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

[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.

 

[OUPilot]

Not to sound like a wise guy, but you can flight instruct and pay your dues just like everyone else. (Don't take that the wrong way)

 

[mcjohn]

I enjoy flight instructing even though it's rough a times. I just need to be busier. Problem is I need to move to another town to work at a busier school and that means selling my house etc... I'll probably shoot a resume to MAPD since they offer benefits and great upgrade to the BE-58 but I'm also looking into banners again. I heard of a place that does 2 weeks on of traveling around the S.E. towing banners and then 2 weeks off. That would be ideal and my wife could stay back home at the house. Sounds like it would be a situation to log X-C.

OUPilot, I understand about payin the dues and I am. I've been CFiing for over a year now but I havn't even reached 200 hours dual given.

Refuge Pilot, PM coming your way. Thanks.

Bringupthebird, loyalty and longevity is exactly what I have to offer. I aim to build a solid resume and that involves staying with a company for a while and hopefully getting involved in training for that company. As far as whoring myself out, I'm doing that right now by wearing my 3 stripe epaulette uniform and running an office and selling pilot supplies for free. They can't make me do it of course but who ever is here is the one who gets the rare student that walks in the door.
Padding the log book?! 3+ years of flying and I only have 500 hrs. No padding here!

Thanks Nolife, I'm going to be looking into all that and RefugePilot suggested the same.

Anyone have more advice? I'll take all I can get!

 

[Amish RakeFight]

OUPilot, I understand about payin the dues and I am. I've been CFiing for over a year now but I havn't even reached 200 hours dual given.

WOW.

Averaged out, that's less than 17 hrs. a month. You should be getting at least that a week.

 

[mcjohn]

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

What kind of bad things have you heard? I can't stomach working for a shady operation. That's not the way I want to pay my dues.

 

[mcjohn]

WOW.

Averaged out, that's less than 17 hrs. a month. You should be getting at least that a week.

Yeah, no sh!t right? People tend to think that I'm all about skipping over paying dues and stuff but I think it's clear where my desperation stems from.
It's a shame because I'm a darn good instructor (according to my students.)
Please help.

 

[time builder]

FO programs can be an alternative, if you're airline ready, work hard, and have the money. 600 to 700 hours with one or two hundred turbine hours can open up alot of interview opportunities as an FO. I've seen a pretty high percentage of them get interviews in that range.

 

[mcjohn]

I don't have the money because I've already spent 40g's to get where I am now. My biggest fear of FO programs is that I'd be lumped in with either rich trust fund types or old misable farts trying to go for that final career change. And then I'd probably get sucked into working for them and training those same types. It is important to me to work for a reputable company along side good people. Flying's fun but who I share the cockpit with is important.

 

[belchfire]

I don't have the money because I've already spent 40g's to get where I am now. My biggest fear of FO programs is that I'd be lumped in with either rich trust fund types or old misable farts trying to go for that final career change. And then I'd probably get sucked into working for them and training those same types. It is important to me to work for a reputable company along side good people. Flying's fun but who I share the cockpit with is more important.

Watch the old farts comments. They will be your instructors
when you get somewhere worth being. I know that as a
highly qualified CFI you have all the answers. I gaurandamm
tee you that you don't know all the questions.

In fact McJohnson, with an attitude like that you're going to
end up staying after class washing my car, empting buttcans,
taking my Miller Lite cans to the rec center and bringing me
the change...

and you may still bust indoc!

FNG's...OMG!!!

 

[mcjohn]

Watch the old farts comments. They will be your instructors
when you get somewhere worth being.

Old "miserable" farts. Miserable was the key word. Age means nothing to me. Why would it? Sorry to offend you.

I know that as a highly qualified CFI you have all the answers. I gaurandamm
tee you that you don't know all the questions.

I'm only a CFI. Not CFII or MEI. Not highly qualified.

In fact McJohnson, with an attitude like that you're going to
end up staying after class washing my car, empting buttcans,
taking my Miller Lite cans to the rec center and bringing me
the change...

Doh! Whoa.....I seriously hope you don't hire me if that's the case. However, that was pretty freakin hilarious.

and you may still bust indoc!

FNG's...OMG!!

Relax. Sorry about the "age" misunderstanding.

 

[belchfire]

Glad you the humor in it! Many don't!