QOL/Pay vs Hours Logged
 

Here is the deal. I am working for a Part 135 operator (medical stuff)and have been for a while. I have it made in every department expect logging hours. And since logging time is teh only way to advance my career I have been thinkin bout biting the bullet and hittin the regionals. Now I have an interview at a regional and am on the fence on whether I really want the job or not...

Here is what I have:

7 days on (12 hour shifts at base, home every night w/wife and kid)
7 days off
$41k/yr
Log 250hrs/yr SIC in King Air 200
Was given two weeks notice last November, but the company came back and kept us thanks to a contract with a local Hospital...

My concern is that I am almost 30 and havent logged any hours at all. I have about 1350 TT right now. And if I dont start loggin time quicker I may never make it to a decent job. But If i go to the airlines, i will have to sell the house and move in with the in-laws to get by and i will nver see my family. But if I stay a my job, there is a good possibility that I wont have a job next month (i know airlines are teh same way)...

What is the smart move here?:confused:

I'd say keep your job, and CFI on the side. If you hustle, you should be able to get quite a few clients with your week off.

CFI expired... gotta find cash for checkride... but when i did try to instruct, was hard to compete with the instructors who sat at teh flight school every day 12 hours a day... people want instructors who work around their schedule.. not having to work aound their instructors schedule...

First- shame on you for letting it expire... :D

Would paying for the checkride be less of a financial strain that regional pay rates? My guess would be yes.

As far as sitting around, you should be able to directly compete with those CFI's during your week off (again, is sitting around the airport on your week off to get flight time less of a strain than moving away from your family?). If you think outside the box, you should be able to gain some non-traditional clients (owners who'll need IPC's, flight reviews, instrument practice, etc), and if you offer a superior product with your real world expertise then your clients will be willing to work with you.

I work a 2 week on, 1 week off schedule, where I could be anywhere in the country for 2 weeks at a time, and I've maintained 2 private clients who own their own aircraft. I'm sure I could increase that if I worked harder on my week off.

Good luck... It won't be easy, but again, it may be the better option than moving away from your family.

The regionals won't hire you now until 1500 hours anyways, so you have some time to think about it. If your job is stable (relatively) now, I would say that is a heck of a hit on QOL and pay to move to a regional.

Is there any potential of moving from right to left seat? If so I would think staying there and getting TPIC is going to make you competitive in more facets of flying (other 135's, 91, etc.)

Think verrry carefully about coming to the regionals. What will 5000hrs SIC RJ time get you that you wont have now? The quick upgrades at regionals are in the distant past, and the future isnt looking too bright as well. Quality of life will plummet down the tubes compared to what you have now. Like fjetter said, try to jump to the left seat at your current gig, or wait it out until you can. That PIC turbine will mean a lot more than SIC RJ.

What have you done to fill those seven days off BESIDES instructing? Ferry? Contract? Offered to cover vacations/sick calls at other companies? Babysit guys who want a somebody in the right seat to keep an eye on them?

Or, if your boss is game and you are really gutsy, buy a 310, put it on the boss' 135 ticket, and do hot shot cargo. If you bring the plane, assume the costs, and give him a cut, he might go for it.

home EVERY NIGHT with the wife and kid...!?

stay where you are!

you are more wealthy than you know right now.

I have been at the airlines just over 5 years and have logged about 1500 hours here because I have spent almost the entire time on reserve. This includes a furlough of about a year in there as well. Things have picked up recently on reserve but unless I downgrade I am eons from holding a line. Long upgrades and long times on reserve are likely at regionals as they will continue to shrink with the death of the 50 seat jets.

Can you even log SIC in a King Air 200? As I recall most 135 King Airs are single pilot unless the Autopilot is MEL'd. You have to be a required crewmember to log, and that's required by regulation not by company policy or insurance. So that time may not even be truly loggable.

That said, I would stick with the king air for the reason that the most flexible/ better jobs tend to be corporate aviation not airlines. Once you go to the airlines you get the "airline stink" and many corporations won't touch you with a ten foot pole. Many more options for you not in the airlines.

As for your CFI lapsing,you can get a reinstatement ride from an FAA inspector for free, you only have to pay Designated Examiners.

Yes you can log SIC time in a King Air I do when I am not the assigned PIC because our ops specs require two pilots.

Who do you work for? I have that same schedule at a 135 carrier, granted I may only fly 7 of those 14 days, but I'm still anywhere in the country/world during those 14. I'm questioning if an airline schedule would be a better lifestyle, despite the pay cut.

Actually yes it is loggable time. This has been of great debate amongst our pilots until we just asked teh FAA about it and they do claim that it is loggable time. BUt just as thee FAA and operators dont see eye to eye on regs, they sometime sdont see eye to eye on this.

Another case is logging PIC time. According to the FAA, the definition of PIC in Part 91 is "sole manipulator of the controls".. so if on a Part 91 leg (no patient on board)... and i am flying... that is PIC according to the FAA... however, 135 and 121 carriers disagree with that ruling saying that the entire flight is 135 til you return to base and the PIC who signed for the aircraft is teh only one who can log PIC...(cant have two PIC's)... but i dont buy the cant log to PIC theories because it is common practice to for a commercial student who is appropriately rated to log all flight training recieved as PIC at teh same tim eteh instructor does...

My week off is spent babysitting my daughter. We cant afford a day care, so my mother watches her on my Day shifts, and i watch her my days off... if i go flight instructing... i would have to guarantee i make enough to cover day care...

Stay where you are and wait for a chance to move into the left seat of the King Air. QOL is better now than if you make the move to a regional, who cares about logging time right now, 250 hours a year is enough if the job is stable and you like it.
I fly part 135 air-ambulance and it's a great gig.

Making left seat is better said than done. Four captains and three FO's with seniority on me. All I can hope for is to get my ATP before they open a new base. We are the only two pilot crew in the whole compNy thanks to hospital contracts.