Time to timebuild

When most students write out their aviation roadmaps, the standard path is to become a flight instructor; and who wouldn’t at least want to consider a job that pays you to fly and almost always seems to have positions and opportunities available? But flight instruction isn’t for everyone, and it doesn’t need to be. Many professional pilots who don’t feel the call to teach or who want to start time building before they become a CFI are growing their pilot hours by other professional means.

Eduardo Rivera Jr. has been flying Bombardier Challengers for FlexJet for the past two years. He started his aviation journey trading line-work for flight training at Skill Aviation, a Part 61 school in Waukegan, Illinois. After earning his private pilot certificate, Rivera joined the aeronautics flight program at Gateway Technical College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Although the program offers to take students from their private pilot through CFI, Rivera decided teaching wasn’t for him.

“I didn’t feel I had the teaching mentality. Not that, you know, I probably wasn’t capable if I tried, but it just didn’t seem to interest me as much,” Rivera said. “When I compared the two, I saw that, in the commercial side of flying, you definitely got to experience more things outside of the controlled environments of what a CFI would.”

Years of networking in the aviation industry gave Rivera a leg-up in finding his next three commercial positions.

A valuable connection led to an interview and pilot position with a skydive operation out of the Sylvania Airport in Wisconsin flying a de Havilland DHC–6 Twin Otter and a Cessna 182 for the summer.

Flying skydive operations allowed Rivera to improve his situational awareness and multi-tasking in the flightdeck by gaining experience in a constantly changing environment. From flying different types of jumpers, all with different requests for their jumps, and calculating winds aloft and ground speed to make sure the jumpers land where they’re supposed to, to contending with airline and parachute traffic.

In 2019, another connection from Gateway Technical College helped him get an interview and position with a Part 91K jet operator in Indianapolis flying in the right seat of a Cessna Citation CJ–1, Citation 550, and eventually C–560X. After that, he moved on to flying the 560X with Mach One Air Charters before finally earning enough hours to apply and get hired with FlexJet in 2022.

Advice for pilots and students: “There will be a time when you are faced with what feels like you’ve sent a million applications and emails to companies/businesses,” Rivera said. “You may start questioning yourself and thinking of a career change but stay in the fight by applying, networking, and keeping in contact with potential businesses or companies with updates on your flying progress. Remember that the career is a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t worry if you’re not flying a regional jet by 23 or flying wide body at a legacy by 26. Everything will happen in time. Enjoy the journey along the way to where you want to be.”

Airline transport pilot
3,209 hours

Brycen Yamaguchi is a recent graduate of California Aeronautical University where he earned his private pilot certificate through CFII. He has a conditional job with Horizon Air and is currently finishing up his last few flight hours working as a CFI at CAU. But before becoming a CFI, Yamaguchi started building time as a member and captain of CAU’s flight team. CAU’s flight team competes with the National Intercollegiate Flying Association.

Yamaguchi joined the flight team in his second term and participated in flying events like cross-country navigation, precision landings, and message drops, which he says gave him a greater perspective on aviation training. He also found opportunities within CAU ferrying university aircraft. This all added up to over 200 hours over three years.

“It was a super unique experience being able to travel to different competitions, especially nationals, where we have to go from Bakersfield to Ohio State University or to Oshkosh and just recently last year, Janesville, [Wisconsin,] so lots of really cool cross-country time in really small planes,” Yamaguchi said. “I know I have a lot of friends that I’ve met through the flight team at Embry-Riddle. And just getting to have that kind of feeling that you’re connected with someone who is going through the same thing as me.”

Now a graduate and CFI at CAU, Yamaguchi continues to find rewarding social activities while also training students.

“We just completed the Aim High session at CAU,” Yamaguchi said. “The Air Force sponsored a bunch of the kids from high school to college students and we got them from zero hours to solo in three weeks, and we did three sessions of that. I think we did a total of 72 people in the last 10 weeks. So, it was a really cool experience just to test my patience as well as just get to know people.”

Commercial pilot – airplane single- and multiengine land, CFII
945 hours

Amy Wilkins is a first officer on the Embraer E175 for a regional airline. She completed her flight training all over the United States through a variety of different schools and programs.

Wilkins earned her private pilot certificate in 2013 with a local instructor under Part 61 on her 17th birthday. Two years later, she went on to earn her instrument rating through a Part 61 accelerated course with OBX Airplanes in Manteo, North Carolina. She earned her commercial certificate through a different accelerated program in Chesapeake, Virginia, in 2016. Over the next few years Wilkins earned her multiengine commercial, CFI, and CFII, across North Carolina, Colorado, and Texas and earned her airline transport pilot certificate in 2023 when she was hired with her current airline.

“The theme among all of my training was that I would save up for two or so years, study and pass the written, practice on my home flight sim, and when I showed up ready to tackle the checkride I flew every day, sometimes twice a day, knocking out all of my ratings after PPL in an average span of about two to three weeks. I believe this method saved me a lot of money,” Wilkins explained.

To build time, Wilkins says she did a mix of things that mostly came about by word of mouth. She started off ferrying aircraft, a job she still enjoys doing today.

“I really enjoy the adventure of a long trip in a small GA airplane along with overcoming challenges and meeting new people along the way,” Wilkins remarked. “My typical mission was flying a slow small plane like a C150 or Aeronca Champ from place to place here within the lower 48. I typically logged 20-plus hours per ferry, as much as 40.”

During the summer of 2016, Wilkins returned to OBX Airplanes and flew air tours over the beaches of North Carolina where she amassed more than 300 hours that season.

“Air tours helped me grow as a pilot when it came to managing passenger’s expectations and handling increased responsibility as well as working in busier airspace with rapidly changing weather,” Wilkins explained.

The next summer, Wilkins turned down an offer to fly air tours and tow banners to join the Coast Guard. She moved into a small camper and used her Coast Guard housing allowance to fund her time building.

In late 2021, she started working as a civilian instructor, where she completed the rest of her hours to meet airline minimums.

“As a flight instructor, I enjoyed connecting with students and seeing someone grow from having zero knowledge to taking off on their first solo flight and then beyond. It was satisfying to help people make their dreams come true,” she said.

“All in all, my journey, although debt-free, took me 10 years from private pilot to airline pilot,” Wilkins said.

Advice for pilots and students: “Keep an open mind and network, network, network! You never know what opportunities await. Even with my most recent move, I never pictured myself becoming an airline pilot, yet now I am absolutely in love with my job as one. Take charge of your flight training and make the most of your money, even if that means switching up schools to suit your needs at the time.”

Airline transport pilot, CFII, A&P
2,800 hours

No matter how you choose to reach your goals in aviation, there isn’t one correct path that works for everything. Whether you choose to go Part 61 or Part 141 to earn your ratings, then ferry aircraft, tow banners, or become an instructor to build time, the road you choose will get you where you need to be.

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