What would you do?

[toddnorrish]

I am looking for some advice. 400 hour commercially rated pilot 50 multi, 15 of which is PIC King Air time. The catch, this is all 15 years ago. Not current by any stretch of the imagination. Recently learning that things have changed considerably in regard to the current hiring trend, I have decided to try and make this career move to the regionals.

I imagine, that currency is first and foremost in my path. Here then is where I am receiving some conflicting opinions. One of the common themes is to get my CFI, log a few hundred hours and start applying with more TT. The second opinion that I am getting is to spend some money, log 40 or 50 more hours of multi PIC time, all the while applying as I continue to log this time.

I hear a lot of colorful adjectives like "desperate" and "hard up" with respect to the regionals need for FO's. I have heard stories of pilots being picked up with less than 300 TT, or 0 multi.

I guess hearing all the scuttlebutt makes me question which way to go. would it befitt me more to have 450 TT w/ 100 multi, quality over quantity, or have a CFI and 750 with the same 50 multi? What are your thoughts, or do you see an other way.

Todd

 

[ljg]

From a currency standpoint, I was medicaled out of the airplane for 13 months, and then returned to flying. It might suprise you how quickly everything comes back to you. With a lot of Frasca prep, I did 4 training flights in a Baron and then passed a 135 checkride without any mishap.

I found that the much bigger challenge to regain is the knowledge. This took some dedicated studying. A great way to get the knowledge and currency back?...get your CFI. Also go right into II/MEI. The knowledge you'll gain from those 3 ratings is invaluable, can be obtained in a relatively short amount of time, and will help you reach a regional airline in a more prepared manner.

Good luck.

 

[derg]

The second opinion that I am getting is to spend some money, log 40 or 50 more hours of multi PIC time, all the while applying as I continue to log this time.

With 400 hours TT, you can log 200 hours of PIC and it really wouldn't make a difference for the lack of total time. Some may even question 15 hours of King Air PIC with 400 hours TT.

 

[SmitteyB]

How can you get hired with 0 multi?

It's been a couple of months since I instructed- but don't you need time in catergory/class to apply for a certificate?