Buying Multi

[cathal]

Get your MEI and buy the time to get to the regionals ASAP. The MEI will teach you a lot. Use the time you buy wisely. Share the cost, explore places and airspace you normally wouldn't, and play "airplane owner" for a few weeks. You may never get to again.
When I was instructing, I bought about 50hrs after I got my MEI because students are scarce. It got me to my job faster, which will get me to upgrade faster,... basically faster is better.
Don't confuse this with "pay for training." You're buying experience, not a job. Only you can get the job by interviewing well and having the skills you need. Cutting a company a check after they've hired is disgraceful, and thats what has some people here upset. Others might be simply jealous that you've the time/money to do it.

 

[T206driver]

Why buy SIC time? We are commercial Pilots and should be compensated as such. The frieght has allready paid for the airplane and pic, this is pure EXPLOTATION and we shuldn't put up with it. Rotten operators are no better than the oil companies and insurance companies that put the screws to your livelyhood and industry. I hope the point is well taken.

 

[Trash8Mofo]

I feel differently about buying time, respectfully. There are different boxes a pilot needs to check before one gets to the major. Its just an investment. You paid for you private pilot. You paid for all the other ratings and qualifications after that. Having multi-time is just another box; get them asap however which way you can get em. Later on, you may need to buy yourself a type rating (SWA). Its all an investment. There are always people tell you that they have started from the bottom as blah, blah, blah. You can do it that way, of course. Is it better? maybe. Or you can buy it. People do it all the time. Its your college degree, its your MBA, its that extra certificate that you needed for the promotion. Its call delay of gratification, an investment now for a reward later on. If you take the scenic route, you miss out on senority, or worse, a whole cycle of hiring. Its all an investment.

As far as being a FAR required flight crew member to operate an aircraft being shady.......or is it the other way around: the supposedly safety pilot in hard VFR condition?

 

[SpocksBeard]

At least with safety pilot time you're not paying some company to let you sit in the right seat of an aircraft that doesn't require an SIC at all. If the company wants the added safety of a second pilot they should have to pay for it or at the very least not require you to pay money for something that you really shouldn't log. If and when I am on a hiring board someday I will not look at this time as being very valid.

 

[Lequip]

Yeah....There is actually a guy paying to sit in the right seat of a C337 Skymaster to do VFR whale watching flights. Talk about a waste of a pilot seat. LMAO

 

[climbhappy]

wolfie 690...just do it.

opinios are like bungholes. everybody has one.

some guy said, "do it like the rest of us"

yeah right, that makes a lot of sense. get the stinkin multi time.

it's been done for many years. some used to buy old apaches and double up with a friend.

right now senority matters, so don't be swayed by some guy who says you must go this way or that way to be correct and like the rest of us.

do it your way! that's the best way. i never saw one interviewer who cared what that and how that 200 multi came from.

itn't the objective to get the job and not placate the egos of a self serving pilots of which i am one.

 

[The_Russian]

Shady time.....

It's only shady time if the flight is logged as SIC. If you only log the dead legs, then it is PIC. You sit left seat and log PIC time in the left seat. Nothing shady about that. Although, with no contract, you may be somebody's hanger biatch and never get to fly. I got screwed on one of those deals.

However, if the operator has a LOA from the FAA stating that they can have SIC pilots, then it is ok. You should ask to see that letter from the operator you are considering buying time from (or working for). i.e. Airnet Express

And.................get the F out of Sanford. DCA and the surrounding airports are saturated with low time pilots who scrape up and buy all the jobs in the area.

Good Luck

 

[standaman]

Lots of students out there patients is the key. Especially at the flight school I know you are at.

 

[Kaman]

Hello,
Don't buy anymore flight time than you need to get your ratings! I was hired as a floater in a Seneca with a whopping 55 hours in ME aircraft. Be patient and build your total time, instrument and all the other 135 stuff and you'll get that ME job. Key thing is to be patient and pay your dues, learn at the lower levels and by the time you are ready for the next step the experience you had as a freightdog will really pay-off. I can't imagine moving onot more complex aircraft and flying without this experience. Best of luck to you...and remember patience and keep the press on!

regards,

ex-Navy Rotorhead

 

[labbats]

The first 1000 hours are the toughest. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

 

[rumorhasit]

any suggestions on what is a good company to get "multi-experience"?

 

[Kaman]

Hello,
It all depends on whether you are willing to pay for it, or if you want them to pay you to build it? All ATPs has a 35-hour ME time building block program, and there are a couple of others that come to mind. I'd say the best way would be to get your instructor ratings, and go that route. Do some research and see which flight schools have ME training and do a good deal of it. Flexibility is the key here. Lots of CFI jobs are opening up, but they might not be in a location of your choice. One way or the other you have got to meet 135 mins to get your foot in the door.
Hang in there, it will pay off and don't get discouraged. Things are improving in the job market and you'll get there. Be patient, flexible and keep flying.

Regards,

ex-Navy Rotorhead

 

[Hose]

Get your MEI, dummy!!!

 

[rubberducky]

Nothing worse than to get to an airline training and then step on your dik when it comes to a V1 cut.

Nothin but truth there

riiiight, i forgot this job is worth selling your soul for...

No one can some it up better than this. When you get to a regional there is PLENTY of time to sit on your ass and bus drive along from airport to airport. Learn something from the MEI...

 

[flyboy]

Aviator has 50hr and 100hr time builds. I'm doing the 50 hours next month. $3200 or so for the 50 hours and like $5700 or so for the 100 hours. It's all Xcountry. If you need the night, instrument or xcountry time needed for 135, it's the thing to do. What I've found with multi-instructing is that you still come up short on these important times, or you spend the next 2 years trying to get them. With me, I've been instructing 2 1/2 years and I'm just burned out. Not enough multi time to spread between 5 instructors, broken aircraft, and paycheck that fails to compete with McDonalds hamburger "chef". I get the occasional contract flight in the BE200 or C90, but the 200 flight is every blue moon and the C90 stuff is part 135 insurance requirement stuff (no logable time there b/c I'm not 135 qualified).
For me, it's just time to move on. My wife has been extremely supportive and our 7 month old isn't getting any younger. We've lived in 5 places in 3 years b/c of this dream. It's time to get a job that pays something. I recently had an airline interview for a job that I didn't get. Now I'm faced with instructing (while working another job) and continuing at this pace. I can appreciate the advice of people here that say "get your mei and instruct". But the fact of the matter is that if you don't have a busy 61 or 141 flight school to teach at, you are going to be a slow mover in the time department. Even if you do get a job at one of these schools, there is usually a seniority issue on who gets to multi istruct. Sometimes 6 months to a year before you move up.
Right now the regionals are hiring and I mean hiring people from 400 hours on up. Now is the time to get in, get a seniority number and begin the career you started working for years ago. If spending 3.5k is going to cut another year off of my wait for a job, then at this point it's worth it. As far as the SIC thing in single pilot airplanes, I'm a little weary of that myself. Remove all doubt and get some unquestionable time. Good luck to all.