Flying Fortunes
I have to agree with Flying Farmer (I too am an Instructor). As much as a shiney TR on your licence may be appealing, its an awful lot of money to throw at what still may be viewed as a longshot. 150ish hours isn't a great deal of experience and I would whole heartedly recommend the FI route.
Yes, it is the quickest way to build your hours and as it has been said already, you must deliver 100% to your students, but as an apprenticeship it is invaluable. It puts you in an environment where YOU are responsible for all command decisions and you will quickly develop very good CRM skills. Consider it as an opportunity to polish all the skills you have learnt, whilst learning some new ones - all of which will be needed in your heavy metal jet job (and yes, I hope to drive one too).
In a recent recruitment drive, one airline was asking for a minimum 1000hrs or 50hrs in the last 6 months recency if you had trained at a major approved school. Think about it, how could you meet requirements like these? Even if you have been to one of the big schools, 50 hours in 6 months takes some doing if you've plowed your last pennies into a TR.
I'm not against doing a TR if you can afford it, in fact an Instructor who I've been working with has just secured a very nice position on a shiny Airbus (although with around 1000hrs) after following a similar route. I've around 1200 hours and most of these are SEP - they all counted towards my interview with said company (although they havent helped them start up any training courses ... come on guys, get a move on!) Sorry, lost the thread there
Which ever direction you choose to go, good luck. Without being biased towards my chosen path, I do recommend it. Get some more hours under your belt, in an environment that may very well open some doors for you, whilst earning some (although not much) money. The TR will still be an option if you need it later.
FM
