Hi All,

First time posting here, so I hope you'll go easy on me. I'm a Navy captain and former FA-18 pilot looking forward to retiring this summer after 26 years of service. I actually had planned to do the airline thing at 20, but then 9/11 hit and we all got a little busy. Not to mention the furloughs. One thing led to another and here I am five years later ready to hang up my spurs finally.

Since the airlines are all about seniority, I used to think that going commercial after a 26-year retirement didn't make a lot of sense - not enough time to get off the reserve/right seat/Christmas Eve flight schedule to make it work. But with the age limit going up to 65, it occurs to me that I might just have gotten five years back and frankly the beltway bandit/consultant alternative doesn't look all that appealing. That's work and flying is, well: Fun.

I've been out of the military cockpit since 2001, but have recently started flying Vargas part time (weekends) for a local tour outfit here in San Diego. Basically, I've been bit by the flying bug in a big way.

I've got ~4400 hours TT, most of it in FA-18s with a sprinkling of other jets (A-4's, T-2's, F-16N, F-5E) and a very little turboprop time. I've got an ATP MEL and SEL.

So having just come to the conclusion that there might be more flying for me in the future, I'm considering a fractional like NetJets due to the route, compensation and basing options, the questions are basically these: Does any of this even make sense? And, how "current" is current?

Because the last time I looked it took ~100 hours in the last year to be considered current. Between my part-time gig and paying for some bug smasher time I could probably make that happen at a stretch. But if it's a dumb idea, the money would be better spent in my girls' college funds.

Thoughts?