twowheeletex
New Member
I have been lurking on here for a couple of days looking for the answers I'm about to ask. there is some good info on here, but nothing specifically answered my questions.
I started flight school this week. With only two hours of flight time under belt, my flight instructor felt confident enough in me to have her hands in her lap as I taxied (SC300) to the spot and landed between two other aircraft. It may not be much, but to me it is a real confidence boost. I am enjoying the flying very much and am/have been tearing through all the literature I can get my hands on. My intention is to pursue a helicopter piloting career after separating from the military. On that note, I am a licensed A&P with 9 years in the Air Force as a jet engine mechanic and quite a bit of out-of-career-field experience on both fixed wing (C-130), Helicopter (HH-60) and a plethora of automotive experience that loosely applies.
My question is; can you think of jobs/volunteer opportunities/barters/trades/programs/ect. that I may be uniquely qualified to exploit to keep school/time building costs in an aircraft closer to free dollars? This may be me getting ahead of myself, but I want to make sure I'm going in a direction that will allow me to be the most successful without begging the bank for money. I am paying for my PPL out of pocket at the moment. I have put $8K towards the PPL up front. the total for PPL at the school is $15K. I am vaguely aware of the general track of student to CPL to CFI/CFII instructor teaching until the magic 1000 hr TT mark before you can enter the real world. I am sure I'm no different and will have to comply with this, but I don't want the debt that typically comes with it.
I have talked with the school about trading work for hours, pending a "soon-to-happen" exit by their current A&P (going after a high paying government contract job across the pond). On a side note, how much mechanic time do you think is worth an hour in an SC300 ($275/hr +$40 for instructor)? I have the GI bill and understand, for the most part, how to apply it. I fully intend to use this for the CPL, Instrument rating, CFI/CFII and maybe a fixed wing add on if I can.
I'm looking for some out of the box thinking on raising funds and not necessarily the obvious but if the obvious is what you have please mention it. Maybe I, or someone else in the same position may benefit from your input as professionals in the industry.
I thank you in advance for the input.
I started flight school this week. With only two hours of flight time under belt, my flight instructor felt confident enough in me to have her hands in her lap as I taxied (SC300) to the spot and landed between two other aircraft. It may not be much, but to me it is a real confidence boost. I am enjoying the flying very much and am/have been tearing through all the literature I can get my hands on. My intention is to pursue a helicopter piloting career after separating from the military. On that note, I am a licensed A&P with 9 years in the Air Force as a jet engine mechanic and quite a bit of out-of-career-field experience on both fixed wing (C-130), Helicopter (HH-60) and a plethora of automotive experience that loosely applies.
My question is; can you think of jobs/volunteer opportunities/barters/trades/programs/ect. that I may be uniquely qualified to exploit to keep school/time building costs in an aircraft closer to free dollars? This may be me getting ahead of myself, but I want to make sure I'm going in a direction that will allow me to be the most successful without begging the bank for money. I am paying for my PPL out of pocket at the moment. I have put $8K towards the PPL up front. the total for PPL at the school is $15K. I am vaguely aware of the general track of student to CPL to CFI/CFII instructor teaching until the magic 1000 hr TT mark before you can enter the real world. I am sure I'm no different and will have to comply with this, but I don't want the debt that typically comes with it.
I have talked with the school about trading work for hours, pending a "soon-to-happen" exit by their current A&P (going after a high paying government contract job across the pond). On a side note, how much mechanic time do you think is worth an hour in an SC300 ($275/hr +$40 for instructor)? I have the GI bill and understand, for the most part, how to apply it. I fully intend to use this for the CPL, Instrument rating, CFI/CFII and maybe a fixed wing add on if I can.
I'm looking for some out of the box thinking on raising funds and not necessarily the obvious but if the obvious is what you have please mention it. Maybe I, or someone else in the same position may benefit from your input as professionals in the industry.
I thank you in advance for the input.
