Hi,
If I have about a year to time build to my minimums,
would spending 4 months for CFI and not being able to start time building after, or started flying part 135 once I am commercial rated?

Flying commercial might be appealing in a way where I dont have to spend another 10k and 4 months for CFI training, but looking at a bigger pictures flying part 135 might not get as many hours as being a CFI.

SIC is not required on the C-208. Pay for SIC will be rather low, and not meet the cost of living in the PHNL area. That said, you be living in the minus. Bottom line, you’ll take a hiatus in building quality time. Its tantamount to those who think being an International Relief Officer (IRO) for an airline is quality time. IRO time is deducted from total time.

You should take the view that you are investing money in your career. You’ll realize a return on your investment be it through flight instructing, charter pilot, and eventually as an airline pilot.

You may pay a premium to earn your CFI with American Flyers, ATP, Flight Safety, etc. Search around to determine how much you need to invest in your career. Talk to CFIs at your local airport.

You can do a lot of preparation work on your own. Although the weekend ground school courses for the FoI and CFI written is a good investment.

Good luck.

At Southern Airways and Mokulele, they both require first officers per their FAR 135 Operations Specs. All logged time as SIC counts towards your total time and in most cases Cross Country time. So all your time logged counts towards ATP minimums.

I’m mentoring a few pilots at each carrier. You can log up to 100 hours a month at Southern. Southern just announced they are purchasing Mokulele but will operate both separately.

Southern has bases in Mid Atlantic and the South so much cheaper living expenses then Hawaii. Plus you’ll get 6 to 10 legs a day in a 2 pilot 135 Regional Airline flying in lots of weather and into busy airports. In my opinion best experience you can get and much better then CFI experience.

Southern typically hires FO’s at 300 hours and at 1200 hours (135 mins) upgrades to captain. I think you fly a little less maybe around 80 hours a month at Mokulele. Once they hit 1500 hours they are scooped up by all 121 Regionals flying RJ’s.

So if you could get on at either one of these airlines, I’d say better off then CFI. 80 to 100 hours a month year round is very difficult to average as CFI. Plus your getting 2 pilot airline type experience.

If you can’t get either one of these two airlines or a high time monthly average at a 135 operation that requires a SIC per their ops specs (so you can legally log all flight time) I’d go the CFI route. Or get CFI build some time then go to one of these airlines.

My two cents, good luck!

You're confused here. Their GOM might require two pilots, but GOM is not an approved document. Which "Operations Specs" are you referring to?

For VFR flights, it does not fulfill the meaning of 61.51(f), because the SIC is not required by regulation or type certificate, unless they have the SIC development program in place. For IFR they can log it for passenger carrying legs, as long as the PIC has not completed an 135.297(g) check.

The only way they can legally log SIC time is if they have 139.99(c) program in place. An SIC also cannot log any time legally for flights operated VFR.

But it is FAA accepted. The regs require compliance with a GOM as per 135.21, so if the GOM says an SIC is always required, no flights could depart without an SIC, making them required crew. Same goes for anything in a GOM, violating the GOM is violating 135.21.

Otherwise you’re right, if the GOM doesn’t explicitly state an SIC is to be designated then they’d need a 135.99 SIC PDP, or always fly IFR without A015 or PICs who complete a 135.297(g).

Yeah my point was more that there is no "Operations Specs" that require an SIC. The whole 135.99 SIC PDP, I think, shows that FAA understands that a lot of SIC programs weren't really useful and not loggable the way 61.51 means.

A Caravan SIC in VFR really is stretching the definition of a required crewmember in my opinion.

A post from another Mokulele thread:

Other posters referenced a $7,000 cost to the applicant to receive training to fly a C-208. Can you comment on this?

I am confused now? Some are saying its not legal to log PIc some said it is? What are we looking at now

It's my personal opinion, reading the letter of the reg, that SIC time in a Caravan flying passengers VFR or IFR cargo flying is not legal.

I know of a case where FAA did not accept that time. But most of the time at least in the regional level it goes through no problems.

Mokulele may be availing themselves of the “Part 135 Second in Command Professional Development Program”

Advisory Circular AC No: 135-43

https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/.../AC_135-43.pdf