional rotary transition program. Even if you execute your plan, my guess is that you will be looking at a regional for a couple of years to build time and punch the 121 block, especially if you have low ME PIC hours.
I understand the value of transferring post 9/11 GI Bill benefits to your daughter, and since you asked in question 3, IMHO it is smarter to get out sooner if you really want to end up at a major, since you will most likely be going to a regional anyways. From what I have been told (over and over and over), seniority is life, and every day you spend on active duty after 20 is a day wasted, and another seniority number lost. YMMV, and best of luck!