General questions

[TylerC-KS-507]

Jeremy. Since i am only 18, I had a few general questions.

First of all, i've been reading some of your responses about having a family and flying at the same time can be some what difficult. In later years I see myself having a family. After college I hope to get a job with the airlines and settle in and have kids. Do you have any advice that will allow me to start a family of my own but still have time to fly for an airline? I am a huge family man, it means the world to me. Seeing the schedule of airline pilots some what discourages me from going into the airlines. Would the best option and also rewarding career to fly for private companies? How does your family feel about you being gone?

Second, would you know of any better job other than instructing while I go to college where I can fly and build hours? I don't feel extremely confident about teaching others how to fly; i just never saw myself being a teacher, but it is what I plan on doing throughout college.

Would it be a wise idea to start getting type ratings, such as king airs, bigger aircraft other than little 4 seat planes etc? Since I am young and have all these ratings most people don't have until their mid 20's I have this urge to continue to advance above others (thats just my competitive personality).

Thanks in advance for your help!

Tyler

[ExpressJet Jeremy]

Originally Posted by TylerC-KS-507

First of all, i've been reading some of your responses about having a family and flying at the same time can be some what difficult. In later years I see myself having a family. After college I hope to get a job with the airlines and settle in and have kids. Do you have any advice that will allow me to start a family of my own but still have time to fly for an airline? I am a huge family man, it means the world to me. Seeing the schedule of airline pilots some what discourages me from going into the airlines. Would the best option and also rewarding career to fly for private companies? How does your family feel about you being gone?

Tyler, I've decided that there are two types of married pilot families: those where the couple knew each other before you were a pilot... and those that met after you were a pilot.

I have not seen anything to lead me to believe that one type has a more successful marriage than the other.

I am in the group where my wife and I had a "real" life before pilot. You, obviously, will be in the other category. You'll meet someone who will always know you as a pilot. The expectations are known ahead of time. (My wife remembers a time when I wasn't a pilot and I used to hear that life wasn't exactly as advertised.)

The one thing that will really help your home life is to live in your base. When you don't have to commute, your career as a pilot will feel like the best part time job ever. If you commute it's just less time away from home.

However, I am NOT advocating that you move to wherever in the country that you happen to be based. "Chasing metal" is a dangerous practice. Bases close. Furloughs do happen, and you could find yourself suddenly living in the wrong place with a horrible commute. Just something to think about.

Airline schedules do get better. Just DON't jump around from airline to airline and you'll up your quality of life immensely (some people get hired by an airline and when it looks like times are going bad, they will jump to another airline, where, things end up turning bad. Then they jump to another flying job. The result, they lost a few years of better pay and quality of life by starting over with each job.) The best idea, don't just take the first airline job that comes along, just because they are hiring. You pick them, just as they pick you.

So back to family. You can be a family man and a less senior airline pilot. ExpressJet Bob, here is the best example of that I can give. Great family man and his focus is clear. He is very successful at it. You can be to. Just set your priorities and make all decisions based on those priorities.

Second, would you know of any better job other than instructing while I go to college where I can fly and build hours? I don't feel extremely confident about teaching others how to fly; i just never saw myself being a teacher, but it is what I plan on doing throughout college.

Instructing is, in my opinion, the best way to build time as a low time pilot. You will learn a ton, meet lots of people, make lots of contacts and build lots of time. It will give you experience, teach you how to make decisions, and to lead in the cockpit. I would suggest that you try it out and give it the good college try. (hmm, no pun intended). Not everyone is cut from that mold but it is how the majority of non-military pilots cut their teeth when they were building time.

I wouldn't worry about not being confident about teaching, and you're first few hours of flying will feel kind of rough. My first day as an ATP instructor and I had PSA Josie and her flight partner. I tried to start off with ground school and after a few minutes of fumbling around I went to the senior instructor at our location and said, what the heck do I do???? I got the hang of it and things turned out fine. You really just need to get those first few hours to realize that you can do it.

Maybe doing a few intro flights would be a good way to get your feet wet. Less pressure, more just flying around, a little bit of hands on.

If instructing doesn't work out, fine. Go do something else. But give a good amount of time and effort before you choose not to. You might find in 20 years that you'll wish you had a few hundred hours of instructor time... you never know.

Oh and whatever you do... don't ever let your CFI expire. No matter what!!!

Would it be a wise idea to start getting type ratings, such as king airs, bigger aircraft other than little 4 seat planes etc? Since I am young and have all these ratings most people don't have until their mid 20's I have this urge to continue to advance above others (thats just my competitive personality).

No. Don't pay for anything! If you find someone who wants you to fly for them, then you allow them to pay for any required training or type ratings. Frankly, only the biggest King Air requires a type and no one is going to let you fly that right now anyway. But if they do.. they pay for your training.. not you.

Right now, you're way ahead of the pack. Use that advantage to build time. Fly anything. Meet people and make contacts. Graduate college. In 4-5 years, you'll be very well positioned with lots of time, experience, and contacts to make better decisions about a long term direction: Airlines. Corporate. Something else.

Jeremy