Originally Posted by
ILS37R
It's really a crapshoot. If you teach at an academy, you may be able to get consistent multi-time. Otherwise it depends hugely on the students coming in the door. Some months are 0 multi-time, others can be 40-50 hours of it, though the 0 months are more common than the 40 months.
There's no hurry to get the regionals (or similar) right now, so the benefits of a massive multi-PIC program are pretty minimal. What's more important is to get a job teaching at a good school or FBO where they treat you right and pay you reasonably.
In the current climate, the extra 15 hours aren't worth much of anything.
Yeah, it's hard to say right now. I got mine as an MEI, some of my friends bought thier time, and others didn't get any (they never got airline jobs of course).
MEI is the best way, since you will learn a lot. Right now I would not be in a hurry and would hold out for an MEI or other paying twin job.
However...in some places twin time and MEI jobs are hard to come by. If you can't move to central florida for a puppy-mill job, you might need to evaluate buying some time eventually. Unfortunately, the big puppy-mills are often the only available employer for 20-hour MEI's...small schools, FBOs, and clubs are all likely to have insurance requirements of 50-100 ME to instruct.
Try not to pay for it, but don't end up a 3500 hour ASEL CFI either...that's the fast track to a career as a caravan pilot
I would get the MEI...but try to find a school which will hire you as an MEI afterwards, most prefer to hire their own graduates who are standardized, known quantities.