Anyone know of any sic lowtimer jobs?

[flywithruss]

I'll second that!

I'm in a similar situation ... at 24, I've got a great job flying a King Air for a good corporate outfit under Part 91. I loathed the thought of getting my CFI, but in retrospect it is the smartest thing I've ever done. I will never let my CFI lapse ... for several reasons. First, I worked too hard to get it. Second, it puts a little extra money in my pocket on my days off!

My instructor job was directly responsible for my current job. I was teaching type-specific schools to new Bonanza owners for an aircraft salesman. One of the salesman's former instructors from long ago is now the chief pilot at my company. So, when he called his friend the salesman looking for a new pilot, I was in the right place at the right time.

NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK. You'll be surprised how much instructing will help you do that, and that network will bring your resume to the top of the stack when you're looking for that corporate, charter, or regional job down the road.

Best of luck ...

R

 

[flydog]

Does anyone know of an operator possibly looking for a low time sic willing to work for near nothing?

Nice attitude

How about working your way up and getting an education and some meaningful experience at a paying job as a CFI or towing banners instead of giving yourself as a cheap gear pulling whore

Youll find that once you make yourself more valuable by building your skills at an honest paying job you wont have to "work for near nothing" and your passengers will appreciate it too

 

[lancair1]

I'm sure those who have flown sic never learned anything. They will probably return that they solely focus on their one task throughout the flight, and gain nothing from the rest, huh?

 

[172driver]

They certainly don't learn what a CFI learns. The CFI not only sits there and manipulates controls, but has to teach. To teach and have to answer questions about every aspect of aviation is a learning experience that can't be matched. If you were to become a CFI, you would realize very quickly how little you actually know. I learned more in my first few months of instruction given than I ever did as a student.

Yes, a 135 SIC will learn on the job, will gain on the job experience. But will you learn the important stuff? Manipulating the controls is a very small part of aviation. Decision making and a solid knowledge base are the bigger picture. A 250 hr, freshly minted commercial pilot doesn't have this solid foundation on which to build. How often have you really been PIC? Not logged PIC but actually been in charge of the safety of yourself and others? Had to make the tough decisions without your CFI holding your hand. To teach aviation, or anything else, you must first know it like the back of your hand...

Pay your dues. There are a number of highly seasoned pilots on this board giving you the same advice. What are you going to learn by towing banners or patrolling pipes? Maybe you just don't want that pesky student next to you asking you questions about stuff you don't have a full grasp of? Wanting to fly you into t'storms, terrain, the runway. If you skip the CFI step, you will miss out on very valuable experience. Nobody here is trying to hinder your career progress but most have been in your shoes and know the best way to go about getting into theirs.

 

[Jump Pilot]

I was in the same situation that you are in. Because of my work schedule, I was only available on the weekends for a flying job. That restricted my availability to instruct.

So, I investigated flying skydivers. Go to dropzone.com and search for drop zones in your area. I now am flying close to the same amount of hours on the weekends as my CFI friends are during the week.

Good luck in your search. Hang in there.

 

[172driver]

Again, how valuable are those hours? Driving skydivers is great experience in Vy climbs and redline descents but what else? It may even be experience in a bigger, faster plane but it does not include much variety. When was the last time you logged X-C time, flew IFR, had a ground work session, had to use various different methods to enlighten someone on a particular topic, flew a different aircraft, even landed at an airport that wasn't home base?

All flight time is great...I don't want to rag on you guys too much but do want to preach the value of paying your dues. How do future employers feel about 2000 hrs of VFR to the same airport in the same plane, all logged .5 at a time?

I understand that work commitments don't allow you to instruct. How many people on this board do you think gave up well-paying jobs to sit right seat in a 152? Probably most...because they wanted to do things the right way. Their future aviation career was more important to them than their current job. I work with CFI's who were lawyers, doctors, businessmen, accountants, teachers, etc. None of them really wanted to give up lucrative incomes or instruct but they did because employers look for that time. It is good experience and an indicator of dedication.

 

[capt_zman]

172Driver, although your points are well made, let's try and get a grip. Instructing is a good way to develop experience at the beginning of your career, but it is not the end all of flight experience. There are many different aspects of aviation that all qualify as good experience, not just instructing.

How much variety do you see as an instructor? Give me a break. You fly around the patch all day with someone else manipulating the controls in the same old airplanes. What kind of remarkable experience is this? Is this time more valuable than anything else?

Keep the instructing job in perspective. It is a noble way to make a living early in your career, but to place it on a pedestal as the only way to earn real experience is ridiculous.

Funny, if I offered you an SIC job in a King Air, I know what your answer would be.

And you can flame me all you want, but I own 1/2 of a 141 school and employ 20 instructors, so I know the instructing game.

 

[lancair1]

Jump pilot,
Thanks for the link. That would be an awesome addition to 135 or instructing. I just thought there were not many of the jobs available.

172 driver,
I guess I just don't fall into the group that think you must instruct to pay your dues and be a decent pilot. I just want to fly. Whether the flight benefits me from being in increasingly complex a/c, teaching a student, or flying jumpers.

 

[aero99]

Let's not turn this into a arguement on what hours are "better" hours i.e. jumpers, pipline, instructing etc.....

The original question was as to any operators giving right seat rides for peanuts.

The majority came through with why not instruct. Are there pipeline jobs or jumper jobs or traffic jobs out there? Yes. Are anyone of these better than the other with someone who has less than 500 hours? No. They all give experience, pay and most importantly (to me at least) they all give you PIC time.

Lancair, whatever you do, go do it. Don't wait for that perfect job. If you need to instruct for 6 months then do it. Take control of your career and have a plan. Sitting around wishing you were flying pipe vs instructing isn't going to get you any closer to the job you may want later down the road.

 

[172driver]

Agreed...not the be all to end all. More variety than flying skydivers... yes. Would I take the King Air job...of course. Would I learn more from the King Air job now that I've instructed for several hundred hrs...yes. Would the PIC on the King Air get more out of me now...yes.

As I said earlier, the value in instructing is not the manipulation of the controls but being in charge of the flight, making decisions, and having the knowledge to teach others.

Is a 135 job more varied and better real world experience. Of course it is. But if you move from flying with your CFI to flying with a captain/PIC, how prepared will you be when you are the PIC with no one holding your hand? You better hope your SIC has some time instructing because you're going to need it.

 

[lancair1]

I agree that they purpose of the post has been inefective.

There is no more control needed over the path of my career. My time is filled with preparation for cfi class which starts in a week.

It was my hope, which led to this post, that someone may know of any flying job out there. I have found and applied to a few, but no luck as of yet. I can temporarily put off my cfi in an instant, and will if i find a lead elsewhere.

This is not to say that I think it is likely, which is why the term "wishfull thinking" has come up a few times.

 

[Lonestar]

172Driver

I think you should come back to this thread in a couple of years and tell us if you still feel the same way.

 

[flydog]

The point of my post was not wether working as a CFI and paying your dues was better than working as an SIC (although I think it is)

It was that your attitude about taking any job for little or no money sucks

Groover is right. 5 years from now when you have 6000+ hours and 5500 of that is SIC and you are stuck in the right seat of some turboprop making 18k a year come back and reread your post. I guarantee you will have a different take on working as a professional pilot.

And just to make it clear. A Baron, C-310, King Air, etc are all single pilot airplanes. Thats why the gear handle and the autopilot are next to the pilot. About the only thing you will learn is how to pour the passengers coffee and load bags. Thats not going to impress any prospective employers.

Get some PIC time and learn about flying for a living. We dont need any more flight attendants with Commercial Multi tickets to pull gear for free

 

[JediNein]

How is flying right seat for free any different than PFT? Ummm...... one still ends up broke at the end of the day.

How is sitting right seat as a CFI hating one's students and every minute spent not flying doing anyone any good?



*Jedi Nein grabs a second cup of coffee knowing that someone has stepped on her pet peeve.*

I'd rather someone paid for the seat or sat there for free than kill their students because they were too pissed at being there to do a good job instructing.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein

 

[be36driver]

Jedi-Nein, did you get your medical back yet? What has it been, about ayear now since the last time you could act as PIC?