"...or that the time itself was compensation. If you can convince them that you are an long-time, avid, recreational pilot who has decided to fly professionally, you should be OK..."

Wow... Thank you for the input all, this may sould like a dumb question though, but why not mention that I have flight time from compensation/trade for mechanical work? About -1/4 time is for MX testing and such 1/4-1/3 time in trade, and the rest recreational

The time is real, and can be vouched for by several people (2 of them in the airlines now). One thing worries me though, as 1 logbook was lost in the hurricanes that hit here a couple years ago and that book contained close to 2000 hours.

Thanks again....