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PositionAndHold · March 17th, 2007, 09:17

Pretty much what every one mentioned is accurate. I have worked as a Corrections Officer for the last eight years in a county jail in SoCal. I have been on a 12 hour rotation the whole time(15 days off a month). It has allowed me to get all of my ratings and spend the last year and a half flying a lear 45 part time.

However it is a double edge sword. Since I was in the middle of training when 9/11 happened I didn't really bust my hump to get done knowing that the only choice I was going to have was CFI'ing (no one was going to be hiring). Not that the CFI gig is bad, but when you make decent money it's hard to step back and take a huge pay cut. So I bought an airplane with my Dad and built most of my time that way, on my days off. Again I wasn't in a hurry. But in today's market I would definetly consider the CFI thing and then move on to 135 or the regionals and get the crappy pay part over with. Which is what I am about to do. I will probably start applying to regionals this month. If I get hired, I will take about a 2/3 cut in pay. But I have to do it eventually.

After saying all that, this job has allowed me to almost pay for all of my training and when I leave the only payment I will have is my truck. So if you want to take your time and know it could take several years, then I would say go for the LE thing. If you want to get inot flying as quick as possible it's going to be a little harder with an LE job.

Feel free to PM if you have any other questions.

March 17th, 2007, 09:17	#5
PositionAndHold Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 208	Re: Flight Training and the LE Life? Pretty much what every one mentioned is accurate. I have worked as a Corrections Officer for the last eight years in a county jail in SoCal. I have been on a 12 hour rotation the whole time(15 days off a month). It has allowed me to get all of my ratings and spend the last year and a half flying a lear 45 part time. However it is a double edge sword. Since I was in the middle of training when 9/11 happened I didn't really bust my hump to get done knowing that the only choice I was going to have was CFI'ing (no one was going to be hiring). Not that the CFI gig is bad, but when you make decent money it's hard to step back and take a huge pay cut. So I bought an airplane with my Dad and built most of my time that way, on my days off. Again I wasn't in a hurry. But in today's market I would definetly consider the CFI thing and then move on to 135 or the regionals and get the crappy pay part over with. Which is what I am about to do. I will probably start applying to regionals this month. If I get hired, I will take about a 2/3 cut in pay. But I have to do it eventually. After saying all that, this job has allowed me to almost pay for all of my training and when I leave the only payment I will have is my truck. So if you want to take your time and know it could take several years, then I would say go for the LE thing. If you want to get inot flying as quick as possible it's going to be a little harder with an LE job. Feel free to PM if you have any other questions.