Full time Job+CFI

88MPH · April 11th, 2006, 19:38

Right now I'm serving in the Air Force, and have an opportunity to either fly jumpers with poor working conditions/moral but flexible hours on the weekends, or instruct part time (interpret: NEVER sleep, drive 60 miles every day, and neglect the wife and house quite a bit)

Anyone ever been in this situation? I could always take a break from flying, but I would really like to have a good setup to transfer straight to a junior 135 gig after seperating the AF.

Just looking for ANY advice!

jrh · April 11th, 2006, 22:01

What do you mean by "poor working conditions/morale"?

If you're talking about low pay at the skydive place, I'd say go with the lower pay and flexible hours. QOL is more important than pay, in my opinion.

On the other hand, if you're talking about something shady, like poor maintenance, go with the CFI job. Good QOL isn't worth endangering your life or your certificates.

Also something to think about--where are you at for hours? If you need any night, XC, or instrument time, CFI'ing is a much better way to get it. If you just need to bump up your total time and don't mind flying local, day, VFR flights, the skydive place is fine.

88MPH · April 11th, 2006, 23:17

I mean the rumors about the owner are pretty negative, noone likes working for him. Everything else is fine though. I'm concerned about not being available enough for my prospective students, though. I would really have to bust my balls, NO sleep, and wife left alone practically ALL the time. Im at 230 TT now, and need night/XC down the road.

I'm just looking for perspectives of CFI'ing and working full time! I would much rather do that than work for a meathead! But I'm afraid that's what I may have to do, if the schedule wont allow CFI'ing.

jrh · April 12th, 2006, 06:36

Hmmmm. Here's the way I see it:

230 hours is really low time. If the skydive place will hire you with that kind of time, I'd take it. Build your TT and worry about the night/XC later. Even if your boss isn't the greatest guy in the world, I think the QOL is more important in the long run.

If you go the CFI route, what are you going to tell your wife? That you're working your butt off now, so...that you can work your butt off some more once you get to the airlines? I'd say enjoy a better QOL flying jumpers while you can. Otherwise, there's the potential to be constantly working with no end in sight. Having stress like that in the family isn't worth it, in my opinion. Of course, take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. I'm a young, single guy still in college. All I know is I was working 10, 12, 14 hour days a lot as a CFI last summer and I can't imagine having a girlfriend with that kind of schedule, let alone a wife.

You also mentioned a lack of sleep with the CFI schedule. All I can say to that is, a lack of sleep and flying don't mix well. Aside from the obvious safety aspects, there is a psychological toll. After 3 months of my long CFI days last summer, 6 days/week, I was in need of a break, and that was with no other family/work obligations in my life. There's a fine line between pushing hard to succeed in your aviation career and burning yourself out.

One last point though--if you've heard the skydive boss is a hard guy to work for, why specifically do pilots say that? A lot of times those complaints stem from either money disputes (off the clock duties or something) or safety disputes (flying unairworthy planes or something). Take those specific reasons into account before deciding one way or the other on which job to take.

Ian J · April 12th, 2006, 10:39

I work full-time and CFI part time, but I live 5 minutes from the airport so our situations aren't quite the same. However, I love spending time with my wife and flying a lot on the weekends puts stress on us we don't need. What I try to do is push students to fly after work since it stays daylight till about 8:00pm and try to keep my weekends free. Inevitably I do end up flying weekends, but if I do, I limit it to either Sat or Sun so I at least get a full, uninterrupted day with my wife.

88MPH · April 12th, 2006, 10:54

All I'm at liberty to say it that they guys personality and people skills leave quite a bit to be desired.

JRH, good poing about sleep/flying. and working hard now to work hard later! I think CFI'in would be much more rewarding and a much better learning experience, but the points made about burning out and outside obligations weigh pretty heavily in my situation.

It really sucks knowing that I "HAVE" to take the "I'll get treated like crap" job just to stay in the flying game. But hearing the advice puts the whole picture into perspective.

Thanks for the great input, guys

(sigh)

boognish · April 16th, 2006, 19:12

I have a whole lot more respect for the pilot/family man. I could not do it. I mean having a family is great, and I love kids, but I just could not imagine mixing the two of these together. Good luck on whichever you pick. I would go with Skydivers, I'm currently doing the CFI thing and flying Skydivers on the side, but luckily I have two kickass bosses who treat me well.

MSNFlyer · April 16th, 2006, 21:34

I did the full time job/part time CFI thing for about 5 months with a girlfriend and dog who I love like a son. It wasn't too bad but I worked about 4 minutes away from the airport so adjusted my schedule to fly right after work. I am lucky to have an independant partner so time away from her wasn't any huge deal, I just had to consciously make time (taking one day a weekend off for example).

I am a full time CFI now and loving it. Less hours, no more good paying corporate job but I wouldn't trade it for the world and I am glad I had them both for awhile to make sure I liked instructing enough and was good at it to go full time.

Propilot · April 17th, 2006, 20:07

If the dz still wants to hire you knowing that you have 230TT, you might want to make sure you will be named on their insurance...hell...make sure they even have insurance...many C182 dropzones operate without aircraft insurance.

If they dont have it or cant put you on it, dont fly for them.

That aside, id find out how many hours/mo the dz flies. Some c182/C206 dropzones fly their butts off....could be a good way to build TT quickly.

Im in a posistion now of having about 1500TT but hardly any night/xcountry/ifr because all ive done is fly skydivers. I just finished my CFI-I a few days ago and plan on teaching this summer along with flying skydivers.

anyway, its your move man...hope it works out for you.

88MPH · April 17th, 2006, 20:54

Great advice, guys! It really helps to have perspective! Especially on the family side of things! Thanks!

Whatever I pick, if it turns out to be wonderful, or a boatload of crap-baggage, I'll probably feel compelled to share the story!

April 11th, 2006, 19:38	#1
88MPH Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: TUS/AVL Posts: 1,155	Full time Job+CFI Right now I'm serving in the Air Force, and have an opportunity to either fly jumpers with poor working conditions/moral but flexible hours on the weekends, or instruct part time (interpret: NEVER sleep, drive 60 miles every day, and neglect the wife and house quite a bit) Anyone ever been in this situation? I could always take a break from flying, but I would really like to have a good setup to transfer straight to a junior 135 gig after seperating the AF. Just looking for ANY advice! __________________ I'm just gonna find a cash machine.

April 11th, 2006, 23:17	#3
88MPH Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: TUS/AVL Posts: 1,155	I mean the rumors about the owner are pretty negative, noone likes working for him. Everything else is fine though. I'm concerned about not being available enough for my prospective students, though. I would really have to bust my balls, NO sleep, and wife left alone practically ALL the time. Im at 230 TT now, and need night/XC down the road. I'm just looking for perspectives of CFI'ing and working full time! I would much rather do that than work for a meathead! But I'm afraid that's what I may have to do, if the schedule wont allow CFI'ing. __________________ I'm just gonna find a cash machine.

April 12th, 2006, 10:54	#6
88MPH Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: TUS/AVL Posts: 1,155	All I'm at liberty to say it that they guys personality and people skills leave quite a bit to be desired. JRH, good poing about sleep/flying. and working hard now to work hard later! I think CFI'in would be much more rewarding and a much better learning experience, but the points made about burning out and outside obligations weigh pretty heavily in my situation. It really sucks knowing that I "HAVE" to take the "I'll get treated like crap" job just to stay in the flying game. But hearing the advice puts the whole picture into perspective. Thanks for the great input, guys (sigh) __________________ I'm just gonna find a cash machine.

April 17th, 2006, 20:07	#9
Propilot Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: NE United States Posts: 317	If the dz still wants to hire you knowing that you have 230TT, you might want to make sure you will be named on their insurance...hell...make sure they even have insurance...many C182 dropzones operate without aircraft insurance. If they dont have it or cant put you on it, dont fly for them. That aside, id find out how many hours/mo the dz flies. Some c182/C206 dropzones fly their butts off....could be a good way to build TT quickly. Im in a posistion now of having about 1500TT but hardly any night/xcountry/ifr because all ive done is fly skydivers. I just finished my CFI-I a few days ago and plan on teaching this summer along with flying skydivers. anyway, its your move man...hope it works out for you. __________________ Just fly

April 17th, 2006, 20:54	#10
88MPH Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: TUS/AVL Posts: 1,155	Great advice, guys! It really helps to have perspective! Especially on the family side of things! Thanks! Whatever I pick, if it turns out to be wonderful, or a boatload of crap-baggage, I'll probably feel compelled to share the story! __________________ I'm just gonna find a cash machine.

April 11th, 2006, 22:01	#2
jrh Old Skool Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: USA Posts: 1,744	What do you mean by "poor working conditions/morale"? If you're talking about low pay at the skydive place, I'd say go with the lower pay and flexible hours. QOL is more important than pay, in my opinion. On the other hand, if you're talking about something shady, like poor maintenance, go with the CFI job. Good QOL isn't worth endangering your life or your certificates. Also something to think about--where are you at for hours? If you need any night, XC, or instrument time, CFI'ing is a much better way to get it. If you just need to bump up your total time and don't mind flying local, day, VFR flights, the skydive place is fine.

April 12th, 2006, 06:36	#4
jrh Old Skool Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: USA Posts: 1,744	Hmmmm. Here's the way I see it: 230 hours is really low time. If the skydive place will hire you with that kind of time, I'd take it. Build your TT and worry about the night/XC later. Even if your boss isn't the greatest guy in the world, I think the QOL is more important in the long run. If you go the CFI route, what are you going to tell your wife? That you're working your butt off now, so...that you can work your butt off some more once you get to the airlines? I'd say enjoy a better QOL flying jumpers while you can. Otherwise, there's the potential to be constantly working with no end in sight. Having stress like that in the family isn't worth it, in my opinion. Of course, take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. I'm a young, single guy still in college. All I know is I was working 10, 12, 14 hour days a lot as a CFI last summer and I can't imagine having a girlfriend with that kind of schedule, let alone a wife. You also mentioned a lack of sleep with the CFI schedule. All I can say to that is, a lack of sleep and flying don't mix well. Aside from the obvious safety aspects, there is a psychological toll. After 3 months of my long CFI days last summer, 6 days/week, I was in need of a break, and that was with no other family/work obligations in my life. There's a fine line between pushing hard to succeed in your aviation career and burning yourself out. One last point though--if you've heard the skydive boss is a hard guy to work for, why specifically do pilots say that? A lot of times those complaints stem from either money disputes (off the clock duties or something) or safety disputes (flying unairworthy planes or something). Take those specific reasons into account before deciding one way or the other on which job to take.

April 12th, 2006, 10:39	#5
Ian J Old Skool Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Nashville Posts: 6,000 Blog Entries: 7	I work full-time and CFI part time, but I live 5 minutes from the airport so our situations aren't quite the same. However, I love spending time with my wife and flying a lot on the weekends puts stress on us we don't need. What I try to do is push students to fly after work since it stays daylight till about 8:00pm and try to keep my weekends free. Inevitably I do end up flying weekends, but if I do, I limit it to either Sat or Sun so I at least get a full, uninterrupted day with my wife.

April 16th, 2006, 19:12	#7
boognish Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 32	I have a whole lot more respect for the pilot/family man. I could not do it. I mean having a family is great, and I love kids, but I just could not imagine mixing the two of these together. Good luck on whichever you pick. I would go with Skydivers, I'm currently doing the CFI thing and flying Skydivers on the side, but luckily I have two kickass bosses who treat me well.

April 16th, 2006, 21:34	#8
MSNFlyer Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 99	I did the full time job/part time CFI thing for about 5 months with a girlfriend and dog who I love like a son. It wasn't too bad but I worked about 4 minutes away from the airport so adjusted my schedule to fly right after work. I am lucky to have an independant partner so time away from her wasn't any huge deal, I just had to consciously make time (taking one day a weekend off for example). I am a full time CFI now and loving it. Less hours, no more good paying corporate job but I wouldn't trade it for the world and I am glad I had them both for awhile to make sure I liked instructing enough and was good at it to go full time.

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