Below is my answer to an email that I received from a Jump Pilot that is looking to transition from a piston to a turbine powered aircraft. After writing it, I felt that I should post it because I thought that it might help other pilots. It is an answer to a question that I get frequently.
Hi David,
Thank you for the compliment. I had people help me while I was learning to fly, so I'm just trying to pay it forward.
As far as your situation, keep in mind that all pilots get caught in that dilemma of: How to get hired into a turbine or twin when I don't have any turbine or twin time and yet ALL the companies ask for at least "25hrs in type".
For me personally, when I was looking to transition to the Caravan and was getting frustrated with the above mentioned dilemma, an idea popped into my head.
I had recently read an ad for a drop zone that was looking to hire a Caravan pilot. That particular DZ also owned a Cessna 206, a model that I had a few hundred of hours of experience flying skydivers in. So I called the owner of the DZ and ran my idea by him hoping that he would agree. I asked him if he would agree to train me to fly his Caravan in exchange for me flying his C206 for his skydiving company for 1 month.
He agreed, trained me and actually only made me fly 3 weeks instead of 4. Also, that company smartly maximizes the use of their Caravan via scheduling so I ended up only having to fly the C206 about twenty or so loads.
I have friends that have been hired by DZs that fly a piston and a turbine and received paid training in turbines. Obviously, that is the best type of situation to get into, but it is not always practical for all of us.
I am still very happy with my bartering idea to get trained in a larger aircraft and I always recommend it to Jump Pilots that are looking to transition. Although it is a proposition that is more easily accomplished in the Jump Pilot world, I have heard of pilots in other industries using that method.
As far as the Flight Safety route, I would not encourage a Jump Pilot that is looking to transition from a piston to a Caravan to pay that $4000 fee. Most of the pilots that utilize those programs are not paying for it with their own money. The companies that hired them are paying for it.
I hope that I answered your questions but if you have any more, please feel free to ask! I love helping my fellow pilots.
~Chris Rosenfelt
