Hey all,

Are there jobs to be had as a sim instructor in the US.

What is the pay like? Can it be done part time? Do you need a current medical?

????????

FlightSafety in Wichita has been ramping up its Caravan and Conquest staff lately. They hire part-time only, with a 35-hour guarantee. This is new for them, they used to only hire full time. Pay, you are looking at something like $20-30 an hour to start with raises every so often. Being part time you are free to find other part time gigs to supplement your income (flying OR non-flying). You have to commit to 2 years because you spend the first few months getting trained and they need to make their investment back. I do not think a medical is required to sim instruct because they do not own any real propeller airplanes.

There are several sim instructor jobs available. Most, if not all, require you to be typed and have experience in the aircraft you'll be teaching in. No medical is required as far as I know (I'm a little rusty on the regs for that). The pay can be quite good $60k upward from what I've seen/heard

From what I've heard, 70K+ to start at some FSI locations for full time, salaried instructors with applicable experience.

thanks for the info,

I guess I would be looking for Airbus instructing - 320/330 type and experience.

I just cant find much on the west coast.

Positions teaching airline type equipment are generally going to be tougher to find, since most mean employment with an in house airline training department vs an independent part 142 training center (such as Flight Safety).

Depending on the company, those positions may or may not be seniority eligible positions. If you're interested in teaching that type of equipment, I'd take a look at the various airline career websites and company websites to see if any training departments are hiring.

I worked at FSI for a short while as a sim instructor. Pay was $70K salary and the place was nice. OTOH, being salary they sure got their money's worth from the staff, with long days and lots of them. FAR 141 only says 8 hours max a day with a client. There is more to it, paperwork and prep, plus your own training, so a 10 hour day, sometimes 9 or more days in a row was the norm.

Airline sim work can be non seniority list like jetBlue U in MCO or from retired CAs at some other places. In the airline world a medical is required IF you will be doing PCs and type ratings. If just instructing no medical is required, and, as I found out for my GV ride, not required for a type ride under FAR 61!

Think long a hard about the career path, some love it, some will find it not so grand. Once you've been in a year you will be considered non current for flying jobs as well.

I know some of the sim instructors, I dated one of the ladies for a while. They can put in some long days (12 hours) but it really just varies with the sim and the schedule. My lady friend would some times act like she had no time for me then she would have days where all she did was 3 or 4 hours a day. She actually had time to run a second business so you know she wasn't busy all the time. The main thing is if you work for FSI you work at FSI and you are theirs to jerk around. From what I can tell is it kind of a bittersweet thing. Most pilots who still have valid medical get tired of it after some number of years. The main reason people stay is because of lost medicals or young children. Also, there are a few positions which include real flying on the business jet side but they are highly competitive.

Looking at the national list, CAE (and United) have 320 sims in Denver and Simuflite has a 320, 330 and 340 sim in Vanouver, BC. That's it for buses on the West Coast.

http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives...ctive_FSTD.pdf

Is there any opportunity to do contract flying on the side when working full time for FSI?

Do they type you in the aircraft that you are assigned to train in if you don't have the type already? If so, how long are the training contracts?

thanks