multiengine.net

ajf005 said:
What do yall think about this company www.multiengine.net ??? PFT???
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Man, people waive that PFT word around here almost as much as scab!

There is a post about it on flightinfo. Essentially, the company does aerial mapping or something, and normally flies 4-7 hours at a time. It's all part 91 flying - and which you, as PIC, will fly and can log legally.

Will there be someone else in the plane with you to make sure you don't do anything stupid? I think so, yes. Will the be logging the time? Who knows. Is the company praying off of people who want cheap multi time and making some extra cash off their contracts? Maybe...

You're flying, you're PIC, I'd log it without regret based on what I know now.

~wheelsup
 
and at 35 or 40 an hour, it doesn't sound too bad to be honest. But all I know is what I see on the website and what I read above so...
 
mtsu_av8er said:
Of course it's PFT!

I'll tell you what.

Why not just go and get paid to fly???
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Touche!

Get your MEI; then you won't have to worry about finding the cheapest multi rate around.
 
fender_jag said:
Touche!

Get your MEI; then you won't have to worry about finding the cheapest multi rate around.
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At the risk of sounding like a lazy bum, sometimes teaching isn't the best option for some...

I had a friend who needs 200 more hours to qualify for a citation SIC, which a company is offering him. Instead of spending $7k on his CFI, CFI-I, and MEI he could build the 200 hours for about the same cost with this deal, in about 1/5 of the time.

And I don't agree that it's PFT. Taking a seat away from a pilot that should be getting paid is PFT, or paying your employer for training after which they will offer you a JOB is PFT. I rode along in a navajo FOR FREE and flew the 91 legs FOR FREE. Was I taking the job of the primary pilot? No. He was still there, getting paid. This situation is no different, except that you pay for the multi time.

It's timebuilding. There's nothing wrong with it if people have the $$ to burn. Sometimes people on here have such closed minds...

~wheelsup
 
"It's timebuilding. There's nothing wrong with it if people have the $$ to burn. Sometimes people on here have such closed minds..."

What's the difference between having an opinion that's different than yours and a "closed mind"? Is there any difference?

I actually agree with you about timebuilding vs PFT. I've heard Skywest doesn't consider timebuilding hours as quality experience and I'm sure you could run into interviewers at any airline that would agree. Other than that, I don't see the harm in timebuilding as not everyone makes a good CFI.

That said, I'd sure hate to be called closed minded if I ever disagree with you....
 
DE727UPS said:
That said, I'd sure hate to be called closed minded if I ever disagree with you....
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I made that statement because it seems 9 out of 10 posters on here are the red-in-the-face you-must-instruct-or-you're-a-pft'er type.

How, exactly, is saying there are other options besides instructing, having a closed mind?

~wheelsup
 
Let me clarify something: In the literal sense, it's not PFT. But I think most would agree that building hours and getting paid to do so certainly trumps getting out your checkbook. $35/hour for multi time is great, and if one has the money and doesn't want to instruct, then it's definitely a viable option. However, I'd rather put that $$$ in a high-yielding Money Market Account, buy some stock, pay bills, etc. etc.
 
fender_jag said:
Let me clarify something: In the literal sense, it's not PFT. But I think most would agree that building hours and getting paid to do so certainly trumps getting out your checkbook. $35/hour for multi time is great, and if one has the money and doesn't want to instruct, then it's definitely a viable option. However, I'd rather put that $$$ in a high-yielding Money Market Account, buy some stock, pay bills, etc. etc.
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I don't disagree, except with the stock statement :). I think the DOW is down 2% for the year...:(.

I wish I would've bought a couple houses when I graduated college...I could retire right now and never have to worry about furloughs, etc...

~wheelsup
 
DE727UPS said:
I actually agree with you about timebuilding vs PFT. I've heard Skywest doesn't consider timebuilding hours as quality experience and I'm sure you could run into interviewers at any airline that would agree.
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It's true. In my interview they were looking at my logbook and asking me about some of the time that I had logged and specifically if I was working towards a rating at that time. That time was logged as PIC but not dual given. In many cases I was with my CFI who had gotten my my MEI and we were doing some long x-c flights on IFR flight plans. They didn't like it but they accepted it. I think the basic premise is that if you are just taking up a seat and not working on anything, it doesn't matter if you can legally log it one way or another. They are looking for experience, not time. And rightfully so.
 
Funny thing about this company...................I posted about this program once before months ago, saying it might be a good way to build (buy) some multi-time, and got multiple replies telling me it was PFT. Now, people are saying it's not, lol. Personally, after thinking it over, I can see where people might say that. You're helping a company make money, and you're paying them to do it. Sounds a lot like Gulfstream to me. It is a great price per hr for multi time, and I know a guy that did a 100 hr block with them. But, it still seems like it should be a paying job for a qualified pilot, ie: you're flying for revenue for the company. Flame away if you will..........
 
Why don't I just fly the MD-88 for free in order to build enough experience to become an MD-88 captain?

Just timebuilding ya know!
 
I looked at the website and I can't figure out what they are doing. If you're paying to be the only pilot in the airplane so the company doesn't have to pay a pilot, then it's PFJ. Gulfstream style PFJ is bad for the profession, for obvious reasons that have been hashed out ad nauseam, though there is no doubt in my mind that it works for the individual.
 
As far as time building goes I think it can be beneficial. I did approx. 50 hrs of night time building in a twin right after I got my instructor ratings and was looking for a job as a CFI. It allowed me to gain some valuable instrument experience and confidence as well as build time in type which later allowed me to instruct in my school's twin as an MEI when I got a job later on (wasn't planned but worked out that way). That enabled me to build the bulk of my ME time as an MEI. Without the time building I wouldn't have met insurance mins to use my MEI. However I don't believe the time building would have been appealing in an interview by itself. The MEI time was far more valuable in my logbook and probably more appealing to an interviewer.
 
Here is the post on flightinfo. This is all I know about the company as well.

flightinfo post said:
This www.multiengine.net is for Aerial Survey, Inc. out of Galveston, Texas. They fly platform and pipeline patrol in Twin Comanches. Here's a post of mine about them from another thread:

I have a buddy who worked at Aerial Survey Inc. for about 5 years. Immaculate Twin Comanches and excellent maintenance. For the timebuilding, you ride along on the platform inspection flights, but you actually do all of the flying. Don't start with me about the actual ASI pilots also logging the time, that's between them and their logbooks. It's all part 91 so if you're a timebuilder and flying the airplane you can log it. Each flight is about 5-7 hours, so you build time quick. Super cheap and I DO know of a few people who have been hired at regionals with the bulk of their multi time from ASI. The big problem seems to be scheduling. I think they are usually booked up 6 months out in advance. Call over there for info, the website isn't updated or responded to from what I understand.
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Take it for what it's worth...and don't shoot the messenger, please.

I have a friend who owned a Beech TravelAir, a light twin. He built almost all of his time after training via it - and instructed maybe 50 hours or so. He flies a 1900 now and is in a class with ASA next month, he's had no problems getting hired at regionals...

~wheelsup
 
I probably should have emphasized that I think time building can be beneficial not time building in the PFT/PFJ style.
 
wheelsup said:
At the risk of sounding like a lazy bum, sometimes teaching isn't the best option for some...

I had a friend who needs 200 more hours to qualify for a citation SIC, which a company is offering him. Instead of spending $7k on his CFI, CFI-I, and MEI he could build the 200 hours for about the same cost with this deal, in about 1/5 of the time.

~wheelsup
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And what does your friend do when he gets furloughed or laid off with low time and no instructor certificates?

He may not like instructing but having those certificates says something to potential employers and it's a fallback if there is a snag in the employment plan.

Just a different take on it ...
 
pilot602 said:
And what does your friend do when he gets furloughed or laid off with low time and no instructor certificates?
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You sound like a stage check instructor :).

"What if you were flying all alone, at night, and the weather suddenly went from VFR to 0-0, which was totally unforecasted, and you didn't have any IFR charts with you and your flashlight batteries died and your headset broke and your radios are only picking up static? Do you feel lucky?".

Unfortunately, life is full of "what if's?". The same flight school he would be instructing at could lose 80% of their fleet in a hurricane, like mine did.

CFi'ing is probably the safest way of "time building" that we do. But in the long run, you're working toward an end goal of XXX hours to be hired by XXX company. As with anything in life, there are risks invovled...but I'm not really sure thats the issue here, or maybe it is? I dunno.

Just like investing, there are ways to make more money or get to your goal faster. They're just riskier.

~wheelsup
 
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