ACEAV8R

Toilet Duck.
Please don't get me wrong. Your opinion as well as everyone else here is valuable and this site is an excellent source for information. Definitely, one should do their research so that the lateral transfer can be avoided. And I'm sure that instructing is an excellent way to gain experience as it is probably the most popular way. I don't and advise others not to take anything personally that's posted for everyone has their strong opinion. Just highlighting the difference between a strong opinion and insults.

Slice

Wow, 2 inexperienced guys agreeing with each other? Has hell frozen over? Change is good when it is positive. Lowering the experience levels of cockpit crews is never a good thing. It drives down safety and lowers pay.

CloudSailor

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POPA

Just don't cut the cheese!

CloudSailor

Bond, Rickair7777, I appreciate your responses and insight. Close to the information I have been obtaining.
Good luck.

ACEAV8R

Well, never did I say change was always a good thing. My point was don't hate on the guy getting there in a shorter time than it took you. Because one has more hours or "experience" than the other doesn't always make them the better candidate. Shocker ain't it?

de727ups

"Because one has more hours or "experience" than the other doesn't always make them the better candidate."

Actually...it does.

As a baseline, that's how our system works. No absolutes, but that's how the system has worked for years. More experience equals better pilot.

I'm still not seeing the problem with that....

Senior Skipper

I'll try not to take sides in this discussion, but I'll say maybe it's a good thing this person doesn't want to instruct. The simple fac is that not everybody should instruct. An instructor is a teacher. And like all the teachers we all had at various levels of education, some were good and some were bad. The best teachers I had were the ones who really loved their jobs. They weren't just doing it because they were just out of college and needed a job fast.

I think the same principle holds true in aviation. The majority of CFI's use the gig as a stepping stone. Fine. But what if you really hate the job, or you're just not a good teacher? He may learn a thing or two from it, but it may not be beneficial for the student. The student may learn a lot of bad habits, or may just have a problem learning because CFI John Brown doesn't know how to impart knowledge.

Bottom line, don't say that everybody should instruct. It's not for everybody. Everybody should gain experience in low and slow airplanes where mistakes are easy to correct.

Piston6565

Go to an FBO and pay as you go while you work on the side. Then take a jet course to bridge the huge gap between spinning around in a 172 vs flying a tin can with rockets on the side. There are currently regionals that will hire you fresh out of flight school - Piedmont (no mins), ASA, Eagle, Mesa, and blow jets. I do not necessarily agree with this route but it is the fastest. You could also go to a flight school if you have been watering the the money tree in your back yard. Most people on here will say skip the Jet course. I guess it depends on your learning curve. I would do everything as mentioned plus the CFI route. Being a CFI was the best days of my life. Also, I made more money than I did as a first year FO. Just keep in mind that if you ask 1000 pilots what they would do, you will get 1000 different answers. This business is what you make of it.

Piston6565

I agree with your statement but would like to add an interesting point. You also have to consider what the applicant did to achieve those hours in the logbook. Would you prefer a banner pilot with 3000 hours (no disrespect to you fellas) or a military guy/gal with over 1500 hours in a F-18? It's not always about the hours. Quality (in my opinion) is more important than quantity.