Green Goblin
Its comments like yours that I'm keen to find out more on.
Lets have a look at the financial side you can expect:
Year 1
You'll be flying singles charter or flight instructing. Charter expect about 33k driving a 210 if they pay award, or casual hourly rates as a grade 3 flight instructor.
Year 2/3
If you went the charter route you'll have 1000 hours now and be looking for multi engine work and a pay check of 42K if they require you to fly with a MECIR. If you went the instructing route you will be a grade 2 doing your 1 year before being able to upgrade to a grade 1. Multi engine work will be a while off yet, but you're enjoying wearing 2/3 stripes and feeling important in the flying school. A year as a Grade 1 and you be on over 50k looking for a META and clocking some ME time.
Year 3/4
The charter guys will now be looking at turboprop FO slots and the Flight instructor will be happy logging time in a light twin doing advanced training, or possibly a charter IFR job themselves. Expect around 55k as a FO on a Braz/Metro/Dash etc and perhaps a little more if your a Grade 1 with META, although you don't really want piston multi engine time anymore.
Year 4/5
The FO's are now getting commands, they have ATPL requirements and the instructor finally took a paycut to get into a regional as an FO or got lucky and went to an airline. Expect 75-80k as a skipper on a regional or upwards of this on a jet.
Year 5+
You could live quite comfortably on 75-80k as a regional Skipper, you will never drive a Porshe or an M3 if you have a wife and Kids, but you'll have a good lifestyle and be home every night and have a happy Mrs. Or you could get into Airline flying, be away from home for long periods, cheat on your Mrs, suffer Aviation Induced Divorce a couple of times, your airline goes broke, you become redundant and end up living in a ****ehole in the middle east contract flying because a regional turboprop operator won't hire you as they think you'll piss off at the first glimpse of a jet job. You'll retire with lots of money have a Porshe and an M3 and many other expensive toys in the garage that you bought to fill the empty void. Your daughter will have daddy issues working the pole at the local strip joint. Your son knocked his Mrs up when they were 18 and thinks you're the devil and you want to punch your ex wifes new husband who looks like Kevin Rudd. Your Phillipino mail order bride is good in the sack but you get annoyed at the funny looks at the supermarket and deep down you know she'll piss off as soon as you've been married for 3 years.
However you still love flying and are having the time of you life
That enough for you??
