Originally Posted by
glover130
Thanks for the additional input pilots. The looming retirements really add to the appeal. I guess my question regarding part-time compatibility is would it be possible to be an instructor part-time in order to build time? I don't think I have what it takes to live on 25k a year. I would love to be able to keep my day job through all licensing/schooling and also through instructing. I'd like when I quit my day job to have enough time to apply for a regional FO position. Is this possible? Thanks.
That is what I have been doing for the past 4 months. Got my CFI in October and started instructing part-time at a part 61 school late November.
I've been averaging about 30 hours a month. At this pace, it would take me about 3 years to get to ATP mins... :-/
For the most part it's been good. I can make my own schedule and the added money on top of my engineering job is certainly very nice. From an instructing standpoint though, I find it very frustrating. It has been very hard keep a consistent schedule with my students. A lot of them are free during the day, while I can only fly evenings and weekends. I also pick up a lot of students from other instructors which can be sub-optimal (in my view) for the student if that were to happen too often.
Having this double life is also pretty tiring. This shouldn't be too much of a concern if you are single and can dedicate all of your time to this, but just something to keep in mind... Don't get me wrong, getting to go do a couple lessons after an already full day in the cubicle is awesome, but it can also be challenging in its own way.