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Part 91 and Low Time Jump pilots, crop dusting, and other Part 91 jobs

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Old 12-08-2013, 08:31 AM
  #21  
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Instructing is not for everyone, some people have the aptitude and people skills, others don't. I did a bit of instructing, not much. Started flying VFR 135 at 500 hours, built time anywhere I could, full time 135 the day I hit 1200. I do currently have a CFI/MEI, but I don't use it often. Got around 8000 hours and 8 types, so it can be done. Just keep plugging away.
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Old 12-08-2013, 08:53 AM
  #22  
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Insurance is the answer everyone above was looking for.
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Old 12-08-2013, 09:24 AM
  #23  
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Flight instructing, banner towing, traffic watch is a way of paying your dues to get to whatever it is you want to do. This industry is frustrating, but you have to either suck it up and march on, or go home and sit on the couch.

BTW, there are plenty of teachers who can't teach. I found the way to do well at flight instructing is to connect with your students on a personal level. Not just the "why do you want to be a pilot" but "what are your interests?" and trying to find a way to correlate their interests into learning.

Look at flight instructing as a way to break out of being shy. For the most part I'm still a quiet person, but even more so before I started instructing. And in a multi-crew cockpit, nothing is more uncomfortable (other than being asked If I've been saved by Jesus Christ) than being with a shy person. Conversation helps pass the "long" flights pass by.
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Old 12-08-2013, 10:48 AM
  #24  
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Originally Posted by jsfBoat View Post
Flight instructing, banner towing, traffic watch is a way of paying your dues to get to whatever it is you want to do. This industry is frustrating, but you have to either suck it up and march on, or go home and sit on the couch.

BTW, there are plenty of teachers who can't teach. I found the way to do well at flight instructing is to connect with your students on a personal level. Not just the "why do you want to be a pilot" but "what are your interests?" and trying to find a way to correlate their interests into learning.

Look at flight instructing as a way to break out of being shy. For the most part I'm still a quiet person, but even more so before I started instructing. And in a multi-crew cockpit, nothing is more uncomfortable (other than being asked If I've been saved by Jesus Christ) than being with a shy person. Conversation helps pass the "long" flights pass by.
Extremely good advice...
To add to that, flight instructing is more about learning and managing a cockpit environment with a lesser experienced individual in the control seat than it's about becoming a better pilot. Experience isn't a switch that is flipped the day we start flying corporate/135/121. It's an ongoing process, and learning to work with lesser experienced/more experienced pilots is a big part of that process.
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Old 12-08-2013, 11:40 AM
  #25  
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Originally Posted by TallFlyer View Post
There's a reason why 135 IFR single pilot jobs aren't entry level. Sure, some days are cake, but those 30 knot direct crosswind in icing to circling mins with the circle to the crosswind runway aren't.
Ok, but even when you have the 135 minimums,
It probably is your first time in those conditions. So
Either way, you are new. At least for piston
Cargo, it should be less time. 500tt. Insurance, is
The main reason.
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Old 12-08-2013, 12:01 PM
  #26  
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El pilot,

Dude you are going to have to get over it. Almost every single pilot was in your shoes at one time. Suck it up and do what you need to do, or bow out while you're still new to this industry.
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Old 12-08-2013, 12:10 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by El Pilot View Post
Ok, but even when you have the 135 minimums,
It probably is your first time in those conditions. So
Either way, you are new. At least for piston
Cargo, it should be less time. 500tt. Insurance, is
The main reason.
Maybe, but an experienced (instrument) flight instructor will almost always have the edge in learning curve and survivability over someone with 500 hours TT who just flew around the airport doing not much.

One thing that instructing does for you is that it forces you to manage your resources and it quickly grows your confidence level in the airplane since you are the PIC in charge of someone who does not know what he is doing. It also develops your knowledge and study habits to a point of understanding where you will be well positioned to tackle both part 135 and 121 training later in due course.

Even if I myself as a new CFI-I with 500 hours TT could go to work right now for a IFR 135 operator, I would decline. Just the mere process of earning that CFI-I has awakened me to how much I DON'T know about flying. I don't even want to fathom how a circling approach to mins would be like in icing conditions and at night....

You'd better bet that those insurance minimums and gov't regulations set the bar so high. They're that high because experience does really count.
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Old 12-08-2013, 12:33 PM
  #28  
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I skipped past alot of the arguing.

However while I wish I had my CFI, I do not. Got hired at 350 hours to a 135 op flying 19 seat turbo props. Almost a 1000 total now. About to move to a caravan, even though I will be VFR limited for a while. Nothing but up from here. It is doable. Keep your head up.
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Old 12-08-2013, 12:48 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by Apokleros View Post
Even if I myself as a new CFI-I with 500 hours TT could go to work right now for a IFR 135 operator, I would decline.
Your have just failed your check ride for lack of judgement...
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Old 12-08-2013, 01:23 PM
  #30  
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There will always some people that will get to the end without getting their CFI. But just having the cert can open up a lot of doors, and it may be the best way for you to hit a milestone like 500 hours.

As far as not being good at teaching, I would wager to say that most CFI's don't start out as 'good teachers'. But they will do alright if they have a passion for it and truly care about their students. Then, the more they teach the better they get. Now I feel really bad for the students I had back when I was <100 hour CFI, because I realize that I'm so much better now than I was then.

Then there are some people that really aren't cut out to be a CFI. IMO, from CFI's that I met that seem to fall into that category, a lot of them never wanted to CFI and weren't really willing to try to make the best of it, they just ended up being bitter that it was a step they needed to take. That is going to be one of the sad consequences of the ATP-rule, a lot more of those types of people will be stuck instructing and screwing over students.
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