flynavyj

hope i didn't come off harsh....honestly, if you want glass experience, play flight sim...works great. If you're hired into the ERJ, buy (or find someone with) the ERJ addon, CRJ do the same....it'll get you a great feeling for how the flight guidance controller works, and help you learn how to fly glass........and it'll be a heck of a lot cheaper than ANY transition course, which....isn't needed....you can do it.

Remember, just about everyone on here was once a CFI, at some point all of us were low time, some of us still are. Just flew with a captain who was explaining he was hired at about 500 hours, met another one hired with 400 hours, and all of this was lonnnnnnnng before the current market...it was during the last "hire everyone" airline rush, aka pre-9/11.

N6724G

Here's the difference though USMC-Sgt. As you and I both come from a sturctured background and understand repetetive training.

Those 300 hour pilots probably flew 5-7 days a week straight.

I have 650 hours. It took me 12 years to get that. I amnot one of these richguys who could afford togo to a aviationprogram. i came up through the ranks one rating at a time as I had the money. I took a year off of flying to go to Bosnia withthe Army to get money for my PPL. I took another 18 months off to go to Iraq to pay for my CFI and II.

There is a thing called muscel memory. If you do something consistantly daily it will become second nature to yu. If you dont do it it wont. I havent flown a twin in 4 months. (no money) so if youstucj me in a twin jet tomorrow, I know I would be behind.

What I did do though was buy FSX and I like it if I can figure out how to make it do what I want.

detpilot

I have the feelthere ERJ sim for flightsim, as well as the CRJ from Wilco. You're talking to someone who could start a 767 from cold and dark since before I solo'd, thanks to studying advanced flightsim add ons. I knew that you need pneumatic bleed air to get the engine started since before I knew what bleed air actually was. I'm the first and only pilot in my family, I never had a Dad with a 182 that I could build unlimited hours with, and who'll write me a letter of recommendation to his friend the CP of Delta. I'm here because I want to be, and I'm willing to put in the work to get where I want to get.

You say glass time is over-rated? I agree. I learned to fly in an old Cherokee. I came to WMU and got my IFR in a 172R. We didn't get the Cirrus until I had finished my commercial, and as someone who teaches primary students in it, I'll be the first to say that I think they should get some 172 time first. You'd be surprised at how often I have the PFD and MFD dimmed down because of student dependence on it. With that said, I stand by the fact that I feel a JET course is useful. 100% necessary? Not by a long shot. A useful tool? You bet.

It's not so much learning to fly the jet, it's learning to drink from the firehose of information getting thrown at you. Being introduced to the study habits required before your job depends on it. That's the advantage of the JET course, folks. Is it going to make you be able to shoot an ILS approach better than that other guy? Probably not.

Are your chances of being the one guy in class with the deer in the headlights look when the Expressjet teacher starts talking about how an "air cycle machine" works, or how to do a "crossbleed start" reduced? You bet.

flynavyj

cross bleed start....i read about it once....in a book.

HercDriver130

E170.......according to system logic....

chignutsak

I second that. It worked for me. I was lucky to get on at a place that had a lot of Cirrus flying going on. It was a great intro to glass. It also has a fairly integrated autopilot, so the concept of mashing buttons in the correct sequence will be old hat to you when you get hired. Local approach controllers knew we were fast enough to mix in with 140kt approach traffic, so that experience will benefit you, too.

wmuflyboy

i just had a meeting with the aviation director at my dads company who fly G-5's. he was kind enough to send me down to Flight Safety in Delaware to fly in a G-5 sim with a new guy he just hired. after an amazing experience, i had a chance to talk with the new hire outside and he explained his background so i could get a little better understanding of what i could do with my career. he flew with XJET and Continental for a few years then turned corporate. he had close to 8,000 hours. all his prior training done in............a Cessna 150. i told him i was flying the Cirrus, he said "so what??" i got the impression from him that glass time doesnt really matter. he didnt fly glass for a long time and now hes making over 200,000 g's.

dont believe what the western is telling you. they are going to tell you that their program is the best and guarantee everything in the world because they want you to fly at the unversity. get ready to spend between 40,000 to 60,000 dollars to do all of your flight training at western. dont believe me??? i just got done and i have spent close to 50,000K. the letter that they send out to you or your parents with all the updated flight fees are BS. those are complete bare minimums and if you just budget for that, then you will be sadley mistaken and wonder why your putting 10K more into your flight account. i liked western, it has great opportunity but if you are just looking at glass time. i think it really doesnt matter.....

KiloAlpha

Despite all the joking.. that isn't an acceptable answer during the oral

TurbineTime

Well, its good to see that the old-school route of flying dials has not disappeared. I am glad that i got my first flying experience in a 152, it taught me a lot and i am glad i did it. However, for those who think the FBO route is always cheaper and better, i have to disagree. I did my pp at the FBO that i worked at and was incredibly disappointed. I had 4 different instructors who taught me a different way every time. I was constantly cancelled on for no real reason and the aircraft were ALWAYS down for mx. It took me over a year and a half and about 12 g's for me to get my license. Im sure this is not always the case and not even the norm, but WMU has been more cost effective for me. As long as you fly all the time and study hard, you can be near the minimums.

detpilot

Thats true, make sure you know the full story about WMU. I also liked western; having got my PPL at a part 61 school first, you don't have to worry about airplanes not being up, etc at Western. I think we're not as well known to prospective students as we should be, but wherever you decide to go, make sure you get the full story from current students first.