King Air Type Ratings

[Minotaur12]

good evening ladies and gentleman,

I'm soon due to finish an Integrated course over here in England which will leave me with:

ME CPL IR
and MCC/JOC with just over 200hrs

Obviously with the state of play at the moment, Im looking at going back into my previous career with a view to chucking yet more money at the problem of getting that first job on an airline, but Im considering doing a purely speculative king air type rating in 6 months or so after training, in the vain hope it would get me a paid position somewhere on the instruments, so I was wondering if anyone out there has a price list of what the different type ratings and class ratings are and the ATO's that do them?

[ollie135]

Please dont pay for a type rating, especially speculatively. I (and others) with current type ratings have lost our jobs and are pretty uncertain as to what the next 18months or so holds. Save your money or if you must spend it then maybe FI course or cover your expenses whilst you find a bush flying job? Hope that doesnt sound too negative, drop me a pm if you want to talk it over more. Good luck.

[PilotLZ]

Do not waste your money on a type rating with no job offer attached to it. Especially if it's something relatively exotic, as is the King Air.

[portsharbourflyer]

Also while many Kingairs are now operated multi crew, most companies still require the FO to have 500 to 700 hours total time, so 200 hours and a King Air rating you wont be insurable.

[macdo]

A long time ago, during another recession, as a newly qualified pilot I mistakenly got conned out of my hard earned for a F27 groundschool with the promise of a job. Thankfully after taking in quite a few people, the fella had a visit from Mr. Fist! I then went on to compound this by paying for a Shorts 330 rating which nearly, but not quite, ended in a £50/ a night moving newspapers across the North Sea! So, its not to be recommended. Although, I did know a guy who bought himself a 757 rating which led to a job, so never say never!
Frankly, in this environment, if you have money to spend I'd get an FI rating to keep you flying. Amazing how you get to hear about KingAir type jobs coming up for grabs when you work on an airfield. Good luck for the future.

[ShamrockF]

If you decide to go ahead with it, I'd recommend Mikael at Kungsair in Sweden. He provides the King Air ratings and is reputable.

[Wings on the Winger]

As Kingair rating holder with low hours I wouldn’t speculatively get one. I got my due to knowing the aircraft owners so unless you have something lined up I believe you will be getting a rating that may never come to be used

[DeltaT]

Yes you will hear of the guys who bought a rating and then got a job, thing is you won't hear about all the many more who did it and it led to nothing. Hold onto that money until the industry firms up at the very least. Try hunting around for the more unusual jobs to get your hours up. Banner towing up and down the coast of Spain, parachute dropping, glider towing, aerial photography. I would hesitate on the FI and do some research just how many are actually undergoing flight training that would in turn provide the work. Talk to the place where you are training right now if they would employ you if you did a FI course with them?