the better stepping stone?

[Flyguy5432H]

hello all,
was wondering what would be considered a better stepping stone into the better flying jobs, flight instructing or banner towing?

i put off starting my CFI/I until i saw what the job market was going to be like, but have found a possible opportunity to fly banners for the summer season. depending on schedule i do not know if i'd be able to commit to finishing my CFI/I until after the summer season ends.

i like the idea of the towing job as it's actual flying over instructing, but instructing would be a more stable job in the long run.

any opinions? thanks in advance

 

[Loafman]

If it leaves the ground and pays money, grab it up before someone else does.

 

[Flyguy5432H]

i know what you mean Loafman, if it has wings i'll fly it. and if i get paid for it, even better.

i sent in my resume for the banner towing job yesterday but
haven't heard back yet, but they are looking for quite a few pilots this summer so even with my low hours i may have a shot.

as for the CFI/I, the place where i'm going to do the training will give you an interview at their school once you graduate as an incentive to train there. if i do my CFI/I now i'd be finishing during their peak time and have the best shot at getting hired. but, if i take the banner towing job i may have to put off the CFI/I and miss out on that opportunity.

i'm leaning towards the CFI/I as it'll give me another rating to lead to a job, the banner place will be hiring again next summer, but it sure is tempting to be able to fly all summer.

what to do, what to do...

 

[Jump Pilot]

Jumpers?

 

[turning2]

I certainly hope you're not referring to aerial messages in daytona beach, if so you might want to do a search here for previous postings about Tim P's operation. Just a heads up.

2

 

[Flyguy5432H]

thanks alot for the heads up turning2. thats the exact operation i saw on the flight instructor home page and figured why not, might be a good way to pick up a few hours, but not with an operation of that.

looks like the guys been around a few places, and not had a good review in any of them.

i'll stick with getting the CFI/I for now

 

[bobbysamd]

Instructing

As others noted, some of these banner jobs are sleazy. As a flight instructor you will be taught by your students more about flying and aviation than you learned as a student, and more than you can ever imagine.

Many real professions require new entrants to serve some kind of paid internship. Interns and residents in the medical profession teach and learn. Aviation is/should be no exception. Moreover, your school places you in an ideal situation in which you can get a job after you graduate. Assuming the place is reputable, as long as you watch your Ps and Qs, in all likelihood the interview will be a formality and the job will be yours to lose.

Good luck with your plans.

 

[turning2]

Wouldn't hurt to shed light on his operation to any other people that might be thinking about it. Get the word out, its the only way to stop crooks like him from taking advantage of innocent people. I've seen and heard of too many horror stories with that joker. BTW, his webpage hasn't changed in the 3yrs I've known about his operation, funny that each year he's looking for the exact same amount of people for summer positions. Just another snake oil salesman....

 

[GearUpBitch]

I agree with Bobby...I learned more about flying in the first month of instructing than I did the first year I spent getting my ratings. If you are fairly motivated, like being around people and enjoy helping others, than becoming a CFI is the best thing to do...in my opinion. I know towing seems like you may become a better pilot because you are flying the whole time, but trust me, you will get in plenty of flying showing students the right way to do a crosswind landing or cross-controlled stall. It was the best thing that I ever did...and some of my best friends right now are the guys and gals I instructed with 3-4 years ago! You get a lot more out of it than you put into it!

 

[jumppilot03]

Tim P in Daytona is a snake. I have some friends that were screwed by him, and dont know how they are going to get their money back. If I were you, and wanted to go banner towning, I would only go to a place that was recommended to me. Although times are tough, and any job seems like a good job, watch your butt. In this world, there always seems to be someone out there that wants to take advantage of the situation. In this case tim p (he doesnt even deserve the respect of capitalizing his name) is taking advantage of the airline industry in its downtime and young pilots wanting the big break as a first job in the industry.

 

[pipers]

I think that people under estimate the experience and knowledge that you can gain from instructing. I had no idea that I would learn so much. It seems to be a pretty good road...

 

[gopherflight]

Instructing can be a hassle sometimes. But every now and then you'll have a student that thrives to excel and is highly motivated. It becomes a great reward taking this student from 0 to commercial, making the job worthwhile.

 

[wil]

I just finished a 4 day trip with an F.O. that I thank god I am a Flight Instructor(always stay current!!). Not that he was bad but I had to remind him of the little things (just cause it has ground lift dumping does not mean you don't roll in wind correction!!). You will never regret training for and passing your CFI/II! I have not taught in 3 years but I keep myself current and hopefully will work on my MEI in the near future- just for my own edification so to speak. I wish you the best- Wil

 

[Wang Chung]

My first flying jobs were banner towing (3 companies altogether). It was a helluva lot of fun. If you like "stick-and-rudder" yanking and banking type flying (banner pickups and drops, flying tight patterns, etc.), then you'd enjoy banners. Banner towing is generally summer seasonal work, so you aren't making a career out of it.

I've never instructed, so I don't know how the two types of jobs compare. I know that everybody has their own idea of what constitutes "quality" time and what doesn't. Towing was great fun but it isn't "intellectual" flying, nor does it involve IFR. But when I got my current freight job, nobody cared where my time came from.

The problem is there ARE plenty of shady operators out there. Aerial Messages is one, from what I have heard. I flew for a shady operator myself and quit midway thru the season - went over to the "competition" and finished the summer with another operator that had a much better, more reputable operation. A friend of mine did the same thing about a week before me. You really gotta do your homework on the outfit that you're looking at (i.e. post a message on this board, etc).

Building time by flying unairworthy junk airplanes or getting ripped off in the process is NEVER worth risking your safety, your certificate or your INTEGRITY.

Wang.

 

[Flyguy5432H]

thanks for all the info guys, really saved me some trouble.