New Comercial Pilot

[gsrcrsx68]

Go to the regional, get the time, 5 years from now you can do whatever you want...or go the hard way, moving up one small plane at a time until you earn respect from clowns on here (which, of course will never happen).

Not even a question really...let the sorry whiners complain all they want, go to the regional.

 

[LowlyPropCapt]

Life experience, lol.

I liked that one too... Funny stuff.

I'm gonna throw the flame bait flag. Well played sir!

 

[dav8or]

Yeah !!! I finally made it. Got my commercial sticker saturday. Now I am an unemployed commercial pilot.
Anyone who can help me land that first Regional I would sure appreciate it.
I am not a pilot mill graduate. I did it the hard way. I am 43 with lots of management experience, great personality, and now finally Commercial MEL Instrument. 300 Hrs Total with 58 Multi PIC , 1st class med.
I live in NC and would like to stay somewhat close if possible.

Thanks in advance

Try Ram Air they have location all over NC

 

[mushroom]

First off, congratulations. Feels good, doesn't it?

Keep working on your CFI, but look for the regional jobs too.

Anyone on here, ANYONE, who says that they would "get some experience instructing" or similar before trying to get hired by a regional,if they were in your shoes, is lying. Simple as that. They know they would be trying to get into the jet too.

As far as "life experience" is concerned: I'm just a little younger than you, and I do know what the value of life experience is. People who are younger don't and are the ones who make fun of the ones who talk about it. Reminds me of the Mark Twain quote that said something like (paraphrasing): "When I was 14 I couldn't believe how dumb my father was. By the time I was 30 I was amazed to see how much the old man had smartened up..." Don't you wish you were 20 years younger, but knew everything that you know now?

The reality of today's world is that it is possible to get a job in a jet with really low time. Back when I was young (cue nostalgic music) I had instructed for three years, and even then it was nearly impossible to get a job just flying a Navajo around in the middle of the night. The MINIMUM time I remember ANY "commuter" airline wanting was 1200 total and 300 ME. If you didn't have at least 2000-2500 total and about 500 ME they wouldn't even look at you.

Just be humble, don't act like you know everything, and when you do get hired, listen to your captain's advice. Even though he/she will usually be younger than you.

Hell, I'm not even 40 years old and I'm a 747 captain. If they'll let a moron like me do it, they'll let anyone...

Good luck. And don't let your CFI expire once you get it. It will come in handy once you are furloughed. Speaking from experience here...

 

[Leroy Smith]

I'm a big fan of good CFI's. There are fewer and fewer who can tell sh!t from shinola. Puppy-mill students are being taught by puppy-mill graduates. Every cycle, a little more knowledge is lost.

If you want to be an airline pilot, going to a regional is almost a no brainer. You dont need to be all that good or experienced a pilot, just the lowest common denominator. As long as you can get through training, pass a PC every year and not get violated out on the line, you are set. Your schedule, your chance at upgrade and your payscale are all strictly a function of seniority (assuming you meet the mins, which seem to be coming down). The automation, the SOPs, the dispatchers, etc and most importantly the guy in the left seat(hopefully!) make the whole system almost bulletproof.

Here are my suggestions, and you are free to ignore them for the above reasons. Before going to a regional and forgetting a lot of what little you know about flying now:


1) Fly a small airplane across a whole time zone, or between places where its summer and winter.

2) Exceed some demonstrated crosswind components, getting close to double is pretty solid. The airplane has to stay on the runway and in one piece.

3) Be upside-down in an airplane, at least once. (in the air, not as a result of #2) Go straight to the bonus round if its a wake-turbulence encounter, SD in IMC or a too in depth examination of Vmc.

4) Fly in and out of a grass/ dirt strip, the smaller, more crooked and lumpier, the better.

5) Fly tailwheels! (combine with #4 for extra fun!)

6) See the lights at minimums. Extra points if its a circling approach. Cleared for the approach and radar lost 15 miles from the IAF and at the bottom crossing over the top of the airport for a 240 degree circle at 500/1 is something you wont even come close to in an RJ.

7) Dont see the lights at minimums, divert. Best if far from home, or coming home late and really wanting to get home! (really excellent if you can see the flashes from the REILs, but not the lights themselves)

8) Have some really "OH SH!T" moments, but not the kind that involve F-16s or UH60s flying formation with you. Encountering unforcasted freezing rain with no ability to climb was my favorite. The defroster cleared some of the wind screen by the time we landed, but seeing 3/4" of clear ice sloughing off a Skyhawk's wing as you tie down really gives you some appreciation for what could've been.


None of these are things that you want to go right out and do (and some you would never plan to do intentionally if you are sane). I was very lucky, very patient and absolutely obsessed with aviation when I was getting my ratings and teaching. I was very conservative in how I approached my limitations as a pilot (especially where weather was involved), but I did some stuff that was absolutely amazing. None of this stuff will do much for your career (other than some TMATT stories at an interview): aviation is not a meritocracy. I have enjoyed flying for a regional (the usual BS aside), but I do feel like some of the joy of flying has been removed. Im looking at ways to be able to teach again. That's all Ive got to say about that.

 

[daviator28621]

Thanks Leroy and Mushroom.
I appreciate the real, honest, and helpful information. It's hard to wade through the whining on this site sometimes. But you made it worth it. I agree that being humble and willing to listen will ensure that you will get a better education from the captain who is willing to fly with the low time guy.
I am working on getting the types of experience you mentioned. I finally got to fly in real IMC a week ago. Wow what an eye opener, after about 50-60 hours of simulated you think it is no big deal, until you experience it.
It scared me but I was with a good instructor and felt confident in his abilities, I calmed down, stopped chasing the plane, and flew like I had been taught. So yes experience is priceless.
I want to base in charlotte or greensboro NC so if you got some pointers to get me there I would appreciate it.

 

[great cornholio]

I want to base in charlotte or greensboro NC so if you got some pointers to get me there I would appreciate it.

I'd say PSA is your best bet they have a pretty big CLT base so I bet it would be easy to get CLT. Plus I think they only have like 3 bases...CLT, TYS, and DAY I think.

CHQ has a GSO base but that would be much harder to get than CLT would be at PSA mostly because Chq has like 100 bases...ok well maybe not that many but quite a few so the chances of getting the base you want out of like 25 is much less than getting what you want out of 3 choices.

 

[pgcfii2002]

Fly for Mesa.

 

[turbodriver]

daviator28621,

dude, screw these naysayers. They're just jealous that they had to get their CFI, slug it out with students trying to kill them before they went the regional route. They're pi$$ed that the regionals wern't hiring guys off the street with a wet ticket in the late 90's early 2000's. You have the chance to skip all that crap. I would've done it in a heartbeat if it was like this 6 years ago and I was in your shoes.

Go for it.

 

[NoJoy]

I say get your CFI, CFII, and MEI. If ALL ATPs is near your area get your ratings through them. I got my MEI there (at the time PAE) and taught for awhile at a very good FBO. If you can get on with ALL ATP's as an instructor you will be teaching in a twin-Seminole-and doing alot of instrument training, especially with folks out of the military working on their ATPs. Instructing will make you a better pilot, prepare you for the regionals and eventually make you a more compentant CA. One thing that may have not been mentioned is the fact that your odds of making it through training at any regional are greatly improved if you are a CFI,CFII with some time under your belt. Like around 1000 hrs+ You do not want to fail out of sim training do to lack of experience. This does happen, but you do not hear about that often. So do yourself a favor and finish the rest of your ratings, teach for a year; you will thank yourself later.
Oh and flying into ASE with only 300 hrs tt may be more fun than you want.