CFI Training Route

stevenwings · October 2, 2006

Hello everyone,

For someone with limited time in the U.S (2 year J1 visa program), what is the best training route to take inorder to get a job quickly and to get as many heli hours as possible whilst in the U.S? I will be on a tight budget.

1 - PPL + CPL + CFI

2 - PPL + IR + Mountain Flying + External load + CPL + CFI + CFII

(with option 1 the training should take about 6 months and finish about 3 months earlier than option 2.)

My intention is to study for the JAA ATPL theory by distance after having completed the FAA qualifications. Does anyone who has taken a similar route have any advice for me?

Thanks

joker · October 2, 2006

Stevewings,

As you can imagine, you are not the first to ask those very questions.

In breif, get your Instrument and your Instrument Instructor. Don't bother thinking about Mountain or External load, until you have done your private. Then you'll have a better idea of what you want and where you are going!

Rather than spend time typing much of what has been said already, here is a link to a very good consolidated list of threads which will answer your questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Have a look at those, use the search engine provided, then if you have any more questions, please do post them.

Joker

stevenwings · October 2, 2006

Joker,

Thank you for your advice.

I've seen your reply's on many other threads aswell and found them to be very informative. For what it's worth I did check all the FAQ's and carried out numerous searches but didn't find any siimilar q's. I've been informed that the FAA IR is not particularly useful in Europe as they use a different IR system for the vast majority of helicopters. Therefore to spend at least another $10k on the IR and CFII when I will only use them for a short period of time in the U.S seems to be a tad cost ineffective.

Thanks again.

Wanna-be · October 2, 2006

Joker,

Thank you for your advice.

I've seen your reply's on many other threads aswell and found them to be very informative. For what it's worth I did check all the FAQ's and carried out numerous searches but didn't find any siimilar q's. I've been informed that the FAA IR is not particularly useful in Europe as they use a different IR system for the vast majority of helicopters. Therefore to spend at least another $10k on the IR and CFII when I will only use them for a short period of time in the U.S seems to be a tad cost ineffective.

Thanks again.

I want to go for the same route, but im not certain yet at which school. Getting the FAA IR is pretty important if you want to get the JAA IR later on. If you have a FAA IR, you'll "only" need to convert it (approx 19.000 pounds!!). else it will cost you aprox 28.000 pounds!!!!

From which country are you and when do wou want to start??

stevenwings · October 2, 2006

Wanna-be,

I'm from the U.K and thinking about starting mid March 2007.

Cheers

joker · October 2, 2006

The thing is, that if you want to build hours as an instructor in the US, the Instrument Rating will be very useful as another string to the bow.

Also, as mentioned, although JAA IR is a few years away, the eventual conversion may be significantly cheaper.

I'm sure that others will comment.

Joker

flyby_heli · October 2, 2006

Stevenwings:

The best way to do this is as the others here have mentioned....get your IR and CFII.

The cheapest way to do it is to get your IR right after the private, because you still need to build the hours for the commercial rating.

This should not cost you anywhere even close to $10K extra. Normally Instrument ships go out for about $20-25/hr more than VFR ships. Say you spend 40 hours to get your IR.....you are looking at an extra $800-1000 (plus ground instruction, but still....) And probably a couple grand for the CFII. Should keep it closer to $5K than $10K.

With your IR and CFII rating you will be much more marketable as a pilot while in the US. You will build more hours, because you can now teach all ratings not just private and commercial. And if you end up staying in the US for some reason, most commercial operators require an Instrument Rating, so if teaching instrument flying is not appealing to you...at least get your IR.

Flyby