How can i build hours after flight school? I will need 1500 hrs to apply to an airline. How do I get it?

Question

How can i build hours after flight school? I will need 1500 hrs to apply to an airline. How do I get it?

Answer 1

Cheapest way is to get someone else to pay for it.

Invite 3 friends to go away for the day or weekend. You can fly if they come up with the rental/petrol between them.

Check out music weekends in neighbouring states. they could drive for 8 hours each way or have you fly 2 hours or so.

Answer 2

The answer of "patrick m" is the best way,with a flight instructor job u can make up to 1000 h in 1 year if the school is busy & good weather,try TX ,the weather their is open most of the year.

Thanks

Peace:)

Answer 3

get your CFI, and work at a local airport!  be professional, make a commitment to the owner (like you will be there for 2.5 years) and you want to learn everything possible.

doesn't pay alot, but you get to log all the hours, teach the FARs over and over, and get to talk to alot of knowledgable people.  I even had a friend whose job it was to fly people's planes every two weeks to make sure they didn't sit!!!!!  he didn't get paid for it, but he got to inspect lots of different planes, and got experience in many models...he started as a lineman!

Answer 4

Build hours doing other pilot jobs.

You don't need 1500 hours to get hired by an airline.

In the US you get flight time instructing, towing banners, flying traffic patrol, flying fire patrol, flying pipeline or powerline patrol, flying aerial surveys for the Agriculture Department, ferrying planes, doing aerial photography, flying aerial tours, flying cancelled checks, or flying freight.

Answer 5

Take all your mates for flights, get a second job and spend it on aerobatics untill you get 160 hrs then move onto a dropzone and fly jumpers. If you are a reasonable person and get along well with others you will have your hours up very quickly.

Aim to get a turbine rating asap and you will have more column time than you can dream of.

Answer 6

flying instructor!

banner towing!

Answer 7

The answers regarding instructing are spot on IF that's something that you're interested in doing.  If the idea of instructing is not your thing, do yourself and prospective students a favor and find another way to build time.  If it is something that interests you, it's an excellent way to build experience because it will make you a lot sharper in understanding regulations, aerodynamics, systems, limitations, and the learning process, all of which you will be dealing with for the rest of your career.

When you mentioned that you need 1500 hours to apply to an airline, that got my attention.  That sounds like the minimums for a major airline.  In today's market, regional airlines only require 300 to 600 hours.  That's a good place to start if your goal is to fly for major airlines.  In the United States, you are facing an uphill battle if you want to go directly from a Cessna or Piper trainer to a 737 as soon as you have 1500 hours.  You need jet time, and the easiest way to get that time is at regional airlines.

There are many other options, like cargo (FedEx feeders or a company like AirNet), traffic watch, pipeline inspection, etc. to help fill the gap.  I don't recommend buying all of that time because 1) it's expensive, and 2) it will make your interviews that much harder if you don't have any experience working for somebody in a flying job.

Answer 8

join a flying club, rent planes from members, buy a part share or buy a cheapy outright.

something like a Cesnna 172 would be fine for hopping around

Althoght the one I had was built to a similar quality standard as a reliant robin.

Answer 9

You can go work for an aircraft broker. They buy, refurbish and deliver aircraft around the country. They will pay you to pick up and deliver the aircraft to different destinations, so you get your hours and fly different kinds of planes.