how much do aviation jobs care about type flown?

StinkBug

StinkBug

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Specifically speaking, fixed gear vs retract? When we're talking entry level CPL jobs does having half of your time in a complex aircraft help more than just the required hours and the rest in a 172 or Cherokee?

I know it matters for insurance if you wanna own a complex aircraft, but what about employers?
 
Hmm, For low time gigs, total time, I've seen tailwheel time, turbine time, time in type aside from a caravan or something, no.

Building a bunch of time in a arrow or something isn't going to help much, building that same time in a champ or cub may help.

What types of jobs are we talking here?
 
I think it would be better to consider the job and get some time in type. Entry jobs are pretty well known and that includes the type of equipment they fly.

Showing up with TT addresses only the minimum and does nothing to distinguish the applicant from the competition. Flight experience in the aircraft type will likely vault the applicant to the front amongst other applicants.
 
James331 said:
What types of jobs are we talking here?
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The kind that pay you to fly an airplane :lol:

No I'm not trying to be a smartass, I'm actually open to pretty much anything in the aviation world, and wanna give myself the best resume starting out that I can afford.

I know the most common first job is as a CFI, and that's something that actually appeals to me. I know the kinda planes used in training though. I'm more curious about some of the other low time required jobs, so anything you have info on is appreciated.
 
Not much in reality. My brother had a commercial and 350 hours and got an interview for a pipeline patrol job. He is retired now and finished up with a little over 45000 hours (YES, 45K) all in 182 and 182 RG. He could have gone corporate with the company he was with but didn't want to.
My company requires turbo jet PIC and international time with about 4000 TT to even keep your resume' from going to the trash.
My point is...get whatever time you can where ever you can and go onto the next job. At your stage you cannot afford to be choosy. BUT, with that being said...I used to do interviews for a former company and I placed a higher premium on the type of flying and equipment. Why? Someone with a couple of thousand hours of Beech 18 or Baron time flying freight or checks vs. someone with the same time in the right seat of a Lear...well which one do you think actually "flew"?

But the big BUT is that you are dealing with HR types that barely know which end of an airplane goes forward...you have to sell yourself once you get the minimums.
 
Most entry level jobs are gonna be fixed gear types anyways. Aerial photography, flight instruction, banner towing.
Retract time isn't that big of a deal. No one really cares that you can move a two position switch twice during a flight. Turbine time, tailwheel time, multi-engine time. Those are the ones that would inhibit you from most CPL jobs.
 
Why do they care if you can move two throttles instead of one? Assuming no emergencies, a twin is not really harder to fly than a single, right?
 
I work part time with an aerial photographer in a C-150. I've never flown in one before but had a few hours in a 152. It didn't really make a difference. When I was looking for skydiving jobs, some of them wanted tailwheel time.
 
MD11Pilot said:
At your stage you cannot afford to be choosy.
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I'm not being choosy at all. Just trying to make my odds as good as I can while I'm the one footing the bill for every second of flight time. Might as well stretch the dollar as far as I can if it'll help in any way. Sounds like it wont really make much difference though.
 
As person that has been on hiring boards I can tell you that the closer your experience is to what they do the more likely you are to be hired.
 
dans2992 said:
Why do they care if you can move two throttles instead of one? Assuming no emergencies, a twin is not really harder to fly than a single, right?
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Assuming no emergencies, yeah its similar. But if the company you are applying for is for a multi job(which the higher paying jobs are gonna be multi), the more multi-time you have, the better. 99% of your multis are gonna be complex anyways and for the most part, higher performance.
 
I always like it when someone (insurance, etc) asks how much retract time I have. I have almost 1200hrs of retract time. Now if they ask how much complex time it is about 120 hours, most of the rest of the retract time is Glider time.

Brian
 
StinkBug said:
I know it matters for insurance if you wanna own a complex aircraft, but what about employers?
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Same thing. Insurance drives what employers require. When my company bought a Citation II I hired a guy with just 12 hours of multiengine time and a MEL rating. A few years later when I just wanted to hire part-time copilots for vacations they insisted on simulator-based recurrent training for all. The reason? By then we had a 100M liability policy, substantially higher than before.

dtuuri
 
It really depends on what the job is. Half of my time, and 75% of my working, paid, flying time, has been in fixed gear tail draggers. It all depends on the insurance requirements for the job that dictates what experience you need to apply. How competitive the market for the job is dictates what experience you need to get hired. Most seats of any type have 100 or more applicants.
 
dtuuri said:
Same thing. Insurance drives what employers require. When my company bought a Citation II I hired a guy with just 12 hours of multiengine time and a MEL rating. A few years later when I just wanted to hire part-time copilots for vacations they insisted on simulator-based recurrent training for all. The reason? By then we had a 100M liability policy, substantially higher than before.



dtuuri
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Wow, $100mil! That's a hell of a policy.
 
dans2992 said:
Wow, $100mil! That's a hell of a policy.
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Yeah, at the time I started ranting and taking the insurance company's name in vain until someone politely informed me there were only a couple underwriters who would write that policy, so they were entitled to have whoever they want flying the plane.

dtuuri
 
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