February
2010
Fly and
Build Hours Free
Be
prepared to pay the very real cost of
your time, effort & commitment.
At the local flight school, there is
usually no shortage of optimism.
Enthusiastic students eagerly absorb the
teachings of their instructors and
methodically perform the checks and
duties in the airplanes on training
flights. This is where the freedom
of flight begins. This is where
careers are launched. Private and
professional pilots, all start
here.
This information was valid in the summer
of 2008, when there was an acute shortage
of instructors. However, even today
if you browse the aviation newsletters
and periodicals, youll see ads
running regularly for schools seeking all
classes of instructors. Some even
offer sign-up bonuses. A class 4
rated fellow has choices of where
hed like to work. Any class 1
instructors can pretty much dictate the
terms of employment. It would seem
that the shortage has been caused by many
aviation operators hiring instructors
away from the schools, offering the
so-called step up the ladder
in their careers. The person who
stays on as a career instructor is
rare.
Its a fact that many instructors
hold their ratings for the primary reason
of building time. Once they hit
some magic number of hours, theyre
gone from the schools , absorbed by the
current pilot shortage in commercial
aviation.
Make no mistake, theres a huge
commitment in time and money for the
person who decides to go the instructor
route, regardless of motives. In
many ways, the instructor is technically
a better pilot than one who scores a bush
flying job and then has no further
guidance outside experience.
For those pilots at the
crossroads, wondering what to do with
their new commercial license and 250 or
300 hours in their logbooks, there are
alternatives to instructing when it comes
to free time-building. When I say
free, it doesnt mean there
arent some sacrifices. These
are just not the financial
sacrifices. Theyre time,
effort and commitment.
Start with glider towing. First
off, a commercial license isnt a
requirement in most schools and
clubs. You may need to buy a
membership, pay dues and take the
mandatory training course with the
organization you fly for. The clubs
generally rely on members who hold
private pilot ratings to take turns in
the tow plane. But theyre
quite often happy to embrace the pilots
who have no interest in gliding, but just
want to build time towing. The
commercial glider schools do have some
minimum requirements, but with the
shortage of help these days, some may be
willing to train pilots at their own
expense on their tow planes.
A good summer of this type of work can
result in a couple of hundred hours in
your log book.
Parachute centers and schools also quite
often come up short in the pilot
department. This type of flying may
not appeal to everyone. Its
up and down, never takes you more than a
few miles from the airport, but its
good time building. Flying a jump
plane is not without risk, but once
again, most of the training is done by
the school or operator, and at their
expense. Youll need to learn
the workings of the operators
procedures and safety precautions.
In other words, just as in the glider
schools, there is a commitment on the
part of pilots to ensure all the rules
and regulations are understood and
followed.
Taking friends or other passengers along
in your rental aircraft can keep costs
down. Depending how much these
passengers are willing to pay, you may be
able to fly free. The regulations
state you cannot legally charge for
flights, but if your friends are just
along for the ride, they can offer to
assist with the costs.
If you cant find some way to fly
for free, another option is owning an
aircraft in partnership with other
pilots. The more partners you have,
naturally the lower the cost will
be. In a well-run group, the costs
can be less than half of renting from a
school. An advantage to ownership
is that you will learn a lot about the
problems, responsibilities, maintenance,
and hassles of aviation. Consider
it the cost of experience. Besides,
being an aircraft owner can look good on
a resume when you start applying for
work. An employer is looking for
people who understand what hes up
against in maintaining his
aircraft.
The commercial pilots first job is
sometimes a ramp position. It can
be hard work, but the advantages are
huge. Youll be working around
airplanes, learning all the while.
Be prepared with other skills like
carpentry, mechanics, computers, local
knowledge, anything that could be helpful
around the company youll be working
for. Probably the most important
thing a young pilot can bring to the
operation is his attitude. Combined
with good people-skills, he will go far
with the company if he is eager, ready
and willing to do the job. It
wont be long before the flying
starts.
Insurance requirements for small (and
large) aviation employers usually dictate
the minimum times their pilots
require. Its the job of the
low-time pilot to somehow build that time
in their log books. Pilots with
parents who have deep pockets may have an
advantage. Some, like budding
actors, work at other jobs to pay for
their flying. Still others get
lucky right out of commercial pilot
school and find work flying supplies,
doing aerial photography, power-line
patrol, camp checks, or whatever.
Some invest more time and cash for the
instructor rating. There are many
ways to build time at little or no
cost. Just be prepared to endure
the very real price of your time, your
effort and your commitment.
Youll be flying before you know it.
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