Basically yes, you are paying to subsidize the extra costs for the empty legs. They add those extra legs in order to create more flying time for the students. You receive credit hours for completing it and the university charges the same fee for everyone. When I was there some students lucked out and flew 70+ hours. Some weren't so lucky and only flew around 30. There were usually around 6 in the course and they tried to split the flying so everyone would receive around 50 hours, but it didn't always work out. I'm not sure how the program is run now.

I do agree that a pay as you go system would be more fair for the students and I'm sure the school is making some kind of profit off this course. Like I said, for me it turned out to be cheaper than renting and I got some college credit for it.

 

I appreciate the honest and friendly responses

 

Times have changed now and when you look at the course description you get a guarantee of 20 hours with most flights going to destinations only an hour away you sure are subsidizing a lot of flights for them. I remember when I went there 5 yrs ago they rarely flew those planes empty. Doing more research I learned you can get away with not doing the the charter or multi course and be eligible now for the internship but you must take your CFI and turbine transition class..... Total cost for those two roughly 11k. Btw cubbies no full time instructors at SIU make anywhere near what a cape captain does its about $2500 before tax. Maybe a few who have no desire to leave there as an instructor but the kids who do the internship and instruct are not pulling in much at all.

 

So you paid roughly $100 bucks an hour (nobody is getting near 50 hours a semester now). You mean to tell me 10 years ago you couldn't find time building programs that would get you equal to or less than $100/hr in a Seminole or duchess? You can find places that do that now and 5 years ago let alone 10 it was cheaper than that. Don't take what I'm saying as a personal attack, but it's just another way for the university to scam money from students. If departments truly paid for the aircraft to be chartered than they should let select students get to fly the planes for free. In fact if you want to give them a real dose of reality let them sit with the plane at FBO's until the clients are ready to go home like how it's done in the real world.

 

I'm sure there were ways to get multi time for cheaper back then, but I was also working and going to college full time so I wasn't able to travel very far looking for it. The FBO at Carbondale, Southern Air Service (don't know if it's still there) was charging around $120 for their Seminole. Plus I needed the credit hours so to me it made sense. I don't regret doing it and the instructors I flew with were great. Sure there was a lot of hand holding but by the end of that semester I was pretty much doing everything myself with them watching over.

Of course it's a way for the university to get money from students, just like it is in every other field of study at every other school. My wife's a teacher and when she was getting her masters one of the requirements was for her to mentor a student teacher. So she had to pay to take a course during which all she did was go to work and supervise this student teacher, who by the way was also paying the school to get the credit for student teaching. So the university was receiving tuition from two students without having to do anything other than some administrative work.

I'm not trying to justify the course, I'm just describing my experiences with it. If it's $6k for only 20 hours now, then no that is definitely not worth it. When I did it I felt that it was worth what I paid.

 

first year Captain pay at Cape Air 2550 ish a month before union, insurance, and taxes. This is min guarantee, but you won't break it in the midwest anyways so... yes the interns were making more money that me when I flew with them