Originally Posted by theoriginalturk

I fly MQ-9s for another organization: there are a couple things about it

It’s a turboprop, advanced piece of machinery that requires a professional aviator mentality and experience to operate safely and effectively. The box is climate controlled and fairly comfy compared to a C210: moderate turb, can’t feel it, need the bathroom? No problem, get up and stretch you legs and etc

It’s a great tool but despite requiring professional credentials to fly it you will get no credit for it whatsoever.

Hand-fly an MQ-9 from parking to the flight levels, traverse multiple FIRs, utilize multiple advanced sensors, prosecute targets in urban environments, RTB, land and be told that your aviation experience is worthless and that doing power on stalls and steep turns in a C172 100 times requires more ADM, more skill, and more airmanship

3 years is the minimum time on station: I wouldn’t plan on moving at the minimum time. Others have said it’s a few hundred hours per year of flying: and the AMO people I spoke with reiterated that they have plenty of pilots and that flight hours can be hard to come by compared to other flying gigs.

This really doesn’t seem like an interim job: particularly for people who don't have many other aviation opportunities who are impatient, or hoping to resume wash/wait it out to the next step. The hiring gauntlet of CBP alone seems to take several months minimum: followed by several months of training/on boarding including FLETC

It has been pretty funny watching this particular thread become much more active every time the other pilot markets slow down their hiring. During the good time it’s crickets here