JulesRav

Hi there,

I知 finishing my commercial and want to start looking into ways to get to the more hireable 500TT.
I should be done in July/Aug with close to 250 hours. I致e seen surveying jobs accepting low hour pilots, mostly done hiring for the season in my area. Seems the jumper operations around require a lot more than 250 these days. Glider towing is very competitive and requires a lot of tail wheel time, I have zero. Any other ideas not including the CFI route?
I知 41, late career change, with two little girls. Willing to have a tough schedule to kickstart my career.

Thanks!!

Subieguy14

CFI is what I would do in your shoes. ESPECIALLY since the standards and info is already fresh in your head.

If you could find a local banner tow op or glider towing, dropping meat bombs. Might be worth looking deeper for. Even if you get your CFI, I would do something else on the side if possible.

getting a job with 250TT at home is usually a tough one. especially one that would pay more than peanuts (20k a year)

Flaps8posrate

If you live in the Denver area, there are CFI opportunities to get you to a competitive number.

JulesRav

I understand I will be making peanuts until I get to at least 500TT. I do not think I知 a good teacher and know I won稚 be a good CFI. I dislike the idea of doing it just for my own benefit. I recently had a couple of very bad instructors and believe not everybody should be one. Thus my saying anything but CFI...I知 not too good for it I just know I知 not good at teaching. I知 looking into banner towing. Thanks for that.


If you could find a local banner tow op or glider towing, dropping meat bombs. Might be worth looking deeper for. Even if you get your CFI, I would do something else on the side if possible.

getting a job with 250TT at home is usually a tough one. especially one that would pay more than peanuts (20k a year)[/QUOTE]

JulesRav

Yes! There is a big need. Many people struggling to find qualified ones. I don稚 think I have what it takes to be a CFI.

Sdedeker

[/QUOTE]

20 years ago, I said almost the same thing. I didn't think I had the teaching gene in me either. I held off for over a year before I decided to get my CFI and I can now say I am glad I did to the point that I still keep my CFI/CFII/MEI current. Even though I was flying crop survey after I got my wet comm cert, I felt that I owed myself the opportunity to enhance my own knowledge. I went and obtained my CFI and started teaching. Did I find it odd like trying to write with my left foot! Absolutely. But not only did I find it enjoyable to pass on what knowledge I did have to someone else, I also found the experience very educational to myself.

While sitting there in the right seat trying to keep the person in the left seat from killing me, I started picking up on things that only previously were "techniques". Now I could actually see the correlation as to WHY we do things the way we do them. Light bulbs were constantly coming on. It is the old adage of we don't know what we don't know but sitting in the right seat gave me the chance to see what I really didn't know.

Don't sell yourself short like I almost did. I am so glad I did it now. It also opened up more doors because I was instructing. It gave me a bigger path to networking and to make those important connections when it comes to business owners. Had it not been for me teaching, I would have never met the business owner that came in and wanted to learn to fly and had just bought a brand new 182T. Long story short, but I started flying that, then we went into a Seneca II, then a 421, then into a Citation and I was able to advance each time.

As for the Denver area. There are not a lot of LTP opportunities here. There is a banner guy that I see from time to time, and I will see him over Falcon stadium during the AFA football games and will pick up the banners out of KFLY, but he is not based there. There are jump zones out of Greeley and out of Penrose that might need someone??? But other than that, it is a tough market.