FSI instructor jobs

[Rook]

It happens every now and then El Piloto. At the TOL center, an instructor in my program (XL) left for a flying position in PA that had an XL. They were gonna get a CE-680 and type him in that as well. He made the contacts thru his clients at FSI.

 

[learflyer]

Is it very do-able for that individual to get back into the flying scene after a couple years? What about getting propositioned by the clients to work for them? Any info would be most apreciated, thanks all.

Yep, it's very doable. don't let the folks on here tell you managers won't like you because your "not current." You will take checkrides like everyone else. It's required under part 142. You will be able to do V1 cuts blindfolded, and yawn when you get an inadvertant TR deploy at V1. When you ride support for a client, your CRM skills will be mastered, and practiced on a weekly basis. Not to mention teaching it all the time. Yes, it's different than the "real world", but if I was hiring, and a guy was an instructor on the thing, i'd hire him in a heartbeat. BTW, how "current" are you really when you're sitting up at FL410 with the AP on with your arms crossed?

I've gotten several offers from clients and otherwise. However, I turned them down because they were a bit of a drive from where I live, or did not offer the QOL that I have right now as a ground/sim instructor. I do fly part time on the Beechjet though!

 

[El Piloto Chido]

Good info guys, I appreciate it.

So true about being at FL410 with arms folded, or for that matter, having the USA Today sprawled out in front of you.

The FSI instrucors I've been with have always shown me a new trick of the trade that left me thinking, "why the %$#@ didn't I think of this."

 

[kingairyahoo]

Unrestricted type rating meaning the flight time or previous type rating (turboprop types don't count) so that you can take the 100% check in the sim and not have an SOE restriction.

...not to nitpick, but this doesnt sound right. i know quite a few guys that went from "only" a KingAir350 type and gotten an unrestricted type in different jets...from the Hawker 800 all the way down to the Premier. dont kid yourself, a single pilot 350 type aint no joke

...surely they dont hold their instructors to a different standard...just curious

 

[Way2Broke]

Where can I find listings for current job openings at sim centers at? I have a 121 instructor background, and I would like to find out more. They really don't care if you have time in the aircraft your going to be teaching on? Is it preferred? How competitive are these jobs? I like flying, but I also like teaching, and the QOL and money sound really good. Thanks.

 

[learflyer]

That's true, way2. Luckily, I was already typed on two of the acft I teach on now. Since i've changed buildings, and i need to teach two airframes for my salary, They moved me to the Ultra. I've never even set foot in an Ultra nevermind fly one. Luckily, it's just like the beechjet. (engines, etc.)

 

[CapnVegetto]

I can tell you that I worked for a time at CAE Simuflite in Dallas. There are good and bad:

Good: Pay is OK....start in the 50's as a light jet IP and eventually end up in the mid to high 60's as you get more qualifications. There is also the ability to move up into bigger, higher paying aircraft if you are there long enough. Benefits are fantastic. GREAT health insurance from day 1, 2 weeks vacation from day 1 and excellent 401K.

Bad: The SCHEDULE. It SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS. 60 hour work weeks are the norm. They run what they call a 5S2 schedule: 5 work days, 1 standby day, 2 off days. It's really a 6 on 2 off schedule, becuase they NEVER have enough staff. Once you get all your qualifications done, you'll be working 'doubles' all the time, meaning you'll be doing 2 sim sessions in 1 day. That equates to about a 14 hour workday. But really, it's more than that, because you have to show up early to set up, you leave late after you do paperwork, and you are usually stuck there for about 2 hours in between sessions, equating to about an 18 or 19 hour workday, a few hours off, then coming back the next morning. I remember teaching ground school from 8am to 5pm, then having a sim session that night that started at about 8pm and went till about 1am or 2am, then having to get up the next morning and be back there at 10am for another sim session because they never have enough people. In about the year I was there, I watched at least 10 people quit/retire just from my program. I asked one guy why he was leaving and he said "because I want to stay married." Working till 3 in the morning is not uncommon. Working 18 hour days is not uncommon. Working 6 days a week will happen pretty much every week. Every single quarter we had a quarterly meeting where they promised us how much better it was going to get, and it NEVER happened. It got worse. Essentially the schedule was so bad they couldn't hire fast enough to replace all the people that were quitting. Gulfstream 200 was right, I have seen instructor schedules with 100 hours in a week on them. What it boils down to is they work you about an average of 60 hours a week and pay you for 40 of them. Not to mention that they will beg you to come in on your days off.

All in all I wouldn't go back. It sucked. If the schedule were better then it would definitely be worth doing, because the money is good, the benefits are fantastic and you're home every night. But I have no desire to work my ass off every week at all hours of the night and always be too tired to do anything. I couldn't hardly enjoy my 2 days off because A: The phone was ringing with them begging me to come in and B: I was dreading going back to another 60 hour week 6 days in a row with doubles stuck in it. It's a real culture shock when you go from flying 3 or 4 days a week and enjoying what you do to working your ass off.

If things were to get better, it might be worth doing. The work itself was great, the clients were great. Meeting them, talking to them, having lunch with them, learning from them....everything there was awesome. It just sucked working so much.

Hope this helps!!

 

[Rook]

What Cap'n V said.

It was by-far the hardest job I've ever had in aviation. I actually took a step back to get back into flying. Just be careful cuz when they found out I was looking for a flying job, they kicked my arse to the curb. Good group of guys though believe it or not, and my learning curve was thru the roof when I was going thru training.

 

[CL600Pilot]

...not to nitpick, but this doesnt sound right. i know quite a few guys that went from "only" a KingAir350 type and gotten an unrestricted type in different jets...from the Hawker 800 all the way down to the Premier. dont kid yourself, a single pilot 350 type aint no joke

...surely they dont hold their instructors to a different standard...just curious

What I said is correct - I don't have the exact wording of the regulation in front of me but I'll look it up when I have time. It's not a FSI standard - it's an FAR. A turboprop type rating does NOT count to get an unrestricted type - the regulation states that it must be a turboJET type rating. Your friends that went from the BE300 type (btw, I have one too so I know it's no joke!!) to an unrestricted type rating would have had to have the flight time to get it - in other words, you can get an unrestricted type if you have a previous jet type rating OR xxx number of turbine flight hours (these hours CAN be in a turboprop) OR (there are provisions for using military time but I don't know what they are).

 

[CL600Pilot]

What Cap'n V said.

It was by-far the hardest job I've ever had in aviation. I actually took a step back to get back into flying. Just be careful cuz when they found out I was looking for a flying job, they kicked my arse to the curb. Good group of guys though believe it or not, and my learning curve was thru the roof when I was going thru training.

You guys are working for the wrong company - I'm a program manager at FSI and my sim is booked literally 20/7 in August - not 1 minute of free time and none of my guys are scheduled more than 14 days and no one is working a double - as a matter of fact, the longest duty day in August is 9 hours (full day of groundschool - add about 1.5 for 'admin' stuff and it's not even an 11 hour day).

 

[Pickle]

What Cap'n V said.

It was by-far the hardest job I've ever had in aviation. I actually took a step back to get back into flying. Just be careful cuz when they found out I was looking for a flying job, they kicked my arse to the curb. Good group of guys though believe it or not, and my learning curve was thru the roof when I was going thru training.

That sounds nothing at all like FSI....... As CL600 said, you were at the wrong place!!!

 

[CapnVegetto]

You guys are working for the wrong company - I'm a program manager at FSI and my sim is booked literally 20/7 in August - not 1 minute of free time and none of my guys are scheduled more than 14 days and no one is working a double - as a matter of fact, the longest duty day in August is 9 hours (full day of groundschool - add about 1.5 for 'admin' stuff and it's not even an 11 hour day).

Never really heard anything about FSI. I enjoyed the teaching, I just hated the horrible schedule. LOL I was one of the few guys in the building that LOVED teaching ground school. Most of the guys hated it because they didn't like standing around all day. I actually prefered it more than the sim b/c I just enjoyed it more. I enjoyed the interaction more.

But anyway, I can tell you to stay away from Simuflite. They literally work you to death. FSI may be different. I dunno.....no experience there.

 

[Rook]

You guys are working for the wrong company - I'm a program manager at FSI

You guys hiring ?

 

[T-1GUY]

I can tell you that I worked for a time at CAE Simuflite in Dallas. There are good and bad:

Good: Pay is OK....start in the 50's as a light jet IP and eventually end up in the mid to high 60's as you get more qualifications. There is also the ability to move up into bigger, higher paying aircraft if you are there long enough. Benefits are fantastic. GREAT health insurance from day 1, 2 weeks vacation from day 1 and excellent 401K.

Bad: The SCHEDULE. It SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS. 60 hour work weeks are the norm. They run what they call a 5S2 schedule: 5 work days, 1 standby day, 2 off days. It's really a 6 on 2 off schedule, becuase they NEVER have enough staff. Once you get all your qualifications done, you'll be working 'doubles' all the time, meaning you'll be doing 2 sim sessions in 1 day. That equates to about a 14 hour workday. But really, it's more than that, because you have to show up early to set up, you leave late after you do paperwork, and you are usually stuck there for about 2 hours in between sessions, equating to about an 18 or 19 hour workday, a few hours off, then coming back the next morning. I remember teaching ground school from 8am to 5pm, then having a sim session that night that started at about 8pm and went till about 1am or 2am, then having to get up the next morning and be back there at 10am for another sim session because they never have enough people. In about the year I was there, I watched at least 10 people quit/retire just from my program. I asked one guy why he was leaving and he said "because I want to stay married." Working till 3 in the morning is not uncommon. Working 18 hour days is not uncommon. Working 6 days a week will happen pretty much every week. Every single quarter we had a quarterly meeting where they promised us how much better it was going to get, and it NEVER happened. It got worse. Essentially the schedule was so bad they couldn't hire fast enough to replace all the people that were quitting. Gulfstream 200 was right, I have seen instructor schedules with 100 hours in a week on them. What it boils down to is they work you about an average of 60 hours a week and pay you for 40 of them. Not to mention that they will beg you to come in on your days off.

All in all I wouldn't go back. It sucked. If the schedule were better then it would definitely be worth doing, because the money is good, the benefits are fantastic and you're home every night. But I have no desire to work my ass off every week at all hours of the night and always be too tired to do anything. I couldn't hardly enjoy my 2 days off because A: The phone was ringing with them begging me to come in and B: I was dreading going back to another 60 hour week 6 days in a row with doubles stuck in it. It's a real culture shock when you go from flying 3 or 4 days a week and enjoying what you do to working your ass off.

If things were to get better, it might be worth doing. The work itself was great, the clients were great. Meeting them, talking to them, having lunch with them, learning from them....everything there was awesome. It just sucked working so much.

Hope this helps!!

That by far is the most accurate description of CAE Dallas that I have ever read. I have never worked for a company were the HR department and management were so completely void of integrity.....

To add: I would not consider $50-75 grand a year "Good pay" in the corporate aviation world. You are selling yourself short or are just beginning your career for that amount.

 

[CapnVegetto]

That by far is the most accurate description of CAE Dallas that I have ever read. I have never worked for a company were the HR department and management were so completely void of integrity.....

To add: I would not consider $50-75 grand a year "Good pay" in the corporate aviation world. You are selling yourself short or are just beginning your career for that amount.

Wish like hell it were that easy. I've spent a number of years trying like hell to get a decent 91 job, but unfortunately I'm not someone's chief pilot's third cousin or nephew, or I don't have a pair of tits.

50-75 grand a year is OK at best, I know there are great jobs out there that pay more, and I've been trying like hell to get one for a while now. But these days, qualifications don't matter one bit. It's all, 100% WHO YOU KNOW. It's sad that it's come to that, but that's how it is. I just keep building my resume and hope one day that I'll catch a break.