Thanks for all of the advice. I do think CFIing is the best route. But, I have also applied for for a couple of sky diving and aerial survey type jobs. I figure with something like skydiving, it would be a good job for a season, but I would probably end up instructing unless I happened to get another job that would get me xcountry/instrument/multi after some time. At this point, working a job that would get me flight time would put me in a better place than I'm in right now. I just want to explore all my options
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As for cost of getting my CFI, I've found that programs at some of the pilot mills are actually similar or possibly less than a lot of the smaller FBO schools I've looked into. Part of the problem is that where I live there aren't any complex planes available for rental or instruction, the closest schools are 2+ hours away and their rates for their complex planes are around $150-160 + $40ish for CFI time. I figure if it plan on at least 10-15 hours in the plane plus 25 hours of ground that will run me about 3-4K.
When I look at the cost and the commute those 30 day CFI academies that American Flyers and ATP have sound very appealing. I guess what I really want to know is that if I go that route will it look bad to a prospective employer that I went through an accelerated CFI course? And do any of you have opinions on the quality of instruction at ATP or American Flyers, as opposed to a smaller part 61 outfit? If you were hiring an instructor, what would you rather have?
Originally Posted by
featheredprop
get the cfi some places will pay /train you the cfii /mei ATP will cost you a heart and a lung .
I don't think that is happening in this economy. According to job postings and people I've talked to, so many places won't consider an applicant without at least a CFI and CFII, and many want an MEI and a bunch of hours on top of that. Unless things really turn around I think the best I can hope for is someone to hire me and then give me an employee discount on rental and instruction for II/MEI. But if you know any places that are offering this to CFI hires, let me know
I will definitely check them out.
Again, thanks for all the help and advice.