when it rains it pours

[dakovich]

hate to use the cliche, but ain't it the truth.

first thing, i've been sitting around with no luck finding a CFI job in my area since passing my ride in late June. no one seemed to be hiring. also i've had the worst time finding an "in between" job that pays well enough to keep the creditors at bay($7 or $8 an hour doesn't do it, but it kept me afloat). third, i haven't had medical for well over a year...almost 2.



so come the other day, i got hired as a server working for Buffalo Sabres games at the arena...didn't expect it, cool! been told we make pretty good tips and they pay $5.15/hr for servers as base pay(any servers know thats pretty damn good for base pay) I CAN PAY MY BILLS, woo-hoo!

next thing, i check the mail today and found out my shot in the dark at NY's fidelis medical plan gets approved...yet again, cool! full medical for over a year at pretty much no cost to me!!!!!! (mom liked that one)

lastly i made an appointment to meet the owner/manager of a local strip and as soon as i walk in he hires me as a CFI. says his CFI left for college and he has been turning away students the past couple weeks because he had no instructor. so i'll be teaching in his Cessna 150, and he charges $28/hr for instruction that he gives entirely to the instructor!!! cool strip too, 2500ft long, 30 or so feet wide, highway at one end, 80 foot cliff at the other, and trees line one side. oh, and he gave me a student right off the bat...a nice lady that wants to brush up on her skills and have another pilot/cfi along with her for rides.

so, as i said...when it rains it pours! how strange that things seem to just all pop up at once when it seemed nothing good would happen!

 

[TomCatter]

Congratulations

every thing happens for a reason.. and it happens only when its supposed to..

 

[montanapilot]

sweet.....congrats!!!

 

[Sprint100]

Mannn, I'm happy for you whether you like it or not

 

[EatSleepFly]

Cool!

What airport? (I'm from western NY)...

 

[sbe]

good things come to those who wait....

congratulations.

 

[I_Money]

AWESOME - it just proves is you stick with it and work hard something will come your way!!! GOOD JOB MAN!!

 

[tonyw]

Good for you! And yeah, $5.15 for a server is good money. I got $2.38 an hour so I was really pumped when I got moved to the bar and started getting $5.15 an hour plus tips and tip out!

Now, I'm back to selling advertising but I am keeping a couple of bar shifts so that I can build my savings back up!

 

[Ophir]

Nice Dak,

I was wondering how you have been doing up there. Good on ya!

 

[mrivc211]

Dak, I know exactly what you mean!

It seems that things come in waves for me too.

Sometimes I'll have students all finishing up their stuff at the same time, and be left out to dry. And just when I think I'm in trouble because I have no lessons, I get 3 students in one week that all want to fly a combined 10 times per week!

That'll work for me!

Anyways, I'm just keeping my head up and hoping a regional job will come in the same manner, when I least expect it that is!

Not that I'm waiting for one to come my way, cuz ya'll know in this market you gotta go huntin for one!

 

[dakovich]

thanx for all the kind words everybody!

talked with my first student today to set up our first meeting, man i feel bad for this guy. he was telling me about his first flight instructor from about 4 years ago (that how long its been since he's been flying)...first thing that he mentions is that they accidentally put the C150 they were in into a spin while doing stalls. guess it really freaked him out at first. next thing he tells me is they ran out of fuel while on a training flight and had to do an emergency landing in a field. poor guy only had 5 hours at the time. thats gotta suck for a low time pilot to have to deal with that. the thing that really got me was that the CFI was an Air Guard pilot with lots of hours under his belt.

 

[zsolez]

dakovitsh,

Congrats.

The reason why I post this is that you mentioned that you have been working for $5... and then some other poster stated it also. Well now your are making $28/h as a CFI so this advice is not for you

Anyways I don’t want to make advertisement for low paying suxor jobs but right now I am doing security for $8.50 at Barton Protective Services... which is pretty much all over the USA.

If someone really can't get a job as a CFI or while finishing the ratings and licenses etc... So if you can’t get close to a CFI job, or anything around an airport, fuel truck or pilot shop or whatnot... and does not want to be a waiter like many out of job CFIs are... and does not want to get into any commitments... and want to keep your day schedule open to be able to keep looking for an aviation job or to go for interviews etc... well I think doing literarily nada in a gate from 2300 to 0700 for $8.5 is better than doing something for $5... IMO.

When my company went out of business this year I could not get another office job where I could promise to stay for at least a year, and no one wanted to offer me a job when I said that sometimes I need a day of depending on WX because I am flight training. The next question was always what is my goal with flying, and from then it went downhill.

So I ended up in a guard house as an unarmed security guard. I make crap $ wise alright, but I have 40 hours a week on my hands just to study while getting paid for it. In the last few weeks I used to read the AIM, caught up on most of my unread AOPA issues... Right now I am getting into JAVA programming just for fun. I am about to start working on those CFI lesson plans soon so I have them out of the way although I am only right at the end of my commercial. What I am trying to say is that you can get paid for studying.

If you keep yourself busy 8 hours fly by especially if you have a laptop. Laptop is an actual time machine lol. As much as I hate to put up that uniform and be associated with anyone with an IQ of 70 in that same moment, I am not planning to leave this job until I hopefully finish all my ratings sometime next year.

I mean for the most of you who are older with commitments, this may absolutely not be an option. I also agree anything aviation related is better than a security job even if it pays less but if you have zero shots at such jobs then check this out. If you go armed you can make $12ish, although Barton does not do much armed work. As far as commitment goes, if you want to leave them all they are asking for is a 2 weeks notice.

Like I said, not intent to make a commercial for them but as funny as it sounds they are fortune 100 I think for the last 5 years and it is a perfect job for youngsters especially if you need to study.

 

[Athena]

I work in nursing and I must admit that the pay sucks but i do get study time while at work when i do home care.