Am I stupid?

[ubet]

I'm 36 years old. Looking to leave the only thing I have ever done, and did it since I was a kid. Have a wife and a year old son. Going to sell a bunch of stuff off, get my ppl then go to atp and get my commercial pilot and try to fly for a living. Flying has always really interested me. I love just riding in planes. Wife bought me a discovery flight back in August, and flying is all I can think about since. I want to get my ppl while still employed, while saving up everything we can. Then move the family close to town and go down to Denver to flight school.

We will hopefully only need to finance about half or less of my time at atp. The wife won't quit her job. I'm excited about this, but scared to death too. Wanted to get my ppl first, to make sure this is for me. No decent options to get a commercial close to us, that's why I was thinking ATP. Get away from any and ask directions so I can do nothing but focus on flying. Any advice? Am I nuts?



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[Wardogg]

If flying is all you think about, you're as nuts as I was/am.

I started my journey at 40 with my wife and our 5 kids. Packed them all up and moved 2 hours away to a 141 school.

My advice is as little to no debt as you can get. Work side jobs, go to a college program and get scholarships, whatever you got to do to stay out of debt. Debt is the soul crushing aspect of this job.

We only go around once on this crazy ride. If you live for Friday in your current occupation then it's time to make a change.

 

[killbilly]

I'm 36 years old. Looking to leave the only thing I have ever done, and did it since I was a kid. Have a wife and a year old son. Going to sell a bunch of stuff off, get my ppl then go to atp and get my commercial pilot and try to fly for a living. Flying has always really interested me. I love just riding in planes. Wife bought me a discovery flight back in August, and flying is all I can think about since. I want to get my ppl while still employed, while saving up everything we can. Then move the family close to town and go down to Denver to flight school.

We will hopefully only need to finance about half or less of my time at atp. The wife won't quit her job. I'm excited about this, but scared to death too. Wanted to get my ppl first, to make sure this is for me. No decent options to get a commercial close to us, that's why I was thinking ATP. Get away from any and ask directions so I can do nothing but focus on flying. Any advice? Am I nuts?



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You're not nuts. You seem driven. That's not a bad thing. At 36, you're about where I was right after had my PPL but stopped flying for a few years. I started again at 39. I'm instructing now. You can do this.

 

[ubet]

Thanks guys. We're going to try to do this for less than 30k in debt, hopefully only 20k. And other than a vehicle payment it would be our only debt. I guess I am just scared of the unknown honestly.

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[drunkenbeagle]

No decent options to get a commercial close to us, that's why I was thinking ATP. Get away from any and ask directions so I can do nothing but focus on flying.

Just want to make it clear - the actual training for a commercial single license is fairly short - you could probably travel and do it in a week or so. The PPL / Instrument rating, and just general flying to get 250 hours is where most of the time will go. So long as there is someplace near you to get a PPL, you've got plenty of time to figure out a commercial rating later. (Mine took something like 3 or 4 days to do).

I wouldn't make any big decisions until you have a PPL completed anyway, you'll know a lot more by then.

 

[CIVE_pilot]

If you have yet to get your first class medical do that first.

 

[Finny]

If you have yet to get your first class medical do that first.

Quoted for emphasis.

 

[ubet]

I plan on it, thank you guys.

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[JDean3204]

If you’re driven and have a good attitude, you will be happy and find this career very rewarding. I started at 25 and even though there have been some speed bumps, it’s been a great experience thus far. I always tell prospective pilots with families this, establish the communication early. Let your wife know the bad along with the good. Tell her about the lower wages at the beginning, tell her about the commuting costs both financially and with time until you live in base, tell her about the junior schedules most likely allowing about 11-12 days at home a month, tell her when you get a promotion (upgrading to captain or moving on to a higher paying airline) it usually means more money but a reset on the quality of life. If she knows these things, it won’t shock her during and you will be a happier man for it.

Best of luck and keep us in the loop!