emergency med doc trying to become a pilot... help!

Perhaps we should all post what we make or did make when we started off as well as how much work we do that goes unpaid.

I make $14k a year, work six days a week as a flight instructor and can barely afford a $400 a month cockroach-infested apartment. I typically fly five hours a day, but work twelve hours a day doing seven hours of unpaid stuff around the flight time. I can never safely afford anything besides generic brands, because if I spend too much on the little things, I could possibly go broke. Doesn't sound like so much fun any more, does it....
 
I took my first flight lesson at 29. You're definitely not too late, but I will join the chorus of voices that are telling you you'll have to suffer to achieve your end goal. And by suffer, I don't mean the "Oww I got a paper cut and need a band aid" type of suffering, I mean the "127 hours" type of suffering where you have to cut your own arm off and crawl through 20 miles of desert type of suffering.
I can't imagine making 300k, can you imagine making 15k working 6-7 days a week?
Not trying to discourage you, just relating my experience.
FWIW, since I left my career to fly planes I've been absolutely broke, but happy. I just wish I hadn't underestimated how long it truly takes to make real money, or that someone had told me how wrong my assumptions were at the time I began.
Also: SAVE as much as you can NOW!!!!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
 
protonate said:
I'll spare you guys from the details, but in short I became a doctor because my parents wanted me to but I realized that my true passion is in aviation. I'm 31 years, just finished residency, and want to become an airline pilot! (don't want to live with this big of a regret, realized that I can't do that). Any advice on to how I should go about? how up can I really go if I start from no flight experience (i.e captain at a major? FO at a major?) at my age?

Thanks!
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protonate said:
Thanks for the encouraging posts! you really make me feel welcome to a supportive community! So right now i'm working 3*12 hour shifts a week (36 total) and bringing in about 300k/year (pre-tax) so money isn't really a factor. I was wondering how feasible is it to balance working at a regional airline and working at my job to support myself? And are there accelerated programs that I can do to save time? I wouldn't mind working for a regional airline either
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MQAAord said:
Yes, if you can swing a part-time thing, that's the way to go.

I just got granted part time at my job (EMT) and with being part time there now the schedule would easily allow for an airline gig. (No, I'm not going to do it myself, with school-age kids at home, but it could work for someone with a different family situation.)
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Respectfully...
 
Part-time med work is a bad idea? At my agency we've got a lot of people who are PRN. People are PRN for many reasons, family/childcare being a huge one, also spouses jobs, other side jobs, etc. We're EMTs & paramedics, not MDs, so I wouldn't know if a similar part-time schedule would be something an MD could do.

With our PRN schedule, one could probably swing a full time line at an airline and do the PRN schedule. Wouldn't allow for much of a family life, but not everyone has or wants kids or the "family life", so that's up to the individual.
 
http://www.npr.org/2014/04/05/299207403/ken-jeong-doctor-by-day-comedian-by-night

And the OP wouldn't be the only doctor who decided it's not for him.

Can I really advocate fully leaving a job with a comfortable income to be a regional F/O? No, not really... unless the person is really miserable in medicine and goes into aviation with full disclosure of what the income/life will be like, especially at first. Maybe the OP has a wealthy family or spouse and won't have to live in a roach infested $400/month apartment? I don't know his specifics, but just want him to be sure to know exactly what he's getting into and that there may be some options.

Like others have said, get the PPL and get the 1st class medical. Those are the very first steps that can be taken without leaving current employment.
 
MQAAord said:
Yes, if you can swing a part-time thing, that's the way to go.

I just got granted part time at my job (EMT) and with being part time there now the schedule would easily allow for an airline gig. (No, I'm not going to do it myself, with school-age kids at home, but it could work for someone with a different family situation.)
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MQAAord said:
http://www.npr.org/2014/04/05/299207403/ken-jeong-doctor-by-day-comedian-by-night
And the OP wouldn't be the only doctor who decided it's not for him.
Can I really advocate fully leaving a job with a comfortable income to be a regional F/O? No, not really... unless the person is really miserable in medicine and goes into aviation with full disclosure of what the income/life will be like, especially at first. Maybe the OP has a wealthy family or spouse and won't have to live in a roach infested $400/month apartment? I don't know his specifics, but just want him to be sure to know exactly what he's getting into and that there may be some options.
Like others have said, get the PPL and get the 1st class medical. Those are the very first steps that can be taken without leaving current employment.
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I don't recommend wasting one's time with multiple irons in the fire and multiple employment gigs. It's not all it's cracked up to be. One needs to work to live, not live to work. If one can afford not to have to live to work, I suggest they do that, if only for their own health.
 
The OP's position is unique. He can pursue an airline career while money is no factor. He can pick up his PPL, instrument, and multi commercial, while building hours quickly and in a fun way. He can buy a $20k Cessna 150, and fly it for what, $40/hour (6 gph at $6.00/gallon, plus expenses), for 1200-1300 hours. That's $50-60K - about one fifth of his annual salary. Plus he gets four days off a week - he could fly 60 hours per month - he's at the airlines within two years. Plus he's not gonna quit medicine - he will still work a couple of shifts a week. $300k becomes $200k, and he's an airline pilot enjoying what he does. First couple of years at airline will be busy, but seniority makes things better.
 
MQAAord said:
He works in emergency medicine. That's not exactly a low-stress, calm, flowers & kittens kind of environment.

Not that I'd really recommend jumping ship to an industry where you'll barely afford a one-bedroom apartment, but emergency medicine isn't a cake walk.
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Yup. You couldn't pay me $300k a year to want to do that.
 
Counselor said:
The OP's position is unique. He can pursue an airline career while money is no factor. He can pick up his PPL, instrument, and multi commercial, while building hours quickly and in a fun way. He can buy a $20k Cessna 150, and fly it for what, $40/hour (6 gph at $6.00/gallon, plus expenses), for 1200-1300 hours. That's $50-60K - about one fifth of his annual salary. Plus he gets four days off a week - he could fly 60 hours per month - he's at the airlines within two years. Plus he's not gonna quit medicine - he will still work a couple of shifts a week. $300k becomes $200k, and he's an airline pilot enjoying what he does. First couple of years at airline will be busy, but seniority makes things better.
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Actually, never mind. He could get his ratings and hours (300 hours) and be at Great Lakes by the end of the summer with Great Lakes' Part 135 plan (if he flies 4 days a week). If money is no object, this would be the way to go. This would be better than flying a Cessna 150 for 1200 hours.
 
Before you make any decision, head over to airlinepilotcentral.com to check out the pay scales for the regionals. Do the math and you'll see that you currently make near top captain pay or at least will be in the next year or so. You'll likely be stuck on FO pay for at least 4 or 5 years, maybe longer. In that case, you currently make A LOT more. You'll also need to have ATP requirements to get hired by a regional which are 1500 total flying hours as well as at least 50 to 100 of those hours being in a multi engine aircraft. With your hectic schedule as an ER doc, it will take you years to get to that point.
 
I have a well paying job that I don't really love anymore. But benefits and pay are both really good. Using my income, I've been able to fund ratings up through CFII so far and start my own little airplane business on the side.

It hasn't been successful yet, but I've been trying to turn something I love into an income stream of its own.

It's completely possible to have a normal professional life, then have a second life as an aviator.
 
SeanD said:
Before you make any decision, head over to airlinepilotcentral.com to check out the pay scales for the regionals. Do the math and you'll see that you currently make near top captain pay or at least will be in the next year or so. You'll likely be stuck on FO pay for at least 4 or 5 years, maybe longer. In that case, you currently make A LOT more. You'll also need to have ATP requirements to get hired by a regional which are 1500 total flying hours as well as at least 50 to 100 of those hours being in a multi engine aircraft. With your hectic schedule as an ER doc, it will take you years to get to that point.
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Likely FO for 4 or 5 years!?!

The effects of the Age 65 rule are over. No new regional pilot starting today will be an FO for 4 or 5 years, unless they for some crazy reason decide to go to XJT
 
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