Wait for college?
 

I got the opportunity to get my twin engine addon to my private this summer, but I am on my way to St. Louis University where I will hopefully be part of the flight training program. So basically, should I wait till I get to SLU or should I get the multi engine in a small FBO where I live?

Parks will make you do it again, don't waste the money.

Wellll...check that. If you get your private multi, you can log all your dual given as PIC. That will help get your 15 for your MEI.

Either way, if you end up instructing at Parks, you can rack up PIC on proficiency flights with other instructors, but it'll take you longer.

You should wait till you get your commercial single engine land then just do the multi addon. will be cheaper, if the school wants you to do the flight training agian just get a managment degree and do the training at a fbo and save some cash

I plan on majoring in Aerospace Engineering and minoring in flight. Its a part 141 program so I guess I do the same activities as flight majors do but end up with a better degree. Unfortunately I have to work twice as hard.

I would make allot more money as an engineer, but I love aviation too damn much not to be at the controls.;)

how long does it take to upgrade to multi engine instructor at parks? you know what I mean.

Multi or Wait?
 

HectorD:

What do you want to do?

By getting your Private Multi now, what is that going to accomplish? For other than flying around, to be useful, you really need a Commercial Multi with Instrument privileges with about 100 hours in a multi for anyone to look at you.

If you go to SLU, what is the career path for flying there?

• Private Single
• Instrument Single
• Commercial
• Commercial Multi with Instrument privileges
• CFI
• CFI-I
• MEI

In which case you should just wait, like RomeoSierra suggested and do a commercial multi with instrument privileges.

So, what are your ultimate goals with flying? Do you want to fly for a regional airline and someday maybe a major? Do you want to fly charter or freight? Would you be happy flight instructing?

What about your degree? Do you know how much a professional pilot makes? Do you know what an entry-level engineer makes?

A new hire first officer makes about $20/hour before taxes which works out to around $20K/year their first year. It gets a little better the second year. I think an entry-level engineer, straight out of college, is going to make probably twice that, if I were to guess.

Also, consider that even at the best regional airlines right now, captain upgrades have completely stalled. Upgrades are taking about four to five years at my airline now and flying hours have been cut back drastically.

Don't get my wrong, if you were meant to fly...fly! Just be aware of what lies down the road.

If you are looking for something to do this summer, get your ground schools out of the way: Instrument, Commercial, and ATP. They are good for two years after you take them.

As for getting your multi- rating, I would say pass.

If you want to spend more money on flying, fly cross-country and work towards getting the hours and requirements that you are going to need for your single-engine commercial rating. Keep your skills sharp.

I hope this helps! Good luck!

Jeff

The only thing why you would benefit from getting your Pvt multi is..again..for getting time towards PIC for your MEI. However, if you're gonna pay for it now or pay for it later...doesn't really matter all that much.

Historically at Parks, if you have your MEI, you have all the multi students you could want. One of my best friends got hired with just his MEI and flew nothing but for a long time until they forced him to get the other ratings.

However, it will be different when you go through. Who knows how the industry will be when you're ready to get hired. Who knows how many flight students there will be. The biggest factor of them all is going to be whether they switch to single commercial initial by then. In the past, they always did multi commercial initial with a single engine add-on. Thats why there was so much multi to be had as an instructor. Find out if they are going to make the full switch to single commercial initial. If this is the case, DO NOT waste the money because you will get much fewer hours PIC in an add-on course.

Ok, sorry, on second thought, I change my mind. DO NOT spend the money. If you are really looking for your 15 PIC, you can take your PVT multi half way through the instrument course. That's what I would do.

Talk to SB and see what he thinks. He won't BS you.

Thanks for bringing me back to earth. I do know however how much pilots make and frankly I am ok with it. Not necessarily happy with it but I have been flying since the age of 12 and nothing is going to keep me from the cockpit. We all have to make sacrifices to do what want out of life and I believe people should do what they really love in order to really be happy with their lives.

Anyways, as far as what I want to do, I know I wan't to be an instructor first but I know I want to end up flying for Fedex one day. I know it is a very competitive job position to fly for Fedex but hopefully the industry will be such that there will be spaces. The engineering degree is just to have something to fall back on.

I knew this answer, but after being months without flying or reading the FAR/AIM I forgot. How long do written exams last for? would it be a good idea to get the Instrument Written out of the way?

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it. I will try to get info from someone in the flight department. Frankly, I would rather get all of my multi experience from parks as it is a much more professional environment I would think.

Cospilot gave me the idea of getting the instrument ground school out of the way, and that is what I think I should do.

The sooner you start school the sooner you finish.... this is a good thing. At a University 141 program you want to do as much flying there as you can... I've seen people get screwed out of lots of money/flight time.

The time allotted for each course are Parks is pretty good. If you get done with an hour or two left, good for you! Who cares about an hour or two here or there? You're gonna make that up in 1 day of instructing there. I was very proud to get hired on as an instructor with 207 hrs. The point of training is to get your ratings, not build time. You'll have plenty of time to build time. No one loses more than a couple hours of flight time and most instructors plan for that in case you need an extra "shake the rust off" or clean up lesson due to wx or scheduling. Better to finish early with that buffer than plan to use every .1 and have to pay for extra.