nick@FL350

Hello everyone. I am new here to airline pilot central and am looking for some advice. My story is I recieved my multi commercial rating this summer with hopes of having a private jet job as a co pilot on an older jet commander. Things didn't go as planned, but i did get about 30 hours in it and am now confused on where to go with my carear. I don't have single commercial rating because I don't want to go down the instructor route. I will be finishing up my AA at Embry Riddle in February and plan on continueing with their bachelor as I work.
I currently have 307 TT, but of that I have a little over 100 in multi engine (50+ in turbine). Do you guys have any suggestions in building time(even if i am not paid for my work) and any companies in mind? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

-Nick
[email protected]

nick@FL350

Hello everyone. I am new here to airline pilot central and am looking for some advice. My story is I recieved my multi commercial rating this summer with hopes of having a private jet job as a co pilot on an older jet commander. Things didn't go as planned, but i did get about 30 hours in it. I will be finishing up my AA at Embry Riddle in February and plan on continueing with their bachelor as I work.
I currently have 307 TT, but of that I have a little over 100 in multi engine (50+ in turbine). I live in southern california and am just throwing this idea out there to see what type of response I get. Looking to just build time as a co-pilot for anything I can get my hands on here in so cal. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

-Nick
[email protected]

FlyerJosh

Nick,

First off, get the "I work for free" attitude out of your head... time is time, but remember that you should be compensated in some manner, preferably one that is on par with standard wages for the type of equipment you fly. By working for cheap today, you set yourself to work cheap for the rest of your aviation career. In addition to that, you hurt your fellow pilots by creating an expectation that everybody is willing to fly for free/cheap, just to build time. I don't know about you, but I do this for a living and would like my paychecks to continually grow- not shrink... (But there's enough ranting about this in other threads, so I won't get into it any more here...)

As for building time, you are most likely going to have a difficult time finding a job with only 300TT, especially without your CFI certificate. I would recommend that you hang around the airport and look for cheap opportunities to fly. Get to know the local pilots and see if you can't find somebody to split some time with. Check out the possibilites of flying traffic watch (if you live in SoCal, there's quite a few operators), or pipe/powerline patrols. There's also a few aerial photography companies that operate across the country and utilize low time pilots. Ultimately though I think your best route is to work towards that CFI, build another 200-300 hours and send some resumes out to the smaller regionals.

Good luck!
~J

iflyjets4food

Don't work for free!!!!! You are a commercial pilot which means you get paid to fly. Do that and nothing but that. If they don't want you because you expect to get paid for the flight then they probably don't need a pilot as bad as they say. Second, get your CFI!!! Nobody should be allowed to go the civilian route without being a CFI. I think it makes you a better pilot, and in the long run you'll be glad you did it, even if you hate it. It is the fastest way to get from 300TT (when you don't know anything) to 1000TT (when you still don't know anything, but regionals will hire you). Get a commercial single because if you have the comm multi, the single-engine add-on is a piece of cake.

nick@FL350

The reason I don't mind flying for free is because I am still attending college right now so i know it will be incredibly hard to find a job that will allow me to go to college and work for them at the same time. Also, I will not be doing this forever. I just need to get my total time over 600 and then I will be moving to to something that looks pretty promising (I won't say it's gauranteed though). I am not going to go down the instructor route because to be honest it just isn't for me. Not everyone in aviation is suitable for every job available. i know it's the quickest way to go, but it is something that I couldn't do well enough to be fair to the student.
Anyways, the only thing I could think of doing is to go post some flyers at some FBO's here in so cal stating what I'm willing to do and see what response I get with that. I also am contemplating the Gulfstream Academy in Florida which if i get in will gaurantee me 250+ hours as a First officer on a BE1900D, but this will cost be about $30K for the program.

TankerDriver

Ain't that the truth! Story of my life...

I also recommend doing the CFII thing, but only if you can land a teaching job with a reputable school, preferably Part 141. Alot of these little FBO's get very little business and operate shady equipment, which can do more harm to your career than good. I taught for ERAU for almost 2 years in FL and despite all the ridicule the school gets, they run a tight operation, their airplanes are new and in tip-top shape, the pay was decent (I was making near $15.50 an hour when I left), I had full benefits (medical, life, 401k, tuition assistance, etc...). Besides that, the day I got hired, I was given 8 new students. I flew, on average, about 25-30 hours a week and with oral and sim time, I could bring home almost $500 a week. Upgrade to MEI was slow. If I hadn't left, I was pretty much next in line for a multi upgrade, but I had already gotten a pilot slot with the Air Force and made up my mind to leave. In 8 months, I was applying to a regional with 800 hours TT. Unfortunately, that was August of 2001 and you know what came next.

I didn't want to be a flight instructor either. I had a choice in my curriculum whether or not to do my CFII training and I almost didn't do it because I swore I would never instruct (back when I thought I knew it all). Then I came to the realization that the 275 hours I was going to have when I got my bachelors degree was going to be worth jack $hit to an airline. Looking back, it was the best ticket I've gotten to date. Not only do you have to know your stuff inside and out (because it's your job to teach it), it teaches you responsibility and professionalism.

capto

If you want to be a professional pilot and not be hated by others please get the fly for free mentality out of your head. By going to places like Gulfstream Academy you'll be contributing to the demise of this profession. Places like this hurt the industry by competing with airlines which do pay their crews. For example here in S. Florida Gulfstream Int. has limited the number of decent jobs for low time pilots. The only regional competing with them here is American Eagle, but I am sure their not making as much profit as Gulfstream here in Florida. So please build your time without ruining someone else's career. Professional pilots don't fly for free we expect to get paid for what we do, most of us have families which depend on us.

iflyjets4food

There is no excuse to fly for free. It is one of the most unprofessional things you can do. You will be hurting the next guy who is actually willing to charge for his time. You paid how much for your certificates? Also, saying you couldn't do well enough to be fair to the student is a huge cop-out! You will learn to, just like your instructor did. Please consider this option. I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just trying to keep you from continuing the downward trend of this thing I've chosen as a career.

capto

I think I'll start writing down the names and remembering the faces of the "pilots" at these places were they pay to fly, and the ones that take jobs from professionals at lower salaries. They sure won't be getting anything from me.

nick@FL350

I understand where you guys are coming from, but I don't think you guys see where i am coming from. I am not trying to offend anyone here, but I think that it is easy for you guys who already have jobs to down play my idea. Like I said, I only need less than 300 hours till I get my first job being paid. I plan to get paid for what I am doing, but there are people out there like you guys with a 1,000+ hours filling all of the jobs so it is nearly impossible unless you have time. I don't plan on some glamorous work flying for free, just something to get my time up. Also, don't make it seem like i am some unprofessional guy trying to get into the game. I have spent nearly $40,000 in flight training along with paying my way through college so I think that is enough to show i am committed.