AGS99.
At your experience level of 150 hrs
ANYTHING you do will be an advantage.
I know this was a while ago, and things have changed somewhat, but I would hate to think how my life and career would be different without being tailwheel qualified early on.
When I was learning to fly in C152s at YSBK in the early 80s my
only short term goal was finding an aeroplane that had a stick, inverted fuel/oil system, a tailwheel, preferably tandem seating...
and turning it upside down.
When Rex got VH-DEC on line my prayers were answered...a Super Decathlon. The instant I had my RPPL (GFPT equivalent) I eshewed nav training and got my TW endorsement in it...and proceeded to 'waste' vaste resources 'playing at Walter Mitty' as my father put it.
I probably delayed the whole CPL licence thing by 6 mths ultimately because I could not really afford this 'sillyness'...but **** it was fun!!!!
I eventually got my CPL a few years later and an Instructors Rating, even did a little instructing in Decathlons. Went hunting for jobs, bare in mind this was the mid 80s now and jobs were few and far between, and eventually was given the number of a CP in PNG to ring. It was the CP of Talair, Wally Pendray, who couldn't give me a job because at 300+ hrs I didn't meet their minimums of 1000 hrs....
BUT..."Do you have a tailwheel endorsement?" "Yessir..about 40hrs" "Do you have any ME time?" "Yessir..6hrs!"
"Ring this number, Chimbu Aviation, Terry Murray is looking for a pilot"
Weeks of phone conversations, where Terry was encouraging but non committal, led to the following conversation.
"Weeelll...I need to hire a pilot in the next 4 weeks"
"I will be there in 2" and I hung up on him before he could answer.
I bought a ticket, flew to PNG with no job offer and turned up on his door in the central highlands 10 days later.
2 days later I had my first real job flying a C185 at < 400hrs. 2 mths later I was endorsed on the company Islander...still didn't have 500 hrs when that happened. Terry actually got the company to pay an extra premium to the insurance company until I met the minimum experience requirements a few mths later.
A year later I joined Talair with 1100 hrs and 600+ Islander. In the meantime I had been CP of Chimbu Aviation myself and hired/trained two more pilots who averaged 400 hrs each upon starting.
Was the Instructor rating wasted?
Nope...got all sorts of training approvals over the years based on a basically unused (about 60 hrs of instructing) lapsed Grade 3.
My whole career and life, including the daughter I have now, is based on that TW endorsement.
Quite apart from the fact it taught me how to fly properly.
You
may never use it in anger...but you might just be amazed too.
Thankyou Wally and thankyou Terry.