Titan5, from what I can glean, the best pay this side of the majors is at Air Whiskey, which starts at $24/blk-hr for the RJ and the BA146, and $21.75/blk-hr for the Dornier 328 (this according to their website). At Comair, the first yr pay is $21.75/blk-hr, and I understand that it is similar or the same at Skywest (don't know their equipment). ASA and ACA I think pay a little less (though ASA is in the middle of negotiating their contract, so this may change...someday). Then there are the others (one of my crashpad roommates came from Great Lakes, and was on his second year pay--coming to Comair was something like a $5 RAISE for him). So I have no idea where you get your $25/blk-hr info for the decent regionals.
IF you get a pay credit of 1 to 1.1K hrs, yeah, you'd make $22-25 large. Maybe some more people out there could give some anecdotal evidence of this happening at XYZ airways, but I'm not aware of anyone doing this at Comair, and I can't see how it could be done even doing tons of CD/standup lines after you get senior enough to get off of reserve and the 75 hr/month guarantee (course, this doesn't mean it hasn't happened). So right there, that's going to limit you to $21.75-24K, plus whatever you can get from per diem. Second year pay, at Comair at least, will be mid to high $30s over the next few years (the life of the contract).
As you can see from this thread alone, the time in training varies greatly, and has a great affect on pay. Comair you spend 2.5 mos in training, then get regular pay when you go to IOE. My ex-Great Lakes roommate had long breaks in training because of...whatever problems they were having at that time, I don't remember those particulars at the moment. You can see 46Driver had EIGHT months...Something else to consider besides just straight pay (I would also consider the stability of the parent company, and whether it was a wholly owned subsidiary, i.e., whether the work is susceptible to a contract that could be ending soon, or amended in bankruptcy court).
Back to the original subject. I got my reserve job before ever leaving active duty. Since the augmentation unit I'm affiliated with is part of training command, there are more than the 48 regular drills and two weeks active a regular SELRES can expect, plus my drills are almost never going to be on weekend (since the training squadron we augment RARELY, if ever, flies then, unless I want to do a weekend cross country for a detachment to Key West
). I do a two leg commute to CVG that is somewhat painful, but is ameliorated by two other destinations here on the Redneck Riviera that I can catch a flight out of in a pinch. I would not dream of leaving tax-free, sunshine-filled, CONSERVATIVE, NW Florida where we have family, unless it gets enormously painful commuting. As for travelling space-available on passes, that can be taxing because of loads, so be prepared to set aside a day each way.
Several more final things: 1) I'm STILL waiting on my USNR orders so I can start to drill (got out 12/31/02) at the unit. Do your USN separation physical within 3 mos of getting out, even though you can do it as early as 6 mos, because one form (SF 93) has to be recently completed or New Orleans will kick your Reserve package back. Seems like the paperwork takes two months, so don't plan on supplementing your income before that time. Depending on how many drills you can do (Comair allows two weeks/month I believe) and how many your Reserve unit has available, you'll make ~$20-25 large in the reserves. Unless you go on active duty for a year, don't expect $50K!
2) Airline equipment: If you get your flight kit from Scott's (the one available from the Navy/Marine supply system doesn't fit), then only get one external pocket, because it's a beee-ahtch to wrestle the thing into its holder on the RJ if you have two. Don't worry too much about the size of your overnight bag--used to be everyone got the 23" tall one, because it fit well in the crew compartment on the RJ, but with the reinforced/remanufactured doors we're getting, it won't fit in the crew baggage compartment now, so you have to throw it in a yellow bag in the hold anyway. Try to buy the overnight bag, your headset, and most of your uniform items at the company store--it's an interest free loan you pay off in installments. If you want to save a few bucks, you can buy your shirts (vhpilotshirts.com--poor service, high value), pants (local JCPennys), Bancroft hat (Bancroft hat company 8004488090--poor service, duopoly on caps at Comair) and shoes (local NEX/BX) elsewhere for cheaper.
3) Find your crashpad BEFORE you go to training at CVG, because you can get a decent deal with roomates (~$150/month) or you can find a crappy deal (>$250/month) with roomates. Either way, if you have to get a room for training (and at Comair, you do, as they only pay for the first week at the hotel), it won't be as easy as it may seem to find something in the more affordable range.
Good luck, and PM me with any questions I didn't already cover.
) for us, 
for the mainline guys, who I really feel for--no crocodile tears either, because I think management is doing A GREAT JOB using the issue to play the two groups against each other. I'm just sorry my MEC has taken the issue it has regarding hiring mainline furloughees {althouth I do understand that they don't want to give up a bargaining chip for nothing}, and that the mainline MEC isn't willing to at least consider the Comair MECs' concerns. I think it's the senior guys that both run the MECs and drive the issues, and that it ends up hurting both rank and file groups, especially when there's no compromise).
