How did u build time?

C

cuy

New Member
I have a question to all those who have experience doing all sorts of things to build time. How did u guys build time for your commercial pilot's license? How did u guys build time after your CPL in order to be hireable as a CFI or something? I want to hear different accounts on what people did just to give me an idea beforehand on what my options are once i get my commercial.

Also, what are your opinions on fractionally owning a twin and sharing expenses? Are there any things i should be careful about? Any special considerations?

I would greatly appreciate any advice.:)
 
Prior to getting my commercial, I paid for all my flight hours. I can't really think of any other way to do it unless you/someone you know owns a plane and they let you fly for free. After commercial I flight instructed until I had enough hours to fly traffic watch and now I do both so I pretty much doubled the rate at which I build hours. No comment about owning a twin
 
Bought partial ownership in a plane and traveled in it like a rock star :rawk:

BTW - it was never about time building for me - all about going cool places and using my plane to support the community.
 
I flew down to Florida, and then to IAG and BKL with TLewis.
That and a few flights to Door county got it for me.

For the commercial, i know a "guy" with a C320, which i can fly for free.

all i can say is NETWORK
 
I paid for the hours. I was flying with a buddy who also needed to build hours and we both enjoyed it. After the Commercial I got m instructor ratings and haven't stopped flying since.....
 
Murdoughnut said:
Bought partial ownership in a plane and traveled in it like a rock star :rawk:

BTW - it was never about time building for me - all about going cool places and using my plane to support the community.
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Rock on, that's my kind of flying:rawk:
 
flight instructed, then flew 135-pax in a lear 55, then flew pax in a chieftain, now fly 135-cargo in a Falcon 20. when does building time end?
 
As a fresh private I mostly paid for all of it.
A year into the hobby I had the chance to tow, do sightseeing and photoflights. ~ 50-75 hours came from that. The major part of my hours is selfpaid, only the last ~ 80 hours didnt cost a dime.

CFI'ing will keep it cheap, I certainly do not anticipate to be paying for this forever even though I can see aircraft ownership on my horizon again.
I realized that the less I worried about flight time and how to get it cheaply - the more cheap flight time came my way. :)
 
Douglas said:
You mean didn't cost a dime, except for your pro rata share, right? ;)
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Negative Sir. European rules are not subject to the FAA's interpretation of commercial activity.
Flying sightseeing (for a club in my case), towing or dropping meatbombs does not require a CPL there and it is perfectly legal to fly these flights without paying a dime. You just cannot receive money other than reasonable tips. But the European also don't think of flying as rocket science, afterall - you do not need a complex, high performance or tailwheel endorsement. In some cases I flew airplanes without ever getting checked out in them by a CFI, all that is required is to make yourself familiar with the type of plane if it is below 2 tons, has one fan and does not require a type rating. Contrary to our mindset here, flying is a pretty selfresponsible activity there, but nobody constantly looks to sue each other all the time, either. Rental checkouts are common though, but not regulatory and usually by far less complicated than here. Just gotta spare the big bucks for the plane, userfees, landing fees and the Euro 1.90/ minute it costs to talk to a weather briefer :D. I think at my old field Avgas sells for Euro 2.85/ liter today.

BTW: There is no Safety Pilot rule in Europe. It's either training (with Instrument Instructor) or having a rating flying in the system. Can't be under the hood unless there is a Instructor on board. Can't log the time if you're just looking out the window. Flight time displayed as such is discarded and discounted if discovered as such. Different country - different game.
 
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