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ACP358 Music as A Side Hustle To My Flying Job and other questions answered.


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Today we answer the question: “ Can you have a side hustle as a musician and be a pilot?” answer your questions.

Sponsor:

"Tailwind Waymakers is a non-profit founded to help fund aviation dreams. So whether you could use some help funding your aviation training or if you would like to WIN a new airplane, check out TailwindWaymakers.org "

Use coupon code TailwindWaymakers and get a free scholarships guide while supplies last at:

http://www.aviationcareerspodcast.com/scholarships/

But before we begin, if you want to be a guest on the show please visit AviationCareersPodcast and click on the online course. If you have questions please email us at: feedback@aviationcareerspodcast.com.

Questions:

Question 1

Dear Sir

I am a US citizen with a Faa CPL license working with a foreign ATP for an Airline for a long time. I have about 15000 hrs total time with 9000 hrs + as P1 time on jet aircraft.

Please let me know the proper steps to get my US FAA ATP to start my new career as a corporate pilot Best regards

https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/foreign_license_verification

Question 2

Hello,

Firstly, let me say how much I enjoy your podcast; I find your enthusiasm for aviation and encouragement for those perusing a career in aviation inspirational. As a 52-year-old male student pilot here in Brisbane Australia, I listen to various aviation podcasts, mostly US based, and can’t help but be jealous of those in my situation based in the US….the aviation ‘industry’ there is so big, with so many potential opportunities for student pilots chasing their dreams, albeit with a much bigger population of students/pilots competing for those opportunities.

With literally thousands of airfields in the US open to GA, not to mention commercial and military components, coupled with the infrastructure required to operate and maintain same, there is huge potential for aspiring pilots to pursue their dreams, and I think sometimes US-based aviation commentators forget just how lucky you have it over there. Contrasting this for example, here in Australia, which is a vast country with a relatively small population, we have less than a thousand airfields, with obviously far less of an aviation industry behind it.

Nevertheless, I’ll continue to listen to the suggestions/ideas/advice offered by you and others to maximize my own opportunities, and who knows where it will take me. Keep up the great work with your fantastic podcast.

Kind regards.

https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/e-3-specialty-occupation-workers-from-australia
http://www.mckeown.com.au/cases/australians-flying-in-the-usa.htm

Question 3 

Hello, Carl! Let me start off by saying that I have been listening to your podcast for a few weeks now and am loving it. I listen every day on my morning drive to school and work. It has been interesting to hear all of the different topics you discuss in aviation.

To give you some background about me, I am a 21-year-old college student interested in getting into aviation. I’ve been trying to find my career path for about 2 years now ever since I graduated high school in 2020. Long story short, COVID pretty much ruined my initial college experience, as everything was far from normal after graduation for quite some time.

I started out as a music major on full scholarship at an out-of-state university, but because of my initial bad experience due to COVID and second thoughts about going into music full-time, I moved back home to finish a more generalized degree, while still trying to pursue music on the side. Since moving back home, I was able to successfully audition for a part-time professional symphony orchestra in my city—without having a music degree, which most of the musicians have—and have been loving life as an orchestral violinist. It has worked out perfectly with my school schedule and my other part-time job, as the rehearsals are only in the evenings, and concerts are on the weekends and allow for outside full-time employment.

Aviation has always been something that has been at the back of my mind. My closest relative in the aviation industry, my aunt, has been a flight attendant for over 35 years. She loves it and always tells me to consider looking into aviation. I recently decided to take her advice by booking a discovery flight, and I absolutely LOVED it. After having shadowed many different careers throughout my 2 years of college, this is the only one that I can say has really inspired me and is something I can see myself doing for the rest of my life.

My goal is to be a pilot and have music as my side hustle. You mention on your podcast that many pilots have other jobs or businesses outside of flying because of how much time off pilots get. It sounds like this may be a possibility for me, but I wanted to get your take on it. I have talked to a cargo pilot from a mutual connection—the same guy I did my discovery flight with—and he thinks I would be able to hold a music job and be a pilot at the same time.

To clarify what my music schedule looks like, this is what a typical symphony week looks like for me: rehearsals 7 pm-10 pm Tuesday-Friday and a concert on Saturday 7 pm-9 pm. Some weeks are short though, depending on the type of concert: sometimes only 1-2 rehearsals before the weekend concert. We generally only have 1 symphony week a month; sometimes two.

I realize that getting that many consecutive nights off in a row is probably difficult, but I’m hoping that as I build seniority, it would be easier to manipulate things around my schedule. I am definitely willing to sacrifice some of this at the beginning of my career. If I’m not able to do symphony at the beginning of my career, at least I could still do some of my other single-day music gigs, like weddings, teaching, and other events on my days off.

Sorry for the lengthy message. I totally understand if you don’t have time to read this all. I sincerely appreciate any advice you can give me if you have any time. I look forward to hearing more episodes from the podcast.

Thanks so much.

Links:

https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/foreign_license_verification

http://www.mckeown.com.au/cases/australians-flying-in-the-usa.htm

https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/e-3-specialty-occupation-workers-from-australia
Sponsor:

"Tailwind Waymakers is a non-profit founded to help fund aviation dreams. So whether you could use some help funding your aviation training or if you would like to WIN a new airplane, check out TailwindWaymakers.org "

Use coupon code TailwindWaymakers and get a free scholarships guide while supplies last at:

http://www.aviationcareerspodcast.com/scholarships/