JohnBurke

How much time to log 1,500 hours? Depends on the pen and whether your hand cramps up, but give it an hour and a half.

To fly all 1,500 hour, however, takes 1,500 hours.

Which is heavier: a pound of feathers, or a pound of lead?

youngmd

With air resistance at sea level, I'd rather get hit by a pound of feathers than lead.

JohnBurke

You may have missed the point.

dera

I paid right at 20k for it. It cost me $54/hr to fly it including every single thing I did to it (some upgrades, basic maintenance, fuel, FBO fees, profit when sold and so on). Sold it for a few k more than what I paid for it. Market is different today though but a well looked after 150 will not depreciate over 500-700 hours. Owning your own plane means you KNOW you will fly 100 hours a month if you want.

If you jump in head first, you can do zero to a flying job in 6 months, and zero to ATP in a year.

rickair7777

The math works on that... assuming that you have no big unplanned mx expenses. So there's risk.

Or if you plan to just keep the plane long-term anyway.

rickair7777

In this climate I would not hesitate for a second to go to a legacy or LCC at age 55... guys with 20+ years seniority are doing that as we speak. At AA, UA and to a lesser degree DL, there are so many retirements that your seniority progression will allow your QOL to beat the regionals in short order (maybe even on day one). Only exception might be if you live in a small town where the regional is the only local option, or reasonable commute.

Also regionals are a poop show, and getting worse... those who stay will get worked like dogs, jerked around, and maybe liquidated. Get in, get your time, and hope like hell to get out before something bad happens.

Alternatively you could look at non-airline sectors such as ACMI or fractionals if you're open to varied lifestyles and schedules. Still probably need 1000 turbine hours at the regionals to be competitive and have options.

TiredSoul

If you’d gotten your CFI you would have been paid $25+/hr instead of paying $54.
zero to ATP in 12 months I call bs on that.
Average of 4hrs a day means 8hrs/day for every day you couldn’t fly and 12hrs/day for every two days you couldn’t fly.
Not only is that irresponsible you’re just droning along. Even banner towing is more useful than that.

Duffman

Definitely going to the majors. Unprecedented movement and retirements over the next 15ish years means that I'll be a captain with a great line in the domicile of my choice by the time the music stops again (I like to leave things vague on the interwebs). Also, the pay is great right now at the regionals, but after 2 years I'll be making more with more days off at a major, as an FO, and the top end is significantly higher. Plus, a major might get reorganized in bankruptcy or merged with another airline, but it'll never cease to exist, so one way or another, I'll always be able to carry that seniority with me. The same can't be said about any regional; just look at Express Jet. Right now there's a good case to stay at a regional vs a low-cost carrier because the regionals generally pay more, although the LCCs have a much better quality of life and upgrade time is so slow at single-fleet carriers, but the regionals can't compare to the legacies/UPS/FEDEX. With the number of retirements coming, even for someone in their 50s, in most cases, they could be either a senior line holder as an FO or a captain with a pretty decent line in most domiciles, and still have years left. There're guys upgrading to captain in junior domiciles (NYC, LAX, etc) in less than a year at Delta and guys going straight to wide bodies out of training at United, although they'll likely spend a few years on reserve. As a general rule of thumb, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, if you're in the bottom third of your equipment/seat in your domicile, you can expect to be on reserve. Reserve is much better at a legacy than at a regional, but the best QoL is with a line. With reserve, you're on-call to pick up open flying and sick call-outs, with call-out periods ranging from 12+ hours (long call at home for a commuter) to 3 hours (short call, should be at a crash pad or in the domicile) to airport standby. If you live in your domicile, reserve can actually be a pretty good deal.

MNFlyer4531

Thanks for all the great info. I should budget 3 years to finish all the prerequisite flying before getting to regionals/LCC's. It seems daunting and a long way away but I guess if it wasn't hard everyone would do it. I am planning on selling my shares of family business to get me by the 3 years with same or similar quality of life until I can get to the regionals.

dera

You can call bs as much as you want, doesn't change the facts.

12 hours a day was the goal. 15-16 days a month. It wasn't that bad. Pick a destination, choose your $100 burger joint, fly. And sometimes do longer trips to keep things interesting. I flew everywhere from southern California to Key West in it.

Getting your CFI rating takes away time from hour building. Not the fastest way. Requires solid finances to start though.

I never said its fun, or smart, or useful. I just said it's possible. It's up to you if it's the best way, for you.

I did it in 18 months, but I stopped hour building at 800 and got a 135 job. Was on track to hit 1500 in 10 months at that point.