What do employers think about too much dual time?

AZN 027 · Post by **AZN 027** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 12:14 pm

Are red flags raised when an employer comes across a resume of an applicant with 180 hrs dual? (none of it is co-pilot time)

groundtoflightdeck · Post by **groundtoflightdeck** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 12:38 pm

I wouldn't bother with dual time on a resume. It could be from doing check outs on different airplanes, so I guess it might not be a big problem.

WRX · Post by **WRX** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 12:39 pm

I have more than 200 hour dual (bunch of license conversions, MIFR, Instructor Rating) and I didn't have problems getting a flying job FOR THAT.

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 1:48 pm

Stick with TT, PIC time on your resume. Break it down into multi and turbine if you have any. No one cares if you have 122.4 hours dual in a C150.

Rubberbiscuit · Post by **Rubberbiscuit** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 4:27 pm

Should not be a prob. Be prepared to answer "why" at an interview though when they flip through the logbook.

marktheone · Post by **marktheone** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 6:33 pm

Had a little trouble with the night landings did you?

Hedley · Post by **Hedley** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 7:03 pm

I see a whole lot of dual time, two things immediately occur to me:

1) the guy doesn't learn quickly (to put it politely) or

2) he had a deal with a buddy instructor for the two of them to build a chunk of time (probably in a hurry) by splitting the cost of the aircraft and he logged dual while the instructor slept and logged PIC.

You talk to the guy for a couple minutes (or better yet, fly once around the patch with him) and it will be pretty obviously which he is.

P.S. There's nothing wrong with door #2. Transport makes the rules, you fly according to them, that works for me.

twinpratts · Post by **twinpratts** » Sat Dec 31, 2005 8:01 am

I had a lot, with Air Force time (almost 150 of 200 hrs!), CPL, Instructor Rating, MIFR...
No one had asked me.

ttx15 · Post by **ttx15** » Sat Dec 31, 2005 9:56 am

It's pretty much the only way to built enough time on floats to get insure.

captain_v1.0 · Post by **captain_v1.0** » Sat Dec 31, 2005 12:01 pm

I think it's a pretty lousy benchmark for an employer to use since there are many reasons why someone would have alot of dual time.
Ratings, check-on-types, license conversions, ect ect ect.

It would be like judging a hockey player by how many practices they've attended.

And having extra dual time in there also tells you that that person might not be afraid to ask for help when they're not sure of something, even if their performance is nearly perfect in the eyes of everyone else.

I have a friend who had a great deal of multi time by the time they finished the rating because the plane was always in the shop, so he would fly once every few weeks if that.

This leads to another point, flying is still expensive, right? I mean com'on when was this cheap?! So someone may not be able to afford flying four times a day, if you're flights are spread out it will probably take extra time and review to stay at your peak.

One guy I work with hasn't completed his instructor rating yet, he kind of gave up on it after 40 hours over 5 months because his class 1 kept cancelling and disappearing for days to weeks at a time.

Another guy rents to flightsee when he travels somewhere on vacation but he usually gets stuck logging it as dual because the schools insurance won't cover them otherwise. He figures thats nearly 30 hours. It's also goofy becuase he's an old class 2 and has flown with instructors that have 1/10th the time on type he does and figures that on average they've learned more from him.

I've dabbled with aerobatics over the years and have about 18 hours dual because of that and I don't care because it's just for shits and giggles.

I've also seen brain dead redneck assholes who have nearly the minimum required dual and have been pretty lucky they haven't killed themselves after listening to their tales of dareing doo. My personal favorite includes "I'm suprised we didn't run out of gas because I didn't think we had enough." WTF!

Even looking through a logbook doesn't tell the whole story. It's not until the interview, where you can meet face to face and they can lay everything out for you. I also think that the marks from their written exam(s) and explain away a great deal of doubt and show how seriously they take this as a profession.

water wings · Post by **water wings** » Sat Dec 31, 2005 1:44 pm

ttx15 wrote:It's pretty much the only way to built enough time on floats to get insure.

i agree. A buddy of mine was told he had TOO muchh dual... not by his potential employer, but by the insurance agent for that employer... when he explained why he had so much dual (needing it to get his 50 float, and a whole bunch of different check outs) they said that was too bad. go figure, they set the rules and then crap on ya for it.

ScudRunner · Post by **ScudRunner** » Sun Jan 01, 2006 3:14 pm

You know what thinking about it Ive never had an employer look at my log book.

Cat Driver · Post by **Cat Driver** » Sun Jan 01, 2006 5:48 pm

" Even looking through a logbook doesn't tell the whole story. It's not until the interview, where you can meet face to face and they can lay everything out for you. I also think that the marks from their written exam(s) and explain away a great deal of doubt and show how seriously they take this as a profession. "

I have hired many, many pilots to fly everything from little trainers to, turbine aircraft and helicopters.

I can't remember ever reading one of their personal log books.

I use a very logical method to decide who to hire.

First I interviev

Then I fly with them.

If there is something that seems fuzzy with their performance flying the machine I then contact their references to clarify the problem.

I remember one guy who applied as a Captain on the Twin Otter on floats so after listening to him tell me all about how experienced he was I took him out in a Beaver on floats and was amazed at the performance he put on, anyhow before he killed us both I suggested we land.

So I called his last employer and found out he was a dock rat that had a lot of Twin Otter swamper time, but had never been checked out on the thing. Oh and he had never been checked out on the Beaver either, which I already knew.

Cat

Doc · Post by **Doc** » Sun Jan 01, 2006 5:55 pm

Nobody's ever looked at my log book either. And, I've interviewed quite a few pilots, who, had their log books tucked under their arms. But I never bothered to look through any of them. I just cant see dual being a problem...unless of course, you NEED some?

water wings · Post by **water wings** » Sun Jan 01, 2006 5:59 pm

. wrote:You know what thinking about it Ive never had an employer look at my log book.

me neither...

Wasn't Me · Post by **Wasn't Me** » Sun Jan 01, 2006 6:45 pm

I've started looking at log books, I want to see if the time is real or "Parkered". A few pilots have started the Padding fade and before I invest in flying time with him or her I want to see what the log book looks like.

Had one guy who sent me a resume A year and a half ago. At that time he had 1500 hrs. His new resume shows over 3100 hrs. I just found that interesting. He had to be a very busy pilot.

ahramin · Post by **ahramin** » Sun Jan 01, 2006 7:03 pm

I have absolutely no problem in a lot of dual time in itself. All else starting equal i think a guy with 300tt and 150 dual would be better than 200tt and 50 dual. If someone has a lot of dual because they needed it just to pass the test then the results of a quick check flight will probably speak for themselves.

As for looking at logbooks, never done it, never had it done to me, but that being said if something seemed strange, or just different, i would have a look. And i am sure that if i applied to the majors they would all have a good look at my books. Especially since they are not bound paper.