I assume you are talking about Alpine Air Express that fly BE-99 and BE-1900?! I believe they are PFT....
You believe wrong.
Program Goal
To provide initial training and Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 135 Second-in-Command (SIC) qualification and certification. After pilot qualification, a temporary assignment on Alpine Air scheduled Part 135 Air Taxi route system for practical flight experience.
Prerequisites
FAA Commercial Multi-engine license with current instrument privileges. Second class Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) medical.
Visas
Non- U.S. Citizens not permitted due to the Department of Labor Regulations
Locations
Ground Training - Provo, Utah / Flight Training - Billings, Montana
Training Duration
Initial ground and flight qualification - 15 days. After qualification you will receive approximately six to eight months of actual flight experience (logged).
Flight Experience
The flight experience will be approximately 25-40 hours per month conducted under instrument flight rules (IFR). Duties include loading and unloading cargo.
Course Content
Ground Training - 10 days (64 hours with an additional sixteen hours of aircraft systems) includes initial company indoctrination and orientation, Crew Resource Management (CRM), Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM), routes, operations specifications, policies and procedures, aeronautical knowledge, regulations, etc.
Flight Training - 5 days (4-6 flight hours and a flight check). The practical experience will be given on the assigned operational route with a guarantee of 150 to 1000 hours of flight experience depending on the training block times contracted for.
Tuition Cost
Beech 99 aircraft: $19,100.00 (300 hour program) Beech 1900 aircraft: $27,100.00 (300 hour program)
All books, study materials, and facilities are included in the tuition cost. Tuition prices subject to change without notice. Rates available for 150 hours programs also.
Payments
$500.00 Class reservation fee - due with application.
Balance due upon arrival for training. Payment will be made by Certified Check, Money Order, Credit Card (Please note there will be a processing fee for Credit Cards).
PFT in the true sense, is paying for training for a position that is required by the FAA. None of those positions are you required to be there. Think, "can the flight leave without you?", if it can, you are not required.
PFT in the true sense, is paying for training for a position that is required by the FAA. None of those positions are you required to be there. Think, "can the flight leave without you?", if it can, you are not required.
You're buying the gas to put in the owners P-51 that he so arrogantly commutes to work in. So, maybe it's not pay for training. It may just be a pay for AvGas out of the sheer generosity of your over-abundant heart that you would so graciously provide for your employer's eccentricities and in return he teaches you to fly his planes.
There might be better ways of gaining experience.
On another note, and this is a legitimate question, is the SIC truly not required on these operations? How so? Are they operating with an autopilot in lieu of a second in command? Gosh in that case you would be an SIC-in-lieu-of-an-autopilot, an inauspicious position if ever there was one.
Relax! There are jobs for you out there. You do not need to settle for paying for anything in this market. Get your experience in a legitimate and respectable manner like flight instruction. Go fly freight when you get the hours. That experience will pay you dividends in your future. Be the best pilot you can be at what you are doing right now and the opportunities will develop. Good luck
If you're gonna go the PFT route, Gulfstream's probably the smarter choice. BAD idea though.
Alpine will hire you if you have the time. The SIC is worthless. Basically paying for flight time. They are a single pilot outfit no sic is required. As is NO auto pilot because they are cargo only. Most Metro's in the freight world are also APless. People that have to buy time welcome to the world of freight. I flew freight for 4 years to the same destinations as Alpine and knew some of their guys. What is the point of this thread. If you don't have atleast 1200TT then you are worthless in the cargo world. Operators barely keep planes flying legally they are not going to limit themselves to an SIC.
.....and with revenue passengers in the back, paying them to be in that seat is totally PFT.
If you are required by the regs to be onboard...you should get paid. Don't pay $20,000 and essentially steal a paying job from an FO.