Low Time Flying Jobs
Immediately upon completing your commercial pilot training, you will be legally qualified (with a few caveats) for the following low time flying jobs: Banner towing, dropping skydivers, flying aerial tours, flying survey, flying pipeline patrol, acquiring your CFI and instructing, or if you are lucky and have connections, flying as copilot at a Part 91 or Part 135 operator in turboprop or turbojet aircraft. It may surprise you to learn that the training provided at most of these jobs may be extremely minimal because many employers just don’t have the budget, and with very laxed regulations on Part 91 operations, there may be minimal legal requirements to provide training.
You may show up on your first day and complete a single quick training flight before you are put on the line later that morning. You may be entrusted with flying complete strangers in an airplane that you are unfamiliar with. You may be pressured by your passengers or your employer to break FARs and take unnecessary risks to “get the job done.” And you may experience all of this within mere days of completing your commercial pilot checkride, with little more than 200 hours in your logbook.
It is very likely that you won’t be prepared for it either because commercial pilot training just does not cover it. And that is why we created this course: to share experience gathered through the first 2,000 hours as a professional pilot so that you show up to your first or second pilot job as prepared as you can be.
This course is the textbook for brand new commercial pilots trying to bridge the gap between 250 hours and 1,500 hours. Other training courses and books aim to help you pass the checkride, but this course is all about real world, practical information for life after the checkride as a low time commercial pilot. It is a compilation of knowledge and experience gathered through extensive research as well as my own 2,000 hours of flying a wide variety of flying jobs. It is what I wish I had as a 250-hour pilot, which is why I wrote it.
Some of the many sections in the course include in-depth information on the following topics:
The course is currently under development and will be available soon! Sign up for updates at the bottom of the page, and learn more about our Commercial Pilot Course Series.
You may show up on your first day and complete a single quick training flight before you are put on the line later that morning. You may be entrusted with flying complete strangers in an airplane that you are unfamiliar with. You may be pressured by your passengers or your employer to break FARs and take unnecessary risks to “get the job done.” And you may experience all of this within mere days of completing your commercial pilot checkride, with little more than 200 hours in your logbook.
It is very likely that you won’t be prepared for it either because commercial pilot training just does not cover it. And that is why we created this course: to share experience gathered through the first 2,000 hours as a professional pilot so that you show up to your first or second pilot job as prepared as you can be.
This course is the textbook for brand new commercial pilots trying to bridge the gap between 250 hours and 1,500 hours. Other training courses and books aim to help you pass the checkride, but this course is all about real world, practical information for life after the checkride as a low time commercial pilot. It is a compilation of knowledge and experience gathered through extensive research as well as my own 2,000 hours of flying a wide variety of flying jobs. It is what I wish I had as a 250-hour pilot, which is why I wrote it.
Some of the many sections in the course include in-depth information on the following topics:
- The Preparation Process for the Written, Oral, and Practical Test (how to pass each the first time + the only study aids you need)
- Regulations (all the ones flight training should have covered but didn't)
- Limitations (factors contributing to why it is so hard to get a job as a low time pilot)
- Low Time Flying Jobs (in-depth descriptions of all of them, lifestyle, compensation, techniques, minimum experience requirements, etc)
- Paying Your Dues (cutting your teeth vs suffering "because that's what everyone has to do")
- Charging For Your Time (and why working for free/cheap is so bad)
- Finding A Job (including all the less obvious techniques and how you can become copilot in a jet with just 250 hours)
- Resume & Cover Letter (guidance from career resume professionals)
- Networking (and how to be a borderline internet stalker to get hired)
- The “Pilot Shortage” (its not what you think)
- How To Prepare For The Job (so you can show up as prepared as possible to make the best impression)
- Learning The Airplane (what to study and how - mastering the aircraft at a professional level)
- Learning The Job (how to learn your specific job before you even begin job training to calm nerves and gain confidence)
- Gear & Equipment (tools you need and stuff you don't)
- Professional Flying Skills, Knowledge & Technique (2,000 hours of lessons learned, served to you here - save yourself years of trouble!)
- Practical Flight Planning, Weather, Notams (how it is actually done by professionals, not flight schools)
- Performance (how it is actually done by professionals, not flight schools)
- The REAL Challenges Of Professional Flying (the stuff commercial courses don't emphasize enough)
- Imposter Syndrome & Making Mistakes (why you might still feel like a student pilot even as a jet captain)
- Flying as a Crew and Crewmembers (this is an art form)
- Lifestyle & Quality Of Life (the pros, cons, and everything you never considered while daydreaming about being a pilot)
- Reality of Job/Duties vs Job Description (what the boss says vs how it actually happens)
- FAA & Mental Health (another extremely important aspect of the job that no one likes to discuss)
- Turboprops & Jets (copilot jobs, training, type ratings, and more)
- Additional Resources (sample resumes, sample aircraft note documents, etc)
The course is currently under development and will be available soon! Sign up for updates at the bottom of the page, and learn more about our Commercial Pilot Course Series.
Our Commercial Pilot Course Series
The reality is that the FAA's Commercial Pilot training requirements are wholly insufficient and do not effectively prepare pilots to exercise the privileges of their Commercial Pilot Certificate.
Unfortunately, after nailing your Power-Off 180, reciting FAR 91.213 perfectly, and being handed your brand new temporary Commercial Pilot Certificate, you will likely find yourself grossly unprepared and unequipped to exercise your privileges as a commercial pilot. Why?
Unfortunately, after nailing your Power-Off 180, reciting FAR 91.213 perfectly, and being handed your brand new temporary Commercial Pilot Certificate, you will likely find yourself grossly unprepared and unequipped to exercise your privileges as a commercial pilot. Why?
- Commercial Pilot Training fails to emphasize or remedy the biggest challenges in flying for hire
- Commercial Pilot Training fails to provide practical advice for finding a job flying airplanes
- Commercial Pilot Training fails to provide practical knowledge on flying larger, more complex aircraft
- Commercial Pilot Training fails to provide knowledge or experience flying as a crew
- Commercial Pilot Training requires flying maneuvers that will never be used in real-life
- Commercial Pilot Training fails to cover the personal, social, and mental challenges of flying professionally
- Commercial Pilot Training fails to explain how to effectively study for type ratings
We want to help fill in the massive wholes left in Commercial Pilot flight training. Oregon Flight School is currently developing a series of practical Commercial Pilot courses that will cover the aforementioned shortcomings, as well as many others. This course will be be useful to the Commercial Pilot applicant as well as those of you who already hold a Commercial Pilot certificate because it is NOT a course designed to teach to any test - it is a course designed for real-life Commercial Pilot flying.
The course will be comprised of useful knowledge and insight acquired by professional pilots over the course of thousands of hours on the job. As of now, it will likely be a combination of book and video content so that no matter what type of learner you are, you will be able to effectively learn the material. It will also be very affordable.
The course will be comprised of useful knowledge and insight acquired by professional pilots over the course of thousands of hours on the job. As of now, it will likely be a combination of book and video content so that no matter what type of learner you are, you will be able to effectively learn the material. It will also be very affordable.
- Part 1 will cover how to most effectively pass the Commercial Pilot checkride, oral, and FAA written knowledge test.
- Part 2 will cover everything you need to know about low time flying jobs
- Part 3 will cover everything you need to know about turbine copilot jobs