When Hell freezes over... or pilots stop backstabbing one another.

Gjn290,

To put it in a more human sense, when individual pilots are willing to make their personal interests and goals subservient to "the larger population" of pilot's interests and goals.

GF

That's a great way of putting it GF.

As a 700hr-ish pilot building time for that 1500hr atp, I figure I'd jump into this conversation to share my perspective.

Sure, when I taxi out behind a part 121 aircraft I wish I was in it getting that experience.

But still, every time I fly I learn something new and I am getting PIC time at a critical learning point in my career which I think will be invaluable later in life, even though the aircraft is operated part 91, has one engine, and runs on AVGAS! I wouldn't call it paying my dues because I really don't feel like I owe anything to anyone other than myself and my future paying passengers to gain as much experience as possible, more like learning. Not to say I wouldn't learn the same things as a wet commercial sitting right seat in a regional, but if I do that one day then I'll have that additional experience.

At the end of the day, I'm still flying, still adding hours to my logbook, still learning, making more than I would first year at a regional, and having a blast so maybe this rule isn't such a bad thing.

You got to want it bad!

I do want it bad, but at 40 (Probably half way through 41 by the time I have all my ratings) I need to also be realistic. It is my dream, but I cant be an IP still building hours in my late 40s.

That's just it, everyone that's currently in the industry thought they'd just work for regionals for like 2 years, then move on to majors. 7-10 years just at the regionals is becoming common. It's not as bad CFIing, but people can still spend 3-5 years doing that before having a shot at even regionals. Then factor in that the major airlines really like to hire ex-military pilots and that regional pilots are jumping ship for OTHER REGIONALS, the system is broken as far as the classic idea of getting a little time and moving on to "big jets". Traditionally regionals have been a very small part of the airline force and most pilots have come from the military (30 years ago). Now regionals are huge. Will this change? No one really knows. What can you do? Lots of things besides being an airline pilot. There are lots of ways to fly airplanes and experience aviation, while earning a decent income.

I have read every page of this and I thought I'd chime in on this, too.

First to the OP trying to build XC. Look at the regs: who says you need to land? Your STUDENT, up to the Commercial license needs to land to log it. You don't. Train for 50 miles and turn around. 1.3. XC complete. Done, over with. Ask the Air Force guys. That rule was written for them. I have used and contine to use it with my students and in the military. Knowing the regs and rules is part of your job. Pretty soon that extra 350 you need starts to look pretty darn good and the 500 hour rule pretty stinkin' attainable. It will make you WANT to fly more.

On to the 1500 hours rule and CFI thing.

We are in the midst of a generational upheaval. Guys in our 30's grew up flying under the well-accepted notion that you CFI'd until 1200 hours and some benchmark ME time, then flew night freight for AMF or something like that then went to the regional, etc. etc. That does not appeal to the impatient generation that exists now. I certainly predict that CFI's will become sparse in the near future because the majority of the current generation that we would need to fill that gap isn't going to have the patience to do it plain and simple. If they were smart, they would get their ME ratings during training, get the commercial ME license, and buy a C150 and just fly their tails off while working a day job.

Now, before I get my **** jumped, let me say that CFI'ing is a fantastic profession. You will never learn more about flying and interacting with people than you will as a CFI. It teaches you functional psychology mixed in with some business acumen. You come out of the years you spent as CFI salty and really knowing whether or not you can survive in aviation.

That being said i believe the faster path to is get an IFR ceritified 150 or 172 with a couple of like-minded buddies, and safety pilot with each other as often as you can. Splitting gas between two people is just cheaper than renting.

There's two sides to everything, even perspectives. Great words to remember JB. No matter where we are in our career... it could always be worse.