Regional Pilots what would you do?

S.T.Aviator

S.T.Aviator

Well-Known Member
HELP!!!! Need your advice on flight schools.
Two choices, what would you do?

1) Excellent quality of training, sructured program.
Program is mostly single engine. As an instructor
you would log 90% SE time and the pay is good
with a good volume of student doing Prof prog.
Completion time gauranteed 8 months.

2) Quality of instruction is questionable. No structure,
all self study. Program is 95% ME. Instructors log 80%
ME time, very busy school. The pay is poor.
Completion time 7-12 months.



- Both programs are very similar in cost.
- I do well in either structured on non structured, very motivated student.

Your opinions will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
 
I'm a flight instructor, so you'll probably ignore me completely but here's my opinion.

You'll get your multi time in due time. Get somewhere that you can be happy for a while and pay the bills before worrying about multi time. You might be instructing a long, long time if the industry craps out again.
 
I'm not a even flight instructor, just a retarded private pilot, so you might not listen to me either...

As someone who teaches for a living and has to pay bills, I say go with the better, more structured training and better pay. Besides the obvious reasons of good training and good wages, if you think about it, a place with good training and (relatively) good instructor pay is probably more interested in treating its people right because 1) they care about their students' learning and 2) they value their instructors enough to pay them more for the services they provide.

Which schools are we comparing, BTW?
 
I look forward to anyone's opinion, but I am primarily looking
at pilots who have gone through the whole training aspect of
there career.
Thanks for the responses guys
 
S.T.Aviator said:
I look forward to anyone's opinion, but I am primarily looking
at pilots who have gone through the whole training aspect of
there career.
Click to expand...

What the . . .

Nobody is ever finished training!!

I'd go with option one. Multi time will come. I wondered where my twin time would come from - heck, I didn't even have a multi rating! Then, somebody PAID ME to get my multi rating and my MEI, so that I could train her in the twin she had a deposit on. Good thing I saved my money on that one!!

BTW, nobody is ever finished with the whole "training" aspect of their career. John H. has all of his instructor tickets - has he not been through the whole training aspect of their career?

I'm the Assistant Chief Flight Instructor at a Part 141 Flight School - am I?

The Honorable Mr. Doug Taylor:sarcasm: (The Webmaster) is an FO at a major airline - is he finished?

Don (DE727UPS) flies for one of the world's largest cargo airlines - is he finished?

My point is that we're all always training, and always will be!!! So, don't limit your questions to a small group of folks - you might miss out on som good gouge!!
 
S.T.Aviator, number 2 sounds like the route I took. I noticed that your decisions are based on the assumption that you're going to work where you trained. You don't have to do that, especially if the pay is poor and you're gong to be treated like a disposable diaper. If you have the ratings, you can instruct anywhere that suits your fancy. There's a lot of schools that sell the 'opportunity' for employment, but I would view those with a critical eye (read: a suspicious, jaded, cynical eye).
The only thing that's important for you right now are the ratings and the multi-time. Since both options are similar in cost and completion time, and since you are self-motivated obviating the need for structure, I'd go with #2.
Beware of limiting yourself to only the 'big schools' however. All you need is the ratings and the multi time. Cheaper the better.
 
S.T.Aviator said:
1) Excellent quality of training, sructured program.
Program is mostly single engine. As an instructor
you would log 90% SE time and the pay is good
with a good volume of student doing Prof prog.
Completion time gauranteed 8 months.

2) Quality of instruction is questionable. No structure,
all self study. Program is 95% ME. Instructors log 80%
ME time, very busy school. The pay is poor.
Completion time 7-12 months.
Click to expand...
If you just look at what you wrote, you should see that you already answered your question.

BTW, at Mazzei you can buy 45hrs of multi-engine out of 190hrs total time (private, instrument, commercial program). That is closer to 25% multi-engine. Furthermore, you can always buy more multi. People don't do this though because they soon realize that the multi time is not all there is about being a pilot. We don't even drool over getting ME as instructors here because we know that the important thing is having a strong foundation and providing quality instruction.
 
I got hired at Piedmont with 1150 hours. Only 155 of that was multi. And several friends of mine got hired at ASA, Mesa, Air Net, and Air Wisconsin with similar times. So I don't think the multi time is as "gold" as it used to be. Go with the better QOL (quality of life).
 
S.T.Aviator said:
1) Excellent quality of training.
Click to expand...
S.T.Aviator said:
2) Quality of instruction is questionable.
Click to expand...

You're training to be a pilot. First priority should be to become a good pilot. If you're a good pilot, the jobs and multi time will fall into place on their own. Why would you knowingly want to get "questionable" training?
 
I would, and did, choose option 1. The multi will come, if it doesn't you can call skymates (as I plan to).
 
Callous said:
I would, and did, choose option 1. The multi will come, if it doesn't you can call skymates (as I plan to).
Click to expand...

There's the reason right there to do option #2. If you don't mind instructing (and its obvious you don't) there's no reason why you shouldn't go to a primarily multi-geared school vs. a single-engine driven school, EVER, unless you plan to make a career out of it. Do your time, and move on. I extended my CFI days another 12 months because I refused to buy multi time. Atleast with an MEI gig, you can keep flying and instructing in the multi if mins go up...

Get the multi in at a legal, safety minded, busy, career school. If you can't do that, go fly freight.

~wheelsup
 
I think the biggest thing to think about is which school may give you better "connections." Network for the job....don't build flight time for the job.....build flight time for experience for yourself and pax....it will save your life. But the best way to get the job is by who you know......
 
S.T.Aviator said:
HELP!!!! Need your advice on flight schools.
Two choices, what would you do?

1) Excellent quality of training, sructured program.
Program is mostly single engine. As an instructor
you would log 90% SE time and the pay is good
with a good volume of student doing Prof prog.
Completion time gauranteed 8 months.

2) Quality of instruction is questionable. No structure,
all self study. Program is 95% ME. Instructors log 80%
ME time, very busy school. The pay is poor.
Completion time 7-12 months.



- Both programs are very similar in cost.
- I do well in either structured on non structured, very motivated student.

Your opinions will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Click to expand...

I would go somewhere that has the best points of both 1) and 2), even if you have to move. That's just me though. ;)
 
I went with option #2 (in FL), but wish I had gone option #1.

I had a lot of aviation experience before becoming a pilot (military Flight Engineer), and in my opinion aviation should NEVER be taught primarily through self-study. The military does not teach this way, neither do the airlines. The most important lessons in your flying career are taught while earning your basic ratings, you shouldn't be left to study primarily on your own. Study hard, of course, but go to the most structured ground school you can find, not necessarily the most structured school, because flexibility is also key to an enjoyable experience.

In my experience at school #2, there were far more busted checkrides, delays in training, and loss of motivation by almost everyone at that school, compared to another school I attended, close to #1's description. The 95% ME school used to tout that "we don't spoon-feed you here". In a nutshell this means that you'll get inconsistent and sometimes zero ground training, most likely resulting in repeated training lessons or worse, a busted oral on your checkride.

In my opinion, if you are really serious about immersing yourself in this thing, then go to a structured, sensibly-priced school, and get your multi time later.
 
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