time spent building hours

[U-I pilot]

I am wondering how long it has taken people to go from basic training times (SEL, MEL, instrument rating, CFI, CFII) to have times that regionals will take. Also wondering what you did to gain these hours (flight instructing, banner towing, cargo, etc...). So if you instructed to gain the time, I would like to know about what type of hours you got yearly and what levels you instructed and anything else you think would help.
Thanks in advance.

 

[wanabe_fo]

the million dollar question

Most people instruct. I have been instructing for almost 2 years now. However, I have done something slightly different than most instructors. I instruct part time and have another business that pays the bills(computer). I take the money I make from flight instructing and buy more flight time for myself. When I first started instructing I had a lot of instrument students so my "stick time" was rather limited. Buy purchasing additional time for myself, I was able to stay sharp. I see a lot of companies will blatently advertise "that if you show up to an interview with us and have only been CFI'ing recently, you will FAIL the sim portion of the interview". I tis my hopes that my 1/2 dual given time and 1/2 purchased time since my comm. will help me when it does come interview time.

However, just purchasing all you time will ) be boring after a while and 2) will not net you the experience of CFI'ing.

As for times per month, I did 40 in the winter and 100 or so in the summer in a good month.

My .02

 

[bobbysamd]

Building time

My experience is a little different than most. I was a career changer. I had flown for pleasure for about five years before I decided to make the switch. I had worked on ratings all during the time, but my work hours were not conducive to proper training. So, I had a lot more time than most newbies - about 950 total and about 35 multi when I starting to apply to places. I was hired in my first full-time job, instructing at ERAU at about 1300 total but still only 49 of multi. I paid for all of the multi, for training and for shooting approaches - that B55 Baron was fun!!

I built hours quickly after I started working, but in singles at first. I had 1500 hours about three months later. Six months later, I got into the multis. A year after I started at Riddle I had about 2250 total and about 300 of multi.

The multi time still wasn't enough for most commuters, though. Back then, they wanted 500 of multi. As you can see at the left, I eventually got that. I started to be called with maybe 600 or so of multi. Don't forget, that was the early '90s. A lot of commuters these days only want 200 of multi - though I'd bet competitive times are more like 500+.

Hope that helps. Of course, the more flying you can do, the quicker you'll build experience.