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Should low hour pilots start on Turboprops?

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Should low hour pilots start on Turboprops?

Old 23rd Aug 2007, 08:28
  #21 (permalink)  
 
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This debate is gonna keep banging on for all eternity, you dont choose to start on tp's or jets. You take the first opportunity that comes your way having applied to every operator that youve ever heard of!
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Old 23rd Aug 2007, 12:48
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Turbo-prop

I went from a Seneca to a Shorts and the jump at the time was big for me. Only then did I realise how much I didn't know about aviation. That's why it always amuses me when I hear of these 200hrs somethings wanting to go right into a large jet. You don't know what flying is yet.

All the hours I did were hand flown. Conversely, in a two hour flight you'll actually hand fly around 10-15 mins in a jet.

Recently I spoke with a low-hour chap who went straight into a G550. In four months he's flown 180hrs, of which only seven hours were hand flown.

What do you think will make you a better aviator? Go with your heart.
Good luck whatever you decide.
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Old 30th Aug 2007, 18:04
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I wish i were in a position to take either of the jobs, let alone choose.
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Old 30th Aug 2007, 22:52
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PickMeFlyBe,

He stated in the first post that he has offers for both. The debate may rage on, but not for the originator of the thread.
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Old 31st Aug 2007, 11:06
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who cares? i started on 30 year old 207s with no autopilot and one cylinder blown half the time. a turbo prop is luxury and all people do is complain about it....
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Old 31st Aug 2007, 12:06
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npasque,

That's where I started from too. Although, they may have been 20 years old.
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Old 31st Aug 2007, 12:17
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I think people who go straight onto jets do miss out by not flying a turboprop as it is good fun and lots of hands on flying. A turboprop is a lot more forgiving than a jet and you can do things like come down the glide slope at 240kts until 4 miles and still slow down in time to land. In a jet you are starting to reduce the speed with 20 miles to go.

Don't listen to people who say jets are harder and more complicated than turboprops, these are usually the people who haven't flown a turboprop and think they are just a big Seneca. I have flown the ATR and the 757 and the ATR was more complicated and harder to fly!

The main thing when chooseing a jet or a turbo (if you are lucky enough to do so) is that jet time is more useful when looking for your next job or if you are made redundant. Believe me more than half of the pilots you talk to have been made redundant, myself included. Jet time will get your CV noticed quicker than turboprop time.

At the end of the day this is just a job and it is a job you need to do to pay the bills. If you find yourself out of work, you need to find a new job quickly as you could loose your house! Jet time will give you more security but you will miss out on the hands on fun of the turbo prop. It is great to hear enthusisiatic guys out there just about start there training, saying they don't care what they fly and it's all about the flying that matters, but if you can try to plan your career, if could pay off in the long run.

I know I sound like an old man who has grown tired of the industry. I have just experienced alot of change and disruption. By the way I have only been in the industry for 3 and a half years!

The overriding factor in any desicion though is which job starts first! You may turn down the turbo prop to fly the jet, but the course doesn't start for another two months. In that time the airline may merge or find there requirments change and suddenly where you had two jobs, you now have none!

Enjoy the job, it's great when your in the air!
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Old 31st Aug 2007, 16:22
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I think you should fly a turbo prop if you feel that flying a turbo prop is something you really want to do and you should fly a jet, if flying a jet is something you really want to do. Don't see a turbo prop as a limit or a jet as a limit, when the sky is your limit and the world your oyster.
Most take the first thing that comes along through and that is fine too.

Let life be the dancer - you should be the dance.
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Old 1st Sep 2007, 16:57
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240kts until 4 miles and still slow down in time to land
EFIScomp, 240kts until 4 dme? Which operators allow these speeds?

Last edited by Craggenmore; 26th Feb 2008 at 14:52.
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Old 2nd Sep 2007, 07:32
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A TP will provide you with the skills required to progress on to jets at a later stage. Im am most certainly going down this route. TP and small operators will provide you will knowledge of the ops procedures and workings of an airline.

The worrying thing is, is that this industry is backwards. The 250 hours 'dreamers' are in jets and the experinced instructors taxi pilots etc go in to TP's!
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Old 2nd Sep 2007, 10:19
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I would have loved to have been given the chance to fly a turbo-prop, would have been great experience, but it all came down to one thing..........

You canīt pick and choose your job when you come out of training! I couldnīt fund to train as an FI and then move out on a low salary etc and pay the loans (you know the story) so it was a type rating or risk sitting on my back side sending out more and more CVīs for goodness knows how long.

Looked at getting an ATR rating, 16 grand plus (GBP)... I was working in OPS at an ATR operator and would have bitten their hands off for an ATR job, but nothing doing. How many UK ATR operators? 16K? Made not one bit of sense.

737 NG+Classic rating..... 16K, now that makes more sense. Didnīt agree with self-funding etc but 3months later I had myself a 737 job.

I wasnīt a FATPL dreamer, I just wanted a job and I canīt exactly be blamed for doing what I did.

When it comes to hand flying, I can basically hand fly as much as my Captain allows and I am making sure that I take advantage of this. Busy airspace of course means autopilot, but we get the chance of quite a few visual approaches etc which keeps your eye in.

Low hour pilots shouldnīt just start on jets and they shouldnīt just start on turbo-props. Each individual is different and should take the first job offered, they are like gold
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Old 2nd Sep 2007, 12:53
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Start on either - it's as simple as that!

Seriously, wannabes should be aiming for any commercial job whether it's turboprops or jets. Once you've got experience you can start picking and choosing!
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Old 10th Sep 2007, 12:21
  #33 (permalink)  
 
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A choice between turbo props and jets?

Unheard of in Africa. Here we have to start as a instructor or work for a charter company starting in C206 working our way up to C208, a process that takes over 2 years, after that the natural step is to fly contract in North and Western africa, starting of on a C208 and after you got your ATPL's they wil put you on a B1900D if you are lucky or a B200. After flying that for about 2 years you can only think of getting a job on a airline.

I am currently working for a charter company, we fly into bush strips. I can tell you one thing, every day is a learning experience. I only really learned to fly here. I learned to make my own decisions based on my experience and theoretical knowledge. Every our i put in my logbook is hands on flying and i know that one day this will help me. I am 28years old and having the time of
my life.
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Old 24th May 2008, 10:00
  #34 (permalink)  

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I challenge anyone to spend a day driving a Q400 and then tell me it's easier to fly than a jet. Mix in the type of airfields we go to and the weather we're constantly in, and I'm convinced that as a low hours pilot, one gets more valuable experience in a TP than a jet.

Whether it's as valuable to your logbook and/or bank balance is another question . . .

I very nearly had to choose between a 737 (self funded TR) and a Q400 job. I'm actually quite glad I didn't get as far as being offered the 737 job, so the decision was taken out of my hands. Another friend of mine did have to choose - he went for the Dash. I think he made the right choice.
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Old 24th May 2008, 17:27
  #35 (permalink)  
 
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Well, in asia it's a different ball game.Normally the route to become a commercial pilot is done via cadet pilot scheme rather than military or private fund cadet pilot.Once we complete training,wo go direct to widebody such as Airbus 330/340 and Boeing 777/747. We bypass props and those narrowbody like 320 and 737. You can see airline such as cathay pacific and singapore airlines practise that.so it's normal if you see people as young as 20 on the RHS on widebody and being a captain at the age of 28.
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Old 24th May 2008, 17:40
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Yes we should
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