Multi rating?

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owensm74

Guest
I will be finishing up IFR training in a few weeks and then on to commercial. My question is whether or not to get my multi and then fly all multi for commercial. I have heard both sides of the argument but not by anyone who would really know. I am asking those of you out there who have first-hand knowledge of this issue. I know the costs for multi-commercial are exponentially higher than single and have taken that into account. I am just curious on whether or not would-be employers would be impressed or if it would just not be a smart money decision to go multi first.

Thanks in advance for all of your advice.
 
owensm74 said:
I will be finishing up IFR training in a few weeks and then on to commercial. My question is whether or not to get my multi and then fly all multi for commercial. I have heard both sides of the argument but not by anyone who would really know. I am asking those of you out there who have first-hand knowledge of this issue. I know the costs for multi-commercial are exponentially higher than single and have taken that into account. I am just curious on whether or not would-be employers would be impressed or if it would just not be a smart money decision to go multi first.

Thanks in advance for all of your advice.
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Try multi engine training in Arlington, TX. Get you initial in the multi then add the single engine.
 
I did multi comm initial and added SE comm. I think it's a common route, quite honestly.

Even though I'm not "going pro", you have to admit, most of the relevant jobs for a career pilot are going to be in ME aircraft -- you may as well get the ability to build time and experience as soon as possible, as the more hours, the more insurable, the more likely to be a viable candidate for a given job.

You never know when a friend will have a Baron and want to go for a ride. When you find him, introduce me to him :D

$0.02

- Mike
 
It all depends upon what you want to do exactly. If you want to fly for Wiggins in their 208s or Alpha Flying in their Pilatus, you probably don't need to bother with too much multi time. If you want to go to the airlines or most corporate jet/turbo prop operators (I assume since you asked about "would-be employers" you're trying to get a job likes these), then multi time will count huge. I know a big problem for us is we can find plenty of guys in the 1500-2000 hr TT range but with less than 100 multi. I think our HR dept has a real hard time hireing people with that little multi. FWIW, I did multi com first and did the SE com as an add-on.
 
If you want the commercial for the braggin rights and maybe get a CFI down the road, then go single... If you think you might want to fly for money down the road, go multi first...

denny-o
 
If you can afford it, and employment in multiengine airplanes is your goal, the sooner you get into twins and the more ME time you build, the better. I think everyone with that goal would do this if they had the money; most don't.
 
Which one you get first only matters if you have an opportunity to fly for compensation in one particular type or another, or if you only have easy access to fixed gear singles. A Comm Multi will allow you to complete your Comm Single in a 172 or some other fixed gear plane.

Teller gave a good synopsis. There's lots of C208s for Wiggins and Martinaire flying around (plus for other purposes), and they all need single engine pilots. But multi engine flying is multi engine flying, and the big boys all have at least two.
 
Also of note: to me there's something about what you enjoy flying. I love flying twins. Some people love flying singles. Fly what you like. Just remember that once you set yourself up for a single engine route it will be much harder to get into the world of paid twins.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Also of note: to me there's something about what you enjoy flying. I love flying twins. Some people love flying singles. Fly what you like. Just remember that once you set yourself up for a single engine route it will be much harder to get into the world of paid twins.
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As a charter member of the Former Twin Owners Association, I second that. We traded up to a Cougar from a Cheetah, and then back to a Tiger. But I've got all the ME time I need for any employment purpose, so building ME time wasn't an issue. If, like the OP, you're looking for a career flying ME planes for hire, then what you like isn't as important as what you need, and for that path, you need all the ME time you can get/afford.
 
Ron Levy said:
If, like the OP, you're looking for a career flying ME planes for hire, then what you like isn't as important as what you need, and for that path, you need all the ME time you can get/afford.
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Agreed, I should have made that statement. But the same could be said if you wanted to fly C208s vs. King Airs.
 
Thanks guys, lots of good advice. I guess I should have stated that I'm a 141 student and professional flying is the intended path. The answers were what I expected, but I guess I just needed to hear from someone who has no personal affiliation with me. It seems to be the smart move to go multi, that many more doors will be (hopefully) open to me after training.
 
owensm74 said:
Thanks guys, lots of good advice. I guess I should have stated that I'm a 141 student and professional flying is the intended path. The answers were what I expected, but I guess I just needed to hear from someone who has no personal affiliation with me. It seems to be the smart move to go multi, that many more doors will be (hopefully) open to me after training.
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Definitely consider going straight to the Commercial multi rating bypassing private AMEL. At the very least you'll save the cost of one checkride and IIRC there's very little difference in the training and PTS.
 
FWIW, the most multi you'll get is if you get your Private AMEL add-on and do your instrument in the multi, then add commercial multi. That way you can also log all of the post-PP-AMEL flying as PIC.

Doing the Comm-AMEL first allows you to do the Comm-ASEL add-on in a fixed-gear single. However, any money you might have saved there will be burned up by needing to do your long "solo" XC in a more expensive plane, and most likely paying your CFI to sit there and make the insurance company happy.

Other than that, not really much difference between the two. Most of your multi time will not be loggable as PIC in either scenario, and I doubt there'll be a whole heckuva lot of difference in the amount of multi time you get between the two options; again with the exception of the long "solo" XC.
 
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