gulfstreamers still taking cr-p? (w/o pft)
 

please,
let me begin by asking you not to fire up the flamethrower....
I'm 33 with a wife and 4 yr old, considering a career change, not a gel-head-ipod-backpack type and i am looking for some reasonable feed back.

i'm sitting on 220 hours and am about to start my commercial training.

i would like to limit my commute to atl or s.fla. and it looks like it limits me to asa or gulfstream.

anyway, i have a couple of questions for the APC crew:

now that they are hiring off the street for first officers, has anyone noticed a change in the prevailing attitude towards the crews?

also, does the hands on flying of the 1900 make you a better pilot versus the automation of the crj?

thanks in advance and GO GATORS BEAT GEORGIA!!!!

you should have many options with a wet commercial ticket and a few more hours...you'd be better off instructing for a short-time (making money as opposed to pay-for-hire) and going somewhere else...

hope you have some money in the bank..... and a wife who makes some money.

Sounds like ASA is a good place for you to go...especially now with the new TA. I agree, don't do the pay-to-play. I know pilots who have done that and regret it, and really in today's environment it wouldn't take you long at all to build your time for the mins you need.

Good luck with your decision...

i understand that the pft thing is over with and they are hiring off the street first officers now. i would never pay for any job. as a small business owner for the last 9 years i haven't paid for a job yet and i wouldn't start now.

Well if they're not charging you for a job, get an interview...!

Just expect and plan to jump-ship somewhere fairly quickly LoL

I agree.... train.....get a few hundred hours ... and apply somewhere else.....

Umm.. what the heck is "pomade?"

pomade will make your dome shine like custom chrome wire rims..

thanks for the input, it's clear that gulfstream is a pig that no lipstick could cure.

p.s. saabarooski- my joke about the gel and backpack was in poor taste.

i have a lot of admiration for what you guys at xjt are doing. striking out on your own requires a great deal of effort and guts. i have been doing it for a long time and wish you guys all the best.

i have friends who have flown branded from jax multiple times and all say the service is excellent. hopefully you guys are on to something....

if the rumors of a base in jax ever come true it would be the immediate end of my fence-sitting position.

First off, do not appologize to Saabmokey. He talks a lot of trash. :D Some in good fun. As for I-pods, those things are awesome.

Gulfstream is not a place you really want to go. The pay for training thing was something to consider a few years back, but the times have changed and you can get a job anywhere now.

haha nah it was funny, Im just playing around............

To answer the other question, flying a 1900 will make you a better pilot. Flying any T-prop will make you a better pilot. Good Luck.

Whatever you do DO NOT GO TO JET UNIVERSITY !!!!!
I think the idea of a CRJ course is good, but not for that money nor in that place. I don't like gulfstream neither. Also, I would recomend building time/CFIing and on top of that I strongly recomend a jet transition course. That doesn't mean you should "buy a job" is just more learning. Also, if you decide to build time don't go to a place where you build multi with another guy and an instructor in the back "supervised solo". Believe me, is not the same.....there's no such a thing as a supervised solo, you'll never really learn if you are not by your own. Someone will be baby siting you all the time. There are plenty of oportunities right now, so don't waste many doing things that won't help on the long run. Also flying turboprops is a lot of fun, I do not fly props, but I have a in the past in the right seat and, specially if you don't have an autopilot, solid IFR becomes really challenging and makes you sharp pilot. Having said that, I also recommend that you don't choose your first job based on the airplane. Find a company that suits you, and whatever is the equipment just take it. An airplane is an airplane.

flyin'gator:

Don't throw the baby out with the water. I am almost certain that there are some FBO's or flight schools here in the southeast florida area (Indian River, St Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, Broward & Miami-Dade counties) that are in need of CFI's. Shop around. Once you get the proverbial 1000 hours TT and 100 ME, Gulfstream Airlines wouldn't be a bad place to be, because it sounds like you don't want to leave the state of Florida initially in terms of starting your flying career.

Don't pft.

All the best. Blue skies.


atp

i have done my private and instrument ratings at a local fbo here in jax. they would hire me if i got my cfi, but their arrow went tango uniform and all the commercial and cfi students are up the creek for some time. atp is not an option as they don't do initial cfi's anymore. meantime i.m trying to gather as much info i can. as for jet u and ari-ben etc... i'm really not interested in that.

the attraction to gulfstream and asa is the easy commute to tpa or atl. period.

ATP not doing initial-CFI's anymore?!?! Since when...and where the heck have I been?

They only do CFI's if you are part of the 90 day program and will instruct there when you're done.

Hey Gator. I used to teach down in FL. If you decide to teach, try getting on at Palm Beach Flight Training out of Lantana, FL. You will fly more than you want to. I easily flew 100hr/month without even trying to look for students. They were handed to me, and I had the option of saying 'ye' or 'ne'. I think my best month in pay credit was 120 + hours. (Ground and flight instruction) I think I made near 2500. Not bad for a CFII.

If you can't get down there, look for a school with a high flow of traffic.

Just a thought...