Rory81

Hi all,
I just finished my integrated JAA fATPL training (CPL + ME/IR + MCC) 180TT. I hold both EU and US passport and i speak fluent english and spanish.

I'd like to get FAA licenses in order to work on the US and get some twin time, the flight instructor way is not very appealing for me, and i'm wondering what's the best thing to do for a lowtimer. Twin timebuilding? SEP timebuilding? just get all FAA licenses and start hunting jobs? I'll start in tampa since i have family there, at least till i get my ratings, but i have no problems to relocate. Can you give me some advice? What kind of jobs can a lowtimer get in the US? I'll go in february 2007.

PS: i'm also a rated skydiving coach by the USPA, and cameraguy. if anyone has some info on skydiving operations there it'd be appreciated, it would be nice to work as pilot and skydiver .

Thanks a lot
Rory

swidd

There's tons of parachute jump zones, and related jobs. Just look at your Miami Sectional chart once you get here! Getting one of those jobs aint hard, they generally require maybe 500 hours + experience on the type of aircraft they use. From what I've seen around the jumpers also prefer having a pilot with jump experience. Just read around on climbto350.com or some other websites, and you'll find someone. Recruiting season is generally in the early spring though.

chti71

To skip the flight instructor stuff...jump pilot is a good compromise.
if you are already one of "them", you should not have to much trouble to make some contact.
I dropped for 3 years in various DZ in south Texas...that how i built my multi time and made some decent cash...I didn't like the idea of teaching as MEI anyway !!!
On the dark side, jump pilots are usually good with stick and rudder but on the edge with regs, so don't loose sight of your regulations book for later when you'll look for a real job.

best of luck and blue skies !!!

http://www.dropzone.com/
http://www.skydiving.com/

Skualo3

If that does not work you can always tow banners, but i have no ideas on their requirement. On the west coast of Florida, Sebastian has a large drop zone, in season they used to have a Caravan and a Twin Otter, that was about 3 years ago
Good luck

noflow

Will you have the legal right to work in the USA?
No shortage of pilots here but it is getting hard for regionals to find good new hires with a few thousand hours of turbine experience.

It's unfortunate that you have a disdainful view of flight instructing. Unless you plan to fly single pilot your entire career you'll find that instructing really helps build skills in communication and working with another crewmember.

I've seen many jump pilots and banner towers either struggle or simply fail training at Part 135 and 121 carriers. If you want to fly for the airlines your instrument skills are paramount. Most guys with a VFR background need a lot of sim prep just to pass our interviews. I can't remember flying with a single FO in the past couple of years that didn't have instructor, 135, or 121 experience.

Rory81

I have the right to work in the US, of course. I only need to get FAA licenses, afaik i'll have to do few flight hours + theorical exam + check ride, so that should take a month or 2 at most. Regarding the instructor thing... well, i dont like what i see here at my local school (they barely fly and the conditions and pay are crap), tho it could be very different over there. As a low timer i wont reject anything, of course, if i have the possibility to get hours as a flight instructor i'll go for it, but im not sure about investing on the instructor course when i could get multi time in skydiving operations, of course i'd have to buy some flight time to get that first job... soooooo complicated .

So far my plan is to go to Tampa where i have family to live with (jan/feb 2007), get my FAA ratings and then decide what to do, i dont care if its alaska or arizona as long as i can fly as much as possible, skydiving operations, instructing, whatever. I dont really know how things work there, so first thing is to find out . At least i'd like to get some ME time so i can go back to europe with something to offer. Time requirements here are much lower than in the US, 1000 or 1500TT with 500 ME and some contacts should be enough to give me a chance in the european market. But again, i have no idea about where i'm going to be in 5 years time .

So what do you think it'd be the best i could do? Lucky me the euro is very high now, so i'll have plenty of dollars to start with. Its not that i can throw them away, but i could pay for a few hundred hours or a typerating if needed.

flyboyike

He's got a US passport, what more legal right does he need?

Rory81

i have the right to work in the US, of course, i got one nationality from my mother and another from my father, in spain i'm spanish, in american soil i'm US citizen, anywhere else it depends on the passport i'm using.

I posted a long answer that wasnt published (it said something about having to wait till a moderator checked it). So i'll make long things short:

Its not that im against being instructor, but instructors here work in very bad conditions, and they dont fly that much, prolly in the states its different, i'll have to check.
What i'll do first is to get FAA ratings around Tampa Bay (i have relatives there), and then go for any job offered, no matter where.
In europe time requirements are less than in the US, something like 1000 or 1500TT with 500 ME should give me a chance to get a job here, so that's my main goal, anyway nothing is certain, i might like it there and stay for years.
I have some money to start, but im not sure about what would be the best way to invest it... buying ME time, SE time, a type rating...
Basically i'd like to go to places, do as many flight hours as possible and learn a lot, i'm not going to reject anything, of course, but i'd like to get quality time, i'd prefer to pay for a few hundred hours if that's going to give me better chances to get a decent job than to get a weekend job that its going to give me 15 SEP hours a month, i suppose you get my point. I'd love to fly a light twin all around the US... hehe, but that's prolly too good for now.

BROFO

Become a CFI/CFII/MEI, you can fly a lot if you find the right place to teach (I flew over 600hrs in 6 months during my first CFI gig), and you will learn more then you expect. Also, with only 180tt you have almost Zero job options in the US out side of flight instruction (unless you know someone). Build up your flight time to 500-1000tt and 100 multi and start applying to the regionals and/or get 1200tt and start flying cargo.

Good Luck