Crowd Sourced Flight Training?

bike21

bike21

9-5 Ruins Lives
Ok, looking for some opinions on something that is a little strange for me to consider. An old high school friend of mine shared a crowd-sourced type funding site on the Book of Faces with me for her son's PPL training. He is 15 and very interested in aviation which is great.

The thing is, I'm not sure how I feel about this type of funding as I'm concerned about where does it end? It does strike a chord with me as I started when I was the same age and want to help the kid out. But this type of funding request drawn from the community seems odd to me. What's next, crowd-sourced funding for college or a first car? I could really use a new downhill bike myself. Here is a snippet from her post...

"But as you can imagine, flying school is not inexpensive. ---'s father and I have decided that we must do everything we can to nurture this passion he has for flying. We have a large family (four sons) and only one income, since I stay home with the children; but we are willing to give up as much as we can to allow ---- to "find his wings".

So what say you? Contribute or not?
 
I met a young man who accomplished financial portions of his training via crowd source. Clever I thought. Then when he told me he wasn't going to college, I urged him to reconsider that position.

Whatever works. I might be slightly jaded as I wish I would have thought of it. I used my soapy water and brush skills, but that also helps more past the financial burden of training. Its a pretty simple maxim: if you want something, ask for it.
 
Back in my day...2007... I paid for my pvt with my summer job while I was still in high school. He's only 15 so he has time to work hard and save the money. On the other hand I have received some help along the way from generous people, who saw that I really was passionate about getting my education and ratings. However, I have born the majority of the financial burden in my education/flight training.
 
My biggest concern with this is the kid didn't work for it so he may not recognize the value and thus be a substandard industry participant. How many of us know the trust fund babies whose parents paid their way through flight training? How many of those pilots would you want in your aircraft.

However by the same token I applaud the ingenuity this one shows. But It's isn't exactly "paying your dues".
 
Let me add that he does bus tables and plays sports so he is a good kid with an apparent solid head on his shoulders. They are from small town Indiana (like me) and are good folk (questionably like me). The decision to have 4 kids on one income notwithstanding, it is a creative way to seek cash for flight training. The fund has been live for a couple of weeks with no donations of yet so I assume others feel the same way. Sort of really is asking for a handout IMO. On the one hand, I'd love to push this and get the kid the funding for his PPL. On the other, it simply doesn't sit well with me and what comes next?
 
American hustle....haters just hating because they prolly didn't think to do it themselves so they bash a kid who's trying what they didn't. let's be real, the worst the worst that could happen is no one donates. then what, he keeps busting his ass trying to pay for it.

good for him!
 
av8tr1 said:
My biggest concern with this is the kid didn't work for it so he may not recognize the value and thus be a substandard industry participant. How many of us know the trust fund babies whose parents paid their way through flight training? How many of those pilots would you want in your aircraft.

However by the same token I applaud the ingenuity this one shows. But It's isn't exactly "paying your dues".
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Umm, my parents paid my way through college...including flight school. Am I somehow less of an airman because I don't have debt?
 
I agree, I think there's a little resentment and jealousy going on.

Although the ratings were paid for by my family, they were not the ones studying for ratings or out there doing laps in the pattern paying dues by CFIng. Ridiculous.
 
Not that my opinion will ever matter one way or another, but I think my position on this would largely be shaped by the actions of the beneficiary and his family. It comes down heavily to attitude, I think.

For example....let's say I donated a few hundred bucks and the kid gets halfway through PPL - or even all the way....and then decides he doesn't like flying and stops. Or loses interest. I might possibly feel like I wasted that money, when I could have given it to my own nephews who also need money.

Now - let's say the kid goes through and then starts doing something that I can feel good about it. Maybe he donates flight time to Young Eagles. Or Angel Flight. Maybe he takes the good will people showed him and tries to give back. Then I get to feel good about the donation, right?

What if he does both?

See - that's the thing. It's not about ME as a donor, and yet the feelings about whether or not it's a "valid" donation have everything to do about projecting one's ethos and making a moral/social/ethical judgment.

That's what we're doing in this thread, by the way: judging them (the family) on whether or not we approve of this method.

I think, probably, that I will not donate. But I will call my sister and see what her sons might need, because I'm in a position to help them out.
 
spoolinup22 said:
American hustle....haters just hating because they prolly didn't think to do it themselves so they bash a kid who's trying what they didn't. let's be real, the worst the worst that could happen is no one donates. then what, he keeps busting his ass trying to pay for it.

good for him!
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Sorry, but "prolly" is not a word. Also, I hate to point this out, but sentences begin with capital letters, and questions end with a question mark.
 
killbilly said:
Not that my opinion will ever matter one way or another, but I think my position on this would largely be shaped by the actions of the beneficiary and his family. It comes down heavily to attitude, I think.
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Helping people out, but having imaginary strings attached isn't really good in the long run. You will be disappointed. Besides, it is a bit naive to think that a 15 year old kid will make better decisions than adults, who all have the benefit of hindsight.

Doesn't seem all that different to me than applying for every possible scholarship under the sun, which I did as well.

Anyway, good luck to him. If he gets a few extra lessons out of it, good on him. Not much different than being an airport bum picking up whatever ride or lesson someone will give you, just perhaps a more efficient use of technology.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
Helping people out, but having imaginary strings attached isn't really good in the long run. You will be disappointed. Besides, it is a bit naive to think that a 15 year old kid will make better decisions than adults, who all have the benefit of hindsight.

Doesn't seem all that different to me than applying for every possible scholarship under the sun, which I did as well.

Anyway, good luck to him. If he gets a few extra lessons out of it, good on him. Not much different than being an airport bum picking up whatever ride or lesson someone will give you, just perhaps a more efficient use of technology.
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I agree, but I also think that we - people - do that instinctively.

People want to feel good about what they do, and they don't want to enable something they feel is bad. I'm merely pointing out that the discussion here about whether or not this fundraising technique is "good" or "bad" is a reflection of the attitudes of the donors.

If people didn't have imaginary strings on help, there would be a whole lot more charity in the world.

Again - I agree with you. I'm just trying to be honest with my own perception here.
 
Having your parents pay for your education is way different than asking people for money.

Saying "haters gonna hate" and people who feel like I do are jealous is...I don't think I need to say it.
 
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