Who's door can I beat down.....

[mcjohn]

Sun Western Flyers in Yuma, AZ hires at 500 for 135 VFR Cargo. We just hired two guys w/ about 500.

Thankyou kindly Morretis. That's exactly what I was looking for.

Suck it up and flight instruct. Go to a school that will let you fly a lot of hours and you will be higherable in under a year. Then you can get one of those jobs you are looking for with benefits and start making progress in your career. If you are working at a flight school it should be very cheap to get your next ratings.

If you get a job for a 135 as a dispatcher or plane washer, you have your foot in the door but you are not getting any hours, so whats the use of having a foot in the door, except making it easier for the pilots with the hours to drop off their resume.

If you absolutly need insurance get a job outside of aviation, that has benefits, and a flexible schedule, so you can flight instruct in your free time. I waited tables to pay for my flight education and to support my flight instructing career

This is exactly how I got myself into the bad situation I'm in now. Good advice but it just didn't work out too well for me. I work 2 days a week at a hotel to keep benefits and pursue flight instructing 5 days a week. We are totally dead. What few students I have flake out and cancel a lot and don't want to fly often. I find myself sitting in the office all day answering the phone for free and selling pilot supplies. Time to leave town but I really don't want to suffer this way anymore. I just want to work full time and start flying again. I'd rather tow banners now considering what I've been through. Thanks for the input Refuge Pilot. All is appreciated.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Move to FL or somewhere in the NE where there is more flight training going on.

Ive hear the Bay Area/or just south of it, in CA has a lot of wealthy folks who need ways to spend thier money on leisurely things. There are also a LOT of small GA airports in the area too. Look at a sectional for the area, you'll see what I mean.

You could easily be a freelance at 35/hr. and build a decent student base.

 

[wheelsup]

If you can't find a cargo gig, www.flightcareers.com makes a good gig for a CFI looking to build a ton of time in 12 months. I flew just under 1000 hours there in 11.5 months, 280 multi. Good pay, >$30k if you want to work, full benefits and nonrev benefits on mesa/HP (I guess US now). But you gotta move to farmington for a year.

 

[Capt1124]

The instructing business is extremely rough. The only way I could make it work was working for big schools where they provide you with students. I don't think American Flyers has benefits, maybe FS does. I haven't been at that end of the industry for a long time but it would be much much easier to geta job with 1220 hours than 500, so I would suggest looking for a quality instructing job as well as a cargo job.

 

[countbat]

Try to get a job at FS in Vero Beach as CFI. Good benefits and a lot of flying time. Acrobatics that is.

 

[Nolife]

Try Southern Seaplane in New Orleans. They have some check runs in both C210 and C206. They hire guys with 135 VFR mins. Also check out www.jsfirm.com there is an ad for a coporate pilot to fly a Cirrus. Good luck.

 

[silver02ex]

I don't know what freight company will hire with 500 hrs. I would say go teach til you get 1200 hrs. then apply at those 135 place, like where I work. I know that we always hire about 1-3 guys a month since they the pilots are going to the airlines once their 9 months contract is up.

 

[Photoflight]

I think GTA out of Lancaster TX does the VFR 135 thing....haven't heard a ton of great stuff about the operation though.

 

[Bringupthebird]

Benefits, QOL items, etc., are things an employer is willing to add to their cost of doing business in order to reduce turnover and promote loyalty and longevity. They want to keep valuable employees. At 500 hours you have relatively low "value" so those types of positions are rare and they are designed to reward those who want to stay for a long time, not to be exploited by the short-timer.

Find ways to add "value" to your resume and you'll have a better chance of finding one of the rare doors you're seeking. By the way, as one who has hired pilots in the past, whoring yourself out and padding the logbook do not add value. They are red flags, all too easy to spot.

 

[RefugePilot]

Benefits, QOL items, etc., are things an employer is willing to add to their cost of doing business in order to reduce turnover and promote loyalty and longevity. They want to keep valuable employees. At 500 hours you have relatively low "value" so those types of positions are rare and they are designed to reward those who want to stay for a long time, not to be exploited by the short-timer.

Find ways to add "value" to your resume and you'll have a better chance of finding one of the rare doors you're seeking. By the way, as one who has hired pilots in the past, whoring yourself out and padding the logbook do not add value. They are red flags, all too easy to spot.

As Bringupthebird said your value as a 500 hour pilot is minimal. If you really want stability, benefits and QOL, you should stay at the hotel. If you find a job in aviation with 500 hours, it will probably be from a bottom feeder company that wont provide benefits, long term opportunities, or QOL. I can't imagine any aviation company offering benefits for working 2 days a week.

I have been instructing for over 3 years as an indepedent, because the school where I was locally was one of those scheister(sp?) schools we all read about, and I refused to be exploited that way. Once I had enough clients I was making a decent income and had the freedom to dictate my own schedule. I had to work 7 days a week, and no insurance. I did have a lot of opportunities come up as a result of this but only in single engine aircraft.

Looking back on it I wish I had gone to a busy flight school, got my hours and got my next job. If I had done that I would have about 1000 hours of turbine by now instead of only 78 hours of multi. But then again if I look back at my projected career path 5 years ago when I signed up to become a pilot; I should be sitting in some heavy metal, working 12 days a month and making 6 figures, not flying Tomahawks.

Get your hours up however you can, flight instructing is the easiest way to do that. Don't waste time at a school that doesn't provide you a lot of students, flight instructing can be hard enough without waisting years getting nowhere. I know of one in Central TX needing a flight instructor soon, you will get 70 hours a month minimum, if you are willing to fly a Tomahawk. I also know people who flew for Southern Sea planes in New Orleans with 500 hours, it can be a frightening experience but a good way to build hours. PM me and I can put you in touch with some of their ex-pilots if you want more details.