Low time pilot needs help in DFW!!

[mjb00123]

working on it!

I looked into those banner and traffic jobs like I said b4 but its all 500hr min. It is mostly about luck if you don't CFI. Do you guys have any leads for 400hrs.?

 

[TristarCostar]

Here's an idea:

Flight Instruct. I think you will find the cost associated in achieving the certificate will be worth it when students pay for the time in your log book. You will get to 500 hours pretty quickly. Try to be a bit more open minded with your options. In the end it WILL pay off. Best of luck to you.

Regards

If it helps in your decision making, I let my CFI expire because I wasn't using it in my career. I really regret that decision.

 

[Lead Sled]

Been there, done that...

Mjb00123...
I can totally and completely identify with your situation. I was married and had two kids when I decided that I wanted to get serious about an aviation career. I tried to go the military route, but they were in the process of pulling out of Viet Nam and the pilot training class dates were canceled for the guys in our ROTC group.

I had learned to fly in High School, but I stopped at the private - I was going to let the Air Force pay for the rest. It didn't work out that way. I woke up one morning and realized that I didn't want to be in the family business for the rest of my life. Then and there, my wife and I decided that we would take out a loan to finish up my ratings. It was a lot of work as all of you guys well know. I was fortunate, I had done a lot of flying in high school and before I was married. By the time I finished up with my commercial and instrument I was right at the 500 hour mark. Luckily, a buddy of mine was a mechanic for one of the canyon air-tour companies and he got me an interview with them. All they wanted was 500 hours. The time came fast and furious. Within 3 years I had an ATP and over 3,000 hours.

I thought that somehow I had "dodged a bullet" by being able to go directly into Part 135 flying after I got my commercial and instrument rating. I was wrong. In any teaching situation, it's always the teacher who learns the most. The same thing applies doubly in aviation. Getting your CFI and actively instructing for a while will teach you things about flying that you will only learn through instructing. In my case, I ended up getting my CFI certificates after I finished flying the canyon so that I could keep my hand in flying while I went to school full time to finish up my degree. I learned a lot and to this day the lessons are very valuable and useful. Becoming a CFI, in my opinion, is one of the most important steps you can take in your aviation career.

Does that mean that you're going to enjoy the process? In the beginning you're going to be very nervous, remember how you felt just before your first solo flight? Just wait until you are ready to solo your first student. Towards the end of an active CFI's career there is the definite possibility of burnout. That's when it's time to quit.

It's not going to last forever. You'll probably get about all your going to get out of flight instructing after 500 to 1000 hours and it will be time to move on to bigger and better things. Besides, you can only get just so much experience as an instructor - there's a big difference between 1000 hours of experience and 1 hour of experience repeated 1000 times.

Believe it or not, you may find that once you get into it you really enjoy it. I've kept up my CFI for nearly 30 years. I still find that it helps me to keep on my toes so to speak. I know many guys who once they got into it found out that they really enjoyed it and changed their career plans accordingly. Believe it or not, there are career CFIs out there.

I'm in DFW for the next few weeks. PM me and we can get together for dinner one night. I know how broke you must be, so I'll buy.

'Sled

 

[MDAutry]

you are crazy to turn that offer down..

 

[TristarCostar]

Will fly for food! Can I come to?

 

[Lead Sled]

Will fly for food! Can I come to?

NO !

On second thought, yes you can come... but only if you're buying.

What the heck, I'm on an expense account.

'Sled

 

[mcjohn]

Hey MC, what do you mean by stomach it? I've never towed banners, but it seems like a cool job to have for a beginning pilot. Is it not all what it's cracked up to be?

Thx

This sums it up well:
http://www.airandspacemagazine.com/ASM/Mag/Index/1993/AS/this.html

Also, I'm not a banner pilot. Yet.

working on it!
I looked into those banner and traffic jobs like I said b4 but its all 500hr min. It is mostly about luck if you don't CFI. Do you guys have any leads for 400hrs.?

If banner operators ever have minimums it's usually only tailwheel minimums.

 

[navigator72]

Wow, free food!

 

[TheRaven]

I looked into those banner and traffic jobs like I said b4 but its all 500hr min. It is mostly about luck if you don't CFI. Do you guys have any leads for 400hrs.?

I'm gonna Agree with ProPilot.....you are contradicting yourself......"I'll do what it takes to get the time" and "I won't be a flight instructor"........If you think you are gonna impress an employer with this attitude you are wrong.

I can see the interview now....." I see you didn't fly for 6 months at about the 350 hr mark, what were you doing"............"gee sir, I was looking for a job that wouldn't require me to be an instructor, as it is too hard and doesn't pay enough" The guy doing the interview who worked his way up the ranks loses all respect for you and shows you the door a few minutes later.

350 hrs is super low time and super low experience....take the advice to start cleaning/washing planes and pumping fuel at the FBO...maybe you will get lucky.....I personally wouldn't put my future in the hands of luck and would begin CFI training immediately to get the time quickly, but thats up to you"

You could learn more in your first hundred hours of instruction given than you have learned thus far in your training.

 

[navigator72]

I never got my CFI and managed to build upwards of 2000 hours. If I were to do it over, I would definitely get my CFI.
.
Building time can be done without a CFI but I have missed many opportunities due to not having the CFI. Including teaching a billionaires son to fly, I can just imagine the doors that would have opened up. (I suck!)