Burrito Bandit

Here I am coming up through my ratings, and have earned my commercial single, with instrument rating. Also tailwheel, high performance and complex.

Here is my question: In the long run I would like to fly for a living, but can't decide what to do next? Here's how I see it:

Earn and multi rating and hitch hike / beg / steal for multi time?

Earn and teach through CFI and CFII?

Try to find a commercial singe job such as: banner towing, pipelines, skydivers out of singles or even agricultural flying?

No matter which road I take, it will require some form of training. Training is always good so I am not opposed to it. So what are your suggestions?

Cubdriver

It depends on your hours and time in type what's next.

First of all, you are going to eventually need your multiengine instrument commercial ticket, your CFI ticket and most likely a CFII and MEI at some point to build time. I would get to work on those no matter what else you do, and start with your CFI immediately. The CFI/CFII/MEI certs are traditional ways of building time.

If you are lucky, you may find or discover someone with a light twin that wants to share it with you once you get your ME ticket. Get the ticket and see what happens. You can get an ME add-on in a matter of days, so if you have the money then go ahead and do that even before getting your CFI since the latter takes a fair amount of time and effort. I had not one but two guys with their own planes pop up out of nowhere wanting to share a twin once I obtained my ME ticket. You need it anyway, so not is not a waste of effort. Most people are not so lucky though, and end up having to get their MEI in order to build time in a twin. I may still do that myself.

If your total time is low (<500) and your C182 time is low, nobody is going to hire your for much of anything except maybe domestic ferry flights. Good luck finding those. Even the smallest skydiving firms require 25-50 hours time in a C182. If you do not have it and they are eager to add a pilot, you may be able to work up to it as a trainee. That's what I did, and it took a while but it cost nothing.

You may also investigate banner towing and 50 hours time in type is typical minimum there. A couple of firms in New Jersey hire low time banner pilots and train them, but this is not the time of year, wait until March. Traffic patrol, ferrying, and pipeline patrol jobs depending on your willingness to travel and so forth. We even had a skydive firm advertise on APC last week, so these jobs pop up from time to time.

Sightseeing work begins at 500 hours, the FAA minimum. Ag pilots are not super low-time either, I do not think they will train anyone for that without a thousand hours or so. Glider tow outfits sometimes are willing to train from zero hours in type, so look into that too. They do not have much in terms of minimums, but towing is not a very fast way to build time either, so keep this as a last option.

Good luck!

Burrito Bandit

Thanks Cubdriver,

The commercial multi is definitely a must, but for the time being just trying to find the best way to budget and spend the money.

Comparatively speaking I am a low time/ no time pilot. Only about 350 hours, mostly XC and alot of it is in the larger singles like C182s and a C210s. But nothing compared to the experience other guys out there have now.

Seems like I just go for the multi, can you or anyone else recommend a place to go in the southeast preferably Florida to use veteran's benefits for a commercial multi and instructor ratings?

Cubdriver

I don't know your exact situation, but maybe you can get on the staff of a skydiving firm and use your hi-performance time for that, and at the same time find a local Part 141 FBO-style flight training place and work on your CFI initial in your spare time using VA benefits. This way you are adding hours and learning for your CFI at the same time. Just a suggestion. Whatever you do, please don't take out a big loan and go to some pilot mill for your instructor ratings, it is niether justified costwise nor required in order to obtain good flight time.

Ottopilot

If you want a job someday with more than one engine, go for that now. If you want to fly as you do it, try a single engine job as you work on your multi. My first job was flying traffic watch in a C172 6 hours a day. There is banner towing, pipeline flying, skydivers, cargo, corporate, etc. I had corporate jobs flying a BE-A36, C-182, PA-? (turbo saratoga). Eventually I got a multi and multi job flying a Cheyenne II and IV. There is lots of single flying out there to do. Of course there is the CFI thing, I did that for 1600 hours too.

ATLCFI

"Seems like I just go for the multi, can you or anyone else recommend a place to go in the southeast preferably Florida to use veteran's benefits for a commercial multi and instructor ratings?"

I know you prefer Florida but you might want to consider a 141 school in Atlanta. They have very resonable rates for the multi and do their training in a Seneca. With fuel the rate is $202/hr and the instructor is $35/hr. You can easily get it done in 10 hours including the check ride with an examiner on the field. The web site is FultonAviation.com.

Burrito Bandit

Thanks for the all the replies, guys.

CubDriver, I do not intend to get a large loan for the rest of my training. Although one of them offers a 2 week full CFI, CFII, MEI program. That is prety lucrative to me, since I work full time and can't spare too much time off from work, yet... My job is in the aircraft maintenance business, so they are very kind to me and flying, but they know eventually I will be more and more involved in flying and less involved with them.

Luckily I have been attending a Part 61 program through a college using my GI Bill benefits, but that is get tougher and tougher to manage in my favor. So I would like to get info on how to get into a 141 school.

ATLCFI, any idea on what the process is and $$$ for that program?

ATLCFI

The part 61 multi add on would cost around $2400 which assumes 8.5 hours of training and 1.5 hours with examiner for a total of 10 hours in the plane. The following chart lists the 141 program total of $4790 of which you will be reimbursed by the VA at 60%. This means the 141 cost of the multi add on would be 4790 - .6(4790)=$1916.

Multi part 141 Add On

8 hr Ground Instruction 35/hr $280
15 hr Flight Instruction 275/hr $4125
11 Pre & Post Flight Ground Instruction 35/hr $385
TOTAL $4790

Cubdriver

Multiengine instrument commercial certificates as add-ons to single engine commercial certificates have no training minimum, per CFR 14 FAR 61.63. If you go in prepared for this training it is not impossible to take your checkride after 5 hours of dual instruction in an AMEL. I went for mine after 7, using the AllATPs add-on program. They have a 15 hour variation on it, and they may try and sell you 15 hours but obviously there is no requirement for it from the FAA, so try and go in prepared and insist you can do it in 10 hours or less wherever you do it.