Originally Posted by navyman_tx
To anybody,
Currently I am sitting on 268 hours of flight time with 136 being Multi.
Starting next week as a flight instructor to build up that time!
Several questions here that I am currently debating in my head:
1. How long should Iflight instruct for? (Hour wise)
2. Should I build up enough hours to get my ATP cert before applying out.
3. And then, where should I attempt to go? Regoinals, Freight, ????
4. Where would be the best place to go be after instructing that would give me the most amount of quality hours in as few years as possible. This being so that I can get the rougher part over with earlier in the career. (building PIC time) To ultimately prevent myself from having to jump around and losing seniority earlier in the career. I would like to be at a solid company in 5 years and stay there, best case scenerio.
P.S. The wife is catching on about the pay and is starting to get pretty ****ed. She is a math and economics major who looks at the big picture and the low pay!!!!
Thanks for the input.
Hi navyman_tx,
I think you got the hard part of the hours requirement out of the way, which is to say your multi-engine time. You're going to have to get a few more once you get to the point of looking for a job with a regional, charter, or corporate, etc. They like to see currency. So to answer your questions...
1. Instruct to build as many hours as quickly as possible to reach the magical 1000 total time and 100 multi-engine (which you already have). Some regionals are looking for 1200. Once you get over the 1000 mark, you're more than competitive given your naval background.
2. Don't bother with the ATP bit. You'll eventually need to study and take that written. Just remember there are different versions of that exam (121, 135, etc) and you need to take the right one. Like other writtens, the exam is good for 2 years and if you get hired on with a 121 or 135 operation, that exam is good as long as you're employed by that operation. From there, you build your time past 1500 hours and the rest is a walk in the park (so I hear).
3. Flying is flying is flying. See response 4 for details.
4. Go where you can move to get turbine PIC as soon as possible. It doesn't matter what plane you fly as long as it's got turbines and weighs more than 12,500 lbs. (the heavier the better). Most people hit up the regional route because it is supposedly faster, but these days, who the hell knows.
Since your wife is getting hints on the pay scale, you might as well direct her to the pay scale data on this web site (
www.airlinepilotcentral.com) and be honest with her about it. She'll probably pass out and tell you that you are out of your fracking mind. But that's a domestic battle you'll have to handle on your own. Good luck. I hope she's got some sugar mommie gene in that blood of hers for your sake.
Best of luck!