Searching job opportunities - No experience with CPL and 260TT

César Ruiz

César Ruiz

Well-Known Member
I obtained my comm license on December of 2015 with an IR, I am 20 years old, I have been looking and searching on internet but it is difficult to find a place in the airlines because the requirements are so high and i don´t have 2000 hours in my logbook, my question is... If i cannot afford a CFI and ME rating or fly until i have 1500 hours, what can i do?, I am able to move anywhere in the world and i know that i will not earn much money but i want to continue flying and getting experience. Maybe someone knows what can i do or a suggestion will be appreciated.
 
César Ruiz said:
I obtained my comm license on December of 2015 with an IR, I am 20 years old, I have been looking and searching on internet but it is difficult to find a place in the airlines because the requirements are so high and i don´t have 2000 hours in my logbook, my question is... If i cannot afford a CFI and ME rating or fly until i have 1500 hours, what can i do?, I am able to move anywhere in the world and i know that i will not earn much money but i want to continue flying and getting experience. Maybe someone knows what can i do or a suggestion will be appreciated.
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You can afford to move anywhere in the world but you cannot afford CFI? Considering how little a CFI actually has to cost, this doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Other options might include banner towing, flying sky divers?
 
I would immediate start looking at Pictometry vendors. Air America Flight Center, Skylens, Northern States and Landcare. Submit your resumes with a cover letter as soon as possible. You can build 450-700 hours over the course of a season running from October to May. A lot more opportunities start opening up with even 500 hours or even 1000 hours. On your second season if you choose to do one you'll likely upgrade to an Aztec with a fresh ME rating. At Air America and Skylens you should have more than enough money for your ME add on after one season. You can search the forum for more information on all those vendors. There are also a few other survey companies that will hire with a fresh commercial.

There are a lot of other jobs to consider too. Traffic watch, flying skydivers, pipeline patrol (sometimes you can get hired as an observer and fly on deadlegs), you can also get into being a camera operator for a survey outlet and building time on dead legs too in some instances. There are a lot of low time SIC jobs out there too.

Stay positive! There's a lot out there if you don't mind chasing it or spending a lot of time away from your family.

There are also companies out there that will pay for your instructor ratings if you're willing to work for them for a certain amount of time.
 
Someone just started a thread with all the contact info for all the major aerial survey vendors. I added 700+ hours last year doing that alone. It's a fun job and you'll learn a lot.
 
César Ruiz said:
I obtained my comm license on December of 2015 with an IR, I am 20 years old, I have been looking and searching on internet but it is difficult to find a place in the airlines because the requirements are so high and i don´t have 2000 hours in my logbook, my question is... If i cannot afford a CFI and ME rating or fly until i have 1500 hours, what can i do?, I am able to move anywhere in the world and i know that i will not earn much money but i want to continue flying and getting experience. Maybe someone knows what can i do or a suggestion will be appreciated.
Click to expand...
How do you plan on working at an airline without a ME rating? They definitely won't be paying for that.

+1 for CFI. If you can afford to move anywhere, you can afford to become a CFI.

Studying costs $0 and the FAA books are free.
 
srn121 said:
I would immediate start looking at Pictometry vendors. Air America Flight Center, Skylens, Northern States and Landcare. Submit your resumes with a cover letter as soon as possible. You can build 450-700 hours over the course of a season running from October to May. A lot more opportunities start opening up with even 500 hours or even 1000 hours. On your second season if you choose to do one you'll likely upgrade to an Aztec with a fresh ME rating. At Air America and Skylens you should have more than enough money for your ME add on after one season. You can search the forum for more information on all those vendors. There are also a few other survey companies that will hire with a fresh commercial.

There are a lot of other jobs to consider too. Traffic watch, flying skydivers, pipeline patrol (sometimes you can get hired as an observer and fly on deadlegs), you can also get into being a camera operator for a survey outlet and building time on dead legs too in some instances. There are a lot of low time SIC jobs out there too.

Stay positive! There's a lot out there if you don't mind chasing it or spending a lot of time away from your family.

There are also companies out there that will pay for your instructor ratings if you're willing to work for them for a certain amount of time.
Click to expand...

^This! Skylens has a 21 age limit but I don't think Landcare does. Otherwise banner towing. I've done both.
 
Banner towing is up there with Pictog work as far as easiest to get in to, but those seasons are tapering off here in September... you might better off getting a CFI like everyone is saying- Not necessarily the best flying/SRM experience but makes you a great right seat. Button down and you can get a CFI for ~$2k, which in this market is a guaranteed job somewhere (probably the place you got it.)
 
Get that Comm Multi and CFI. You should be able to afford them. There is a flight school in Michigan where you can obtain your commercial multi for $1995 in 2 days flying an older twin. Who wants to flying single engine planes? I rather rack up multi engine time if I had the possibility. Get a full-time job working at a grocery store stocking goods and save up some dough. Definitely will help in the long run. Get it!
 
@gocaps16 is right on. The place in MI where you can get a multi engine rating for a really really cheap amount compared to others is through a guy name Tom Brady on his website: http://www.traverseair.com/multi.php

There is also skydiving that I got into when I had 230 TT, also in MI at a place called Skydive harbor springs. I am sure you can reach out to them and they might still have a position for you in the summer as their pilot.
 
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