jackal24

I am a commercial single engine pilot with about 1300 hours total time (Most in a Cessna 207 in Alaska). I do not currently have any ME time. I am looking at going for the regionals soon and want to build some time. I see plenty of 50 hour ME programs that use the whole safety pilot deal to get two pilots their time at the same time and to reduce costs. Do the regionals (specifically Comair) look down on this safety pilot time, or is this a valid way to build PIC ME?

de727ups

I remember hearing that Skywest wouldn't count SP time towards their 100 hour multi min. Not sure about others but the safety pilot thing seems to be a common way to build time. I guess, if I were interviewing, the guy who had nothing but SP multi wouldn't be very impressive. However, the way I understand it is that these days you only need a pulse to get a regional job.

Sorry I don't know anything specific about Comair. Maybe somebody else will pipe up.

belliott

Why not spend a month or so working for a 135 company? Call me crazy but you shouldn't have to spend anything to gain time.... I don't and I have way less time than you jackal... I have some ideas for you.... pm me or post your interest and I will help you find a job.

Rofzu

Penair only requires a multi rating. You have over 1000hrs, shoot them a resume they are running a new hire class Sept 17th

Good luck
Rof.

Clue32

Don't know anything about this company aside from the FAQ's. I stumbled across it over on APTAP. No ME Mins and it sounds like you can move into a ME piston fairly soon after getting hired. At least it is worth checking out.


"Ram Air Freight is currently accepting applications for pilot positions. Minimums
Pilots must meet the FAR Part 135.243 flight time requirements for single-pilot IFR, which are:
1,200 Total Time / 500 Cross Country (point to point, not necessarily over 50nm) /100 Night [*]75 IMC or simulated IMC, with 50 in actual flight (i.e., can only count 25 hours of simulator time)[/LIST]And have the legal right to work and live in the United States.
However, ideal candidates must also have:

• The current ability to fly on instruments down to minimums in poor weather

Those applicants not meeting the above need not apply. If you are still interested in working for Ram Air Freight, you must read our FAQ page regarding hiring practices, training, and life at our company. Certain situations may require applicants to pass a pre-employment flight check.
Currently, we are accepting resumes only via email. Please include your resume as an attachment in Word or PDF format. Phone calls, mailed or faxed resumes will not be accepted under any circumstance.
Thank you for your consideration.
Clinton Festa
Chief Pilot"

BuffaloFlyer

I recently came out of a time building program where half of the 50 hour block was logged as safety pilot. I had a multi-engine commercial certificate and some additional time prior to enrollment and decided to do a 50 hour block and perhaps go back for more if it was needed to get an interview. I can tell you that myself and several others were offered jobs upon completing the 50 hour block. Watch out though, I was asked about this in my interview! So it may come up but it did not appear that the safety pilot thing was a major issue for them. Naturally, I think full PIC time would look better but I think they are making concessions on this issue everywhere right now. Who knows? This all may change in the future. I'm not sure what the minimums are for Comair or what their policy is like regarding safety pilot time, so I won't comment on them specifically. Hope this helps.

av8tr_2007

Have you looked inot Ari Ben? A lot of people go there to build time. I had a good time there and made a lot of connections

BuffaloFlyer

I did my time building at Ari Ben. Overall, I was pretty happy with the whole experience. When I was there, we had a lot of banter back and forth between the time builders about the correct way to log this time in the book as not to raise any red flags. Some guys would just throw it all in the logbook without putting down any simulated instrument (technically required to split the PIC time as safety pilot). I'm not sure if I agree with that completely.

av8tr_2007

Yes, be carefull how you log it. The chief pilot at Republic did not accept my time building time. He said he didn't understand what that meant. "Old school" I guess. Oh well, too bad for him. Expressjet had no problem with my time building

Oh, and get the 100 hrs how ever you can. Don't know who would hire you with 50 and don't know if you would be really happy working for them.

Look at it as an investment. How much more would you make at a better airline and how much different would your QOL be? I think that being said it might be worth paying 400 a month just in interest on a credit card to get the last 50 but that's just me.

BuffaloFlyer

Agreed, I was asked directly about my safety pilot time in my interview at Mesaba. While in Florida I did my best to do it by the book (defined by 91.109), doing half under the hood, half as safety pilot. We often flew IFR in the system to build experience but we tried to stay in VMC in order to make the safety pilot time legitimate. I made sure to deduct some PIC time every flight to account for taxi and run up when I was not acting as the PIC on the ground. If you log it right your total time from there and your PIC time won't be exactly the same. I know a lot of guys who did not do that.

My interview went great, I was just upfront with how half of it was under the hood and the other half was safety pilot for the other guy who was under the hood and how it was conducted properly (the 91.109 rules thing). My numbers lined up with my experience perfectly and the interviewer seemed satisfied with it and just moved on.

Now I would be more worried if I did this situation.... You go down there you throw it all in your logbook as PIC, you don't account for any time on the ground where your not acting as PIC, you don't log any simulated instrument (which is pretty valuable, or you gave it all away to your JAA P-1 time rules European buddy for a break on your hourly plane rental rate). Then you go to the interview and run into a chief pilot or line pilot who is privy to the way Ari-Ben works. He notices the multi engine time along with the old Ari-Ben Duchess N-numbers and the airport identifiers around Ft. Pierce but doesn't see any effort to log it correctly. Ouch, he may not like seeing that logged in your log book like that, even though what you really did down there is perfectly cool with him.

Sorry maybe a little long winded, but just my .02 cents. I'd hate to see this kind of thing come around and bite someone in the butt, especially after spending that much money on it.