Originally Posted by
de727ups
One of the eaglejet programs places guys in the right seat of a B99 at Amflight. It's not taking anyones job away and you're not "working for free" cause you're not really "working". The plane can go without you, and normally it does. In fact, you can be bumped for freight.
Is this time valuable? Maybe a little bit under certain circumstances. But I'd put time as a CFI as more valuable, and right seat timebuilding programs shouldn't be a substitue for that. Certainly, 250 hours is way overkill and not necessary.
I agree that nobody should ever work for free. It's not good for the profession and gives management bad ideas. My test for these things is "can the airplane go without me". If the answer is yes, then you're hardly taking a job away from anyone. If the answer is no, then you should be paid.
Somebody will say "well, how can you log the time if you're not a required crewmember". That's a good question for eaglejet. But I believe Amflight has something in their ops specs that allows these guys to log the time. I know they have been doing this program for years.
Very well put, and if I might add my own .02. You're absolutely right about AMF, they can and will operate without FO's on the BE99. The main advantage is that you're going to learn more about flying hard IFR from a freight dog than you will from a CFII with 5 hours of actual instrument.
It is in the ops specs for reduced takeoff minimums, and you could also rationalize that it allows for "two crew" rest requirements. No FO, no problem, if you can help, that's great.
The biggest thing I have a problem with is FO's logging PIC time. The regs clearly state that you have to have privledges in addition to the rating. Under part 135, you only have privledges as an SIC. If eaglejet is advertising that you can get all your time as PIC, they should be repremended.
All in all, true time on the job is best, and many companies have a list of complaints about FO's who come out of these programs who didn't learn a dang thing.