So I don't want to flight instruct...
- Thread starter rwgb1984
- Start date
KSCessnaDriver
Well-Known Member
Drag a big bag of helium around the country at an incredibly slow speed
rframe
pǝʇɹǝʌuı
It seems you guys tend to congregate around events once in a while, I seriously think you need to pioneer the sport of bumper blimps. You've already got good cameras on board, it could be fun to watch!
Get one of those giant Blow up Gorillas and attach it to the side for a few flights. See if anyone calls it in!
rwgb1984
Well-Known Member
I can see this quickly evolving into a futuristic "Blade-Runner-Esque" type sport where the winners live and the losers die!
rframe
pǝʇɹǝʌuı
Get one of those giant Blow up Gorillas and attach it to the side for a few flights. See if anyone calls it in!
Dangle a mannequin from a rope behind, as if a ground handler got pulled up and is holding on for dear life
Yes, but then they need to switch back to Hydrogen!
SteveCostello
My member is well-known.
Good grief... Bumper Blimps would be so incredibly epic.I would pay a lot of money to see that.
KSCessnaDriver
Well-Known Member
jspeed87
Well-Known Member
If you work for a busy Flight school you won't be taking a pay cut. You do have to be flexible to move to Florida or Arizona, where all the jobs are at. I think if you would want to get a job without a CFI, you would need to work Line Service and network. That or be a hot chick.
Apophis
Resident Iconoclast
Can't help you with the pimpin' part, but if you do wish to eventually fly an airship, avoid my company. Goodyear and Airship Ventures (the guys who fly the Zeppelin out in California) would be the way to go. There are only three companies in the US currently operating airships, and by process of elimination, you can exclude mine from the list.
Your improved QOL will thank you for heeding this advice.
chrisreedrules
Master Blaster
Exactly^^^ Busy schools are out there, you just have to be willing to move. Which, as a pilot, you should of already been aware of by now.
rwgb1984
Well-Known Member
Again I think people are missing some of the details of my post. To lay it out simply: I am not interested in instructing AT THIS time as I am still in school I would be more inclined to building time some other way until I finish school. I can not move while I am still in school. I can not move because my job pays my bills while I am in school. I also can not move because I have a four year old from a previous marriage here. I was simply trying to find out whether or not instructing (or in this case not instructing) would impede my ability to find jobs in the future and if some of the other low time alternatives are worthwhile considering that I am not on the fast track to the airlines.
chrisreedrules
Master Blaster
Abandon the baby, drop out of school... Aviation or bust!
In all seriousness, I would still get your CFI/II... You really do learn a whole lot from a completely different perspective than strictly as a student. Try and find a job flying traffic watch, or maybe banner towing if you can find someone to hire you with low TT. Thats just it, there just aren't that many options out there anymore for low-timers other than CFIng... At least not that I am aware of. You can go door-knocking around your local airports. At best you might get a little work out of it... At worst, you meet some people and you aren't "the new guy" the next time you pop your head in the door. Call chief pilots at different commercial ops around your city. Call mosquito control, call division of wildlife/forestry. You would be surprised what you can find out by just calling places and talking to people. They might just take a liking to you over the phone and just may know of a buddy or a guy looking for a pilot etc... You never know and it never hurts to try. Good luck, it isn't easy for low-timers right now.
In all seriousness, I would still get your CFI/II... You really do learn a whole lot from a completely different perspective than strictly as a student. Try and find a job flying traffic watch, or maybe banner towing if you can find someone to hire you with low TT. Thats just it, there just aren't that many options out there anymore for low-timers other than CFIng... At least not that I am aware of. You can go door-knocking around your local airports. At best you might get a little work out of it... At worst, you meet some people and you aren't "the new guy" the next time you pop your head in the door. Call chief pilots at different commercial ops around your city. Call mosquito control, call division of wildlife/forestry. You would be surprised what you can find out by just calling places and talking to people. They might just take a liking to you over the phone and just may know of a buddy or a guy looking for a pilot etc... You never know and it never hurts to try. Good luck, it isn't easy for low-timers right now.
staledog
Well-Known Member
Re: your original questions. No it's not impossible to reach your goal without being a CFI, but it is much easier that way. There are more CFI jobs out there than the other low time jobs. I'm not sure how many traffic watch/banner towing/other jobs there are in the Dallas area, but I bet every airport in the area has at least one CFI. And yes it's a good thing to have on your résumé.
When I was in college, I was just like you. Didn't want to instruct. But then I did it anyway, and my first job out of college was instructing at a busy little flight school in the Chicago area. Worked there for one year, flying 100 hours a month. Got me well on my way to the next job and I ended up liking instruction too.
Good luck!
When I was in college, I was just like you. Didn't want to instruct. But then I did it anyway, and my first job out of college was instructing at a busy little flight school in the Chicago area. Worked there for one year, flying 100 hours a month. Got me well on my way to the next job and I ended up liking instruction too.
Good luck!
flyinguitar
Well-Known Member
I'm not trying to give you a hard time and I'm sure you are fully capable of making your own decisions, but I would put in a plug for reconsidering your decision not to instruct. You will be missing out on an irreplaceable experience that will hone your flying skills in a unique way and forever change how you approach the airplane for the better.
Which is not to say that you can't still become a great pilot without instructing.
Which is not to say that you can't still become a great pilot without instructing.
jtrain609
Antisocial Monster
As guys have said, go and do it part time. And I'm going to tell you why.
In my experience, the best civilian trained pilots were flight instructors at one point. That's of the sample of guys I've run into, and I'll admit, there are outliers in both directions. I've found instructors that are horrible pilots, and non-instructors that are great pilots. But I'd say the largest group of folks that really had their crap together were flight instructors.
So if your choice is between working at a drop zone part time, and flight instructing part time, then go flight instruct without a moment's hesitation. I'm not saying that it will make you the best pilot in the world, but I will tell you that it gives you the largest chance for success when it comes to trying to be the best pilot that you can be. In the end, that's all any of us can ask for; an opportunity to excel.
drunkenbeagle
Gang Member
From the perspective of a civilian non-airline pilot, towing and dropzone flying does not translate well into the national aerospace system. It is a stick and rudder, visual, single pilot enterprise. Teaching even the occasional student instrument stuff goes a long way for you to remember how to do all of that stuff.
While it is experience, it isn't necessarily experience that qualifies you for doing much of anything else. Even with a dropzone/towing type of gig, I would still try to have some students on the side to keep yourself sharp. I know for me, doing the occasional BFR/safety pilot/primary student does a lot for keeping me sharp.
