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KW · August 7th, 2007, 00:50

Are you locked into a particular city, or are you interested in moving around? Do you mind being oncall? Do you want to be the one handling every aspect of the flight planning and prep, or would you rather just show up and fly?

If you are limited to one city, that can seriously reduce your options outside of the airlines (then again, if the city is LA or NY it won't matter). I ask about the oncall and because that is pretty common with part 91 jobs. A 2 hour callout 7 days a week might be no big deal for some, but for others it might drive them crazy.

I had the chance to do a trip in the right seat of a part 91 King Air a few months back. 2 hour flight each way with 6 hours on the ground. Sounds fun. So I show up and help the pilot preflight, stock the cooler, make sure we've got coffee and breakfast, and the morning paper. And then we sit. And sit. And sit. And then the owner shows up and we're off. Nice trip, great airplane. We get to the destination, the owner buzzes off to take care of business, and we spend a few hours stooging around, getting lunch etc. We come back, start prepping the plane, refilling the cooler, coffee etc. The owner calls us and tells us he is going to be an hour late and would like a pizza. So we order one for him. One hour later still nothing. Another hour and he calls to say he is on his way. This whole time we are repeatedly reheating the pizza in the FBO microwave to try and keep it warm for him. Two more hours, and he calls again to say he is really on his way this time. One more hour and the owner finally shows up and we head back.

That was a fun experience but it showed me that I really wanted to go to the airlines. Some people might have no problem with that trip, and really enjoy it. I was bored out of my mind and going crazy the whole time, and this was at a NICE FBO with plasma screens and leather chairs in the pilots lounge. Of course there is a huge variance in how part 91 operators work, so YMMV. This particular gig was definitely on the low end of the pay/QOL spectrum.

You should try to find someone who would let you right seat on a trip in something like a King Air, just to get an idea of what it's all about. Also, I would definitely think about trying something like freight or an air ambulence operator once you get your 135 mins. Not that theres anything wrong with instructing more, but why not take the oppurtunity to experience some other types of flying, and build some turbine time?

August 7th, 2007, 00:50	#2
KW Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Hillsboro, OR Posts: 59	Re: Corporate or Airlines? Are you locked into a particular city, or are you interested in moving around? Do you mind being oncall? Do you want to be the one handling every aspect of the flight planning and prep, or would you rather just show up and fly? If you are limited to one city, that can seriously reduce your options outside of the airlines (then again, if the city is LA or NY it won't matter). I ask about the oncall and because that is pretty common with part 91 jobs. A 2 hour callout 7 days a week might be no big deal for some, but for others it might drive them crazy. I had the chance to do a trip in the right seat of a part 91 King Air a few months back. 2 hour flight each way with 6 hours on the ground. Sounds fun. So I show up and help the pilot preflight, stock the cooler, make sure we've got coffee and breakfast, and the morning paper. And then we sit. And sit. And sit. And then the owner shows up and we're off. Nice trip, great airplane. We get to the destination, the owner buzzes off to take care of business, and we spend a few hours stooging around, getting lunch etc. We come back, start prepping the plane, refilling the cooler, coffee etc. The owner calls us and tells us he is going to be an hour late and would like a pizza. So we order one for him. One hour later still nothing. Another hour and he calls to say he is on his way. This whole time we are repeatedly reheating the pizza in the FBO microwave to try and keep it warm for him. Two more hours, and he calls again to say he is really on his way this time. One more hour and the owner finally shows up and we head back. That was a fun experience but it showed me that I really wanted to go to the airlines. Some people might have no problem with that trip, and really enjoy it. I was bored out of my mind and going crazy the whole time, and this was at a NICE FBO with plasma screens and leather chairs in the pilots lounge. Of course there is a huge variance in how part 91 operators work, so YMMV. This particular gig was definitely on the low end of the pay/QOL spectrum. You should try to find someone who would let you right seat on a trip in something like a King Air, just to get an idea of what it's all about. Also, I would definitely think about trying something like freight or an air ambulence operator once you get your 135 mins. Not that theres anything wrong with instructing more, but why not take the oppurtunity to experience some other types of flying, and build some turbine time?