Requirements to get to fly Corporate

[ch47fe]

So much resentment on this thread.

I just get the feeling that if you haven't always wanted to be a pilot and it's a second career for someone they are lost or just want to get ahead of everyone else and they are trying to get out of 'paying their dues'.

I am prior service aircrew and missed the boat on military flight training. I have sucked it up as many before me and realize I am going to have to borrow all of this money to get the training. It's all about what you put into it that you get out of it.

Also many people that have entered this field as a second career I don't think any less of. ALOT of people have left higher paying jobs to train for a job they want to do everyday. At least they want to be a pilot first and make big bucks second.

As far as all of these people entering the field and taking jobs working for less pay on the RJ. Everyone mad about it will not change it one bit. Market conditions will prevail. For everyone wanting to control the numbers of pilots entering 'their' profession it sounds communist. If everyone wants to be a pilot and becomes qualified to drive wages down so be it.

So many 'Senior' high-time aviators think if the new guy didn't do everything the way they did it they are scum and suck as a pilot. Sorry, I've just had to much of the older guys slinging mud on all the new folks trying to make their way into this crowded occupation.

What are these guys worried about? Not being able to make 250K/yr? Why don't you realize it might never happen for you?

later

 

[JetPilot500]

And I hate C172s (even though I fly one), so why would I want to start there?

FlyChicaga,

WOW! When I had 300TT and 15 Multi, I LOVED C172's or any other airplane for that matter. In fact, even today with 5000TT, I still love C172's.

Do you have any idea how many people wish they could fly a C172? Probally not any of you "New Kids" of course, you are too good for Single Engine airplanes. In fact, you are too good for piston engines all together!

If you can't be happy where you are right now, you will never be happy.

I suggest you all do a little soul searching, cuz you gonna be in that C172 for a long while if you stick with your pilot career.

You young kids disappoint me,
JetPilot500

 

[rumpletumbler]

I'd rather fly a piston twin than a turboprop. I'd also if I were ever in the big chair interviewing someone consider that better experience. Turboprop Smurboprop. If you don't burn it up then your done. A piston twin you have to actually work at to fly correctly. What crazed beast has entered the minds of the people who consider experience for hiring?

RT

 

[bigD]

Wow - this thread has gone a completely new direction since I last checked in!

Over the years, I've met lots of different people in aviation. It's always a goal of mine to meet someone new every time I head out to the airport. It seems to me that the vast majority of pilots out there have a strong desire to fly on some level. I've only met a few that regard it as a hobby on the same level that say, golf, is a hobby. But what I've also found is that the reasons behind the desire vary a bit in different people.

I think these varying reasons behind the desire is why there's a difference in opinion here. And really, I don't necessarily think one is any more valid than the other. Both result in a pilot that wants to learn as much as possible and be as proficient as possible - even if the underlying motivations are a little different.

When people ask me why I fly, the primary reason I give is simply the feeling of freedom I have when I'm up there. Not freemdom in the CFR/TFR/etc sense, but just the idea that regardless of whatever is going on in my life on the ground, be it stresses with school, relationships, my job, or whatever else - it gets left on the ground. In the time that I'm up there, it's just me, the plane, and the sky around me. Everything else disappears. Problems on the ground are tiny and insignificant. I can be flying over the most crime ridden ghetto area of the city, and from a mile up - it's no different than the middle class suburbs 10 miles away. I'm happy. I'm up there doing what I love to do, and every stress in the world can wait until I'm driving home from the airport.

Secondary to the above is the challenge of it all. My grandfather always told me that at any given time in the cockpit, if I can't think of 3 things I could be doing better - I'm not working hard enough. There's a satisfaction that comes from always striving to be perfect. I'll never accomplish it, of course, but I love the fact that no matter how proficient I get as a pilot - there's always another milestone to get to, and I can always raise the bar a little higher. Simply, there's always more to learn - and that's awesome!

Now, there are many, many other smaller reasons that I fly, but the two above are my primary ones, or at least the tangible ones that can be described with words.

Okay, so what's my point? Well, I'll bet that FlyChicaga identifies more with my second reason than the first one. He loves the challenge...and this drives him to always be looking at the bigger, faster plane. Or maybe older, in the DC-3 case. I'm sure that plane has a completely different set of challenges all its own! I personally am just as happy overall putzing around in a 152 as I am the Duchess. FlyChicaga probably doesn't feel the same way. But I also love the feeling of being 'in the system' when IFR, or the pleasure of initially feeling like I was way behind the plane when first learning to fly the Duchess, yet now it fits like an old glove. So I can see his point as view as well.

But fundamentally, we have the same passion. And although the reasons behind that passion may be different, it ultimately makes us strive to be the best pilots we're capable of being. And at least in my mind, that's the important thing.

Or I can be completely full of sh*t, and have FlyChicaga all wrong. But it's how I see it. I see young punks that really have no clue how good they have it, and others that have the passion but are merely well financed. I get jealous about it too, but I try hard not to equate the money with the calibur of pilot.

I also see old guys that have piss poor attitudes as well. My grandfather flew P-38's, and my life goal is to fly one before I die. I realize it's a VERY long shot, but I'm going to give it a try. I told this to a current P-38 pilot while admiring one at a museum, and he simply said, "Give it up, kid. There's no way you have the talent to fly one of these things. None of you young guys do." I'll never forget his words. That was just over a year ago, and my eyes still glass over when I think of that guy telling me that.

Okay...I'm done rambling! Thank you for your time.

 

[bigD]

Okaaaaaay....now that I'm actually awake and reread my post - man what a incoherent ramble! I need to refrain from posting when so friggin tired...sorry about that guys!

 

[banned username 2]

Nobody is blaming anyone for getting ahead... we all strive and (hopefully) achieve our career paths, thats the name of the game...

Everyone does it, and so did I (thats why I am going to Germany on Monday instead of the Practice Area for steep turns)...

What the complaint is, is that the 300 hours guys are more worried about FMS's, RTU's, EGPWS, TCAS II, etc... and everything else instead of continuing to develop their basic skill set (which they should be doing at 300 hours)... You need to have the basics 100% as good as you can get them, and you can't tell me at 300 hours you have completed that goal...

Yeah, have fun dreaming about the future, but make sure you put 110% effort into mastering the "basics" before you worry about the advanced...

Like the old saying you have to crawl before you walk and walk before you run....

Well at 300 hours, most pilots have just barely learned to crawl (figuratively speaking).... Keep practicing so you can learn to walk... instead of dwelling on how to become an Olympic sprinter... have that as your ultimate goal, but plan the appropriate steps to get there and you won't fall over the first hurdle you come across...

 

[empenage]

What were we talking about?

 

[banned username 2]

Either PFT, RJDC, or Scope. I can't really remember, but guessing one of those I think I have a 90% chance of being right.

DOH!

 

[empenage]

Shibby:

Sorry there buddy. We get side-tracked now and then...OK more often than not....

 

[banned username 2]

Shibby:

Sorry there buddy. We get side-tracked now and then...OK more often than not....

SERIOUSLY SIDETRACKED!

We are like a bunch of old ladies on this board!!!

(No offense to any old ladies out there!)

 

[bobbysamd]

SERIOUSLY SIDETRACKED!

We are like a bunch of old ladies on this board!!!

(No offense to any old ladies out there!)

Perhaps. But, we do have some great and frequently enriching discussions!

 

[banned username 2]

Perhaps. But, we do have some great and frequently enriching discussions!

Now THAT I will give you... never a dull moment!

 

[JediNein]

At least folks here don't complain about the number of postings other folks make....

Good series guys. There's a lot of instant maturity in the above posts to those that are willing to listen.

Shibby, the costs of ERAU are astronomical. Financial aid will not cover all of the costs, especially of flight training. $18000 a year is a low-ball estimate.

What does the government allow for a college freshman? Under $3,000.

Your best bet is scholarships. If you don't have any, start applying. Treat applications as another class.

Interested in the military? Four-year and three-year scholarships require a few years service commitment and you are done. Five years after graduation you could be clear of any college debts. ERAU-Prescott has the best Air Force ROTC detachment outside of the Air Force Academy.

To become a corporate pilot requires a private pilot certificate, an instrument rating, a commercial pilot certificate, a multiengine rating, and around 1000 hours of total flight time plus 100 hours of multiengine time. These are also low-ball figures. I know folks that did internships (if you go to ERAU, get an internship, don't waste the connection) and were hired right after graduation as a co-pilot. Charter requires 500 hours total time if you want to hang out at Las Vegas, or 1300 hours if you want to fly for many cargo operators.

Pay after graduation? Could be nothing, if you don't find a job. It could be $13,000 as a first officer for a low budget airline. Calculate those loan costs very carefully. Going for an engineering or computer science degree and the first job might pay $32,000 a year.

Head over to:
www.jetcareers.com
www.studentpilot.net
www.studentpilot.com

Ask the same questions there. Read all you can. It's the first and most vital step as a pilot: Find out all available information before embarking on your journey. (P.S. a plan helps too!)

Oh, and if you haven't had calculus at the college level before, you might want to seriously consider taking it in a semester other than the first one.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein

 

[dmspilot00]

Please don't say that everyone with low-time or all the young people are immature and only want a jet job. I will be perfectly happy to be a CFI for 5000 hours. In my defense, there are plenty of immature adults out there, too.

Anyway, I agree with JediNein, about everything. ERAU is extremely expensive (20,000 + $6000 for flight training is more like a low-ball figure). Personally I would find a good traditional college and work on a degree in another field that interests you.

I attempted to take Calculus my first semester of college. After the first two weeks, my grades entered a stall. The third week they entered a spin. The fourth week they became a flat spin. The fifth week they turned into an inverted, flat spin, and by the sixth week I had decided to pull the parachute and ended up in a different class. (I guess I was flying a Cirrus.)

This from a person who got 100 percents in alg/trig in H.S....

 

[banned username 2]

ERAU is expensive, but it is a private school... what private school isn't expensive?

Financial aid will cover WAY MORE than $3,000 per year... I have a friend who is at ERAU-PRC and comes from a single parent home and is of very modest means... he is getting throught financially (and academically quite well I might add!)... Financial aid (read: loans) is covering about 90% of his expenses...

Another benefit is financial aid WILL cover your Flight Training at ERAU, because it is part of your degree program... If you go to ABC College and major in business or something and take flying at your local FBO, financial aid will NOT cover your Flight Training... Guess you'd better set aside $30,000-$35,000 for Flight Training!

ERAU is a very good school... It is expensive... but so is Harvard, Yale, Oxford and all the other top schools in their fields... Its a fact of life you deal with if you want to go there... I made it through and thousands of others have too...

As far as Corporate, I think Jedi-Nein is being a little optomistic on her hours she is quoting you... MAYBE at 1,000/100 you MIGHT get a Charter job.... any of the decent Corporate jobs will be north of 2,500/500 (My company requires 5,000TT/2,500 Multi/1,000-1,500 Turbine/500-1,000 Jet) be we are a huge international corporation (Fortune 100)

Its a long hard road but certainly not unattainable (hey I did it!) If you make the right steps you will get there, and don't let the above hours intimidate you... they come a lot faster than you think...

Good Luck and Fly Safe!

 

[Shibby]

LOL no problem about sidetracking or changing the topic, but wow alot of informative and uniformative posts But I really love flying, and the freedom in the skies..

But............... i could not get the money for the school like i thought i would..... so the plan backfired, and forced me to return to Minnesota. It costs money, i wish i had the money, then i would rush over there and learn and pass and fly my whole life. But... that wont happen for a while.. But im going to go to a local airport and sign up for flight lesson just so i can fly and get chance to explore the skies and build up my skills, hours, certifications etc... Thanks all for the help, and everything too. I will keep on checking on around just to meet people and learn more about aviation lifestyles, tips and tricks etc..

Thanks

Sam