Flight Training in South Jersey

[NJ-Prvt-Pilot]

I'm considering going for my Instrument, Commercial, and CFI certifications and would like some advice on the best places in Southern NJ to go for instruction. Also, what should I expect in trying to change career's and becoming a pilot for hire. I'm 43, have 165 hours, and have no intentions of pursuing a ATP certification. I would greatly appreciate some help from my peers....thanks!!

 

[hambone]

What should you expect in terms of changing careers and becoming a pilot for hire?

Not being a cynic, but you should expect a long, hard road of crappy pay, being treated poorly by management, and always wondering why you became a pilot for hire. I got my Private in 2002 and now 8 years later, after a degree, I am getting the highest pay of my career thus far: 30k a year.

Seriously though, if you are living a comfortable life, with a decent job, I highly recommend you keep doing that, and just do the pilot thing for fun. Unless the above conditions sound appealing to you however.

 

[CBpilot]

I'm considering going for my Instrument, Commercial, and CFI certifications and would like some advice on the best places in Southern NJ to go for instruction. QUOTE]


He bud, I am in Central NJ. I fly out of KBLM and they have two flight schools at the Airport. Eagles View and First in Flight. I did my training at EV and they are really good people and good instructors too. How far South are you?

 

[NJ-Prvt-Pilot]

Well, at the moment I'm not working, lost my job in March, and things are not looking good for me getting back into my old position. I have made good money in the past and have the resources to pay for training and work for little money (not going to be a food stamp for hire pilot) until I can work my way up. I feel like I'm going to need to start over, so why not do something I love...

 

[hambone]

It's hard to dissuade someone from doing something that they love, but know this: You may not love it once you start trying to get paid for it. You need to ask yourself if you can deal with the prospect of never making it. And in this case, I'm assuming that when you say making it, you mean getting whatever you consider to be a good salary and enjoying what you do at the same time. Something else you need to realize. If and when you get your CFI, it's an extremely likely scenario that you will need to move away from wherever you are right now because while I don't know how popular flight training is in south NJ, I imagine it is not very busy, and therefore, given your age, you really need to hustle to get the necessary fight time, or make some good connections.

What kind of flying are you trying to get paid for, if you're not planning on becoming an airline pilot btw?

Don't take what I'm saying as being discouraging either. Just trying to be as real as possible for someone starting very late in the game

 

[NJ-Prvt-Pilot]

I'm considering going for my Instrument, Commercial, and CFI certifications and would like some advice on the best places in Southern NJ to go for instruction. QUOTE]


He bud, I am in Central NJ. I fly out of KBLM and they have two flight schools at the Airport. Eagles View and First in Flight. I did my training at EV and they are really good people and good instructors too. How far South are you?

I'm located in Gloucester County, 10 minutes east of Philly.

 

[NJ-Prvt-Pilot]

What kind of flying are you trying to get paid for, if you're not planning on becoming an airline pilot btw?

I would like to instruct, give sight seeing tours, maybe fly parachute jumps.

 

[hambone]

What kind of flying are you trying to get paid for, if you're not planning on becoming an airline pilot btw?

I would like to instruct, give sight seeing tours, maybe fly parachute jumps.

Ok, good luck to you then. It doesn't take too much time to do any of those. The pay will be low however, but if you can handle that, have fun in your next career path.

 

[A150K]

Try Cave flight school at N14 (Flying W) in Lumberton. That's where I took my first few hours of flight training back in 2003 before I moved to NM. At that time they seemed to have a relatively well maintained fleet and competant instructors (well atleast mine).

 

[A150K]

What kind of flying are you trying to get paid for, if you're not planning on becoming an airline pilot btw?

I would like to instruct, give sight seeing tours, maybe fly parachute jumps.

BTW. I see you live in Deptford. I grew up in Mt. Ephraim and used to terrorize the Deptford Mall with all of my buddies back in middle and high school.:insane:

 

[jspeed87]

If you want to fly for a living, go for it! The worst risk is not taking any risk at all. You could work as a CFI and ferry planes on the side. There is good money in that if your up for the adventure. Some of the guys who ferry to europe, make about 2k per trip. As far as at flight schools, Jersey is expensive. If you can drive to Solberg Airport, they have C152's, C172's, and a 172RG all very good dedicated instructors. I would go check it out.

 

[NJ-Prvt-Pilot]

Thanks, I will check out those places in my never ending quest for information.

I'm hoping to find a great place to learn, that hopefully, will also provide co-operative hiring, or at the very least, good contacts that will lead to some fly for hire opportunities. I realize the economic times are hard, but there has to be ways to make it happen. I really want to have an office in the sky!

:rawk:

 

[Joe Gremlin]

I have made good money in the past and have the resources to pay for training and work for little money (not going to be a food stamp for hire pilot) until I can work my way up. I feel like I'm going to need to start over, so why not do something I love...

Well I can only speak for myself. But I was once in the position of needing to switch careers and at the time, I happened to have a commercial cert with wet ink on it so I just like you, I said 'why not do something I love'. As a result I now have an intimate understanding of the following proverb: Confucius say man who turns hobby into job soon finds himself needing a new hobby. There is a difference between flying and flying for a living. And just because you love one, it doesn't mean you'll love the other or even like it. Of course it doesn't mean you won't either. But you would do well to take that possibility into consideration before you make any drastic decisions.

I would like to instruct, give sight seeing tours, maybe fly parachute jumps.

Not for nothing but all of those are more or less entry level pilot jobs. There is nothing wrong with making any one of them your last stop on the aviation ladder. But I think you're going to need to figure out how you'll 'work your way up' as you said above if you have no aspirations of ever moving beyond low time/low pay entry level jobs. Short of owning the company, you're going to have to work your tail off to see anything North of $30k or so doing any of the jobs you've listed except in extremely rare cases.

 

[NJ-Prvt-Pilot]

Well I can only speak for myself. But I was once in the position of needing to switch careers and at the time, I happened to have a commercial cert with wet ink on it so I just like you, I said 'why not do something I love'. As a result I now have an intimate understanding of the following proverb: Confucius say man who turns hobby into job soon finds himself needing a new hobby. There is a difference between flying and flying for a living. And just because you love one, it doesn't mean you'll love the other or even like it. Of course it doesn't mean you won't either. But you would do well to take that possibility into consideration before you make any drastic decisions.

Not for nothing but all of those are more or less entry level pilot jobs. There is nothing wrong with making any one of them your last stop on the aviation ladder. But I think you're going to need to figure out how you'll 'work your way up' as you said above if you have no aspirations of ever moving beyond low time/low pay entry level jobs. Short of owning the company, you're going to have to work your tail off to see anything North of $30k or so doing any of the jobs you've listed except in extremely rare cases.

Sounds like you hate your job.

 

[jspeed87]

Sounds like you hate your job.

Everyone has different expectations about flying. Some dream about flying corporate, airline, crop dusting, seaplanes, ect. If you want to have a nice benz in your garage then choose a different career. Not that you can't, it just might take you a while to get to those salaries.

 

[moxiepilot]

I'm located in Gloucester County, 10 minutes east of Philly.

I'd recommed taking the 40 minute drive to Wings in Blue Bell PA. If you need contacts PM me. It is by far the best maintained fleet in the area with a good number of quality instructors. Doug, 27, has been a CFI/CFII/MEI there for over 4 years. I was there over 3. The pay is good and semi-career instructors seem to congregate there.

What kind of flying are you trying to get paid for, if you're not planning on becoming an airline pilot btw?

I would like to instruct, give sight seeing tours, maybe fly parachute jumps.

In any of those, you're looking on average at about $20-30k. And the $30 is tops unless you're working for a chinese pilot mill in California or AZ where you're getting $40k and the cost of living is high.

Ok, good luck to you then. It doesn't take too much time to do any of those. The pay will be low however, but if you can handle that, have fun in your next career path.

I disagree. It does take time to do those.

------

On a side note, here's an example of a career progression:

Instrument - 6 months; $0 income
Commercial - 6 months; $0 income
CFI - 3 months; $0 income

First job, yay! Flight instructor making $15/hr averaging 70 hours per month in the summer and 50 in the winter until you have a client base; let's call that $1k/mo for 6 months.

Name gets around, rate increases to $20/hr; times increase to 140 hours per month summer, 100 hours winter. Get the occasional sightseeing tour @ $150. Income - ~$3000/mo before taxes. Work towards CFII/MEI - ($7k) Net $0

So now you're in 15 months of training, and 6-10 months as a CFI and you still have nothing to show for it.

I could go on, but it does get better from there. Just make sure you have the resources to be able to get into this occupation....

 

[Joe Gremlin]

Sounds like you hate your job.

Actually I like my job quite a bit. But I don't fly airplanes for a living anymore.

 

[NJ-Prvt-Pilot]

Instrument - 6 months; $0 income
Commercial - 6 months; $0 income
CFI - 3 months; $0 income

First job, yay! Flight instructor making $15/hr averaging 70 hours per month in the summer and 50 in the winter until you have a client base; let's call that $1k/mo for 6 months.

Name gets around, rate increases to $20/hr; times increase to 140 hours per month summer, 100 hours winter. Get the occasional sightseeing tour @ $150. Income - ~$3000/mo before taxes. Work towards CFII/MEI - ($7k) Net $0

So now you're in 15 months of training, and 6-10 months as a CFI and you still have nothing to show for it.

I could go on, but it does get better from there. Just make sure you have the resources to be able to get into this occupation....

So I guess I should apply for a job @ Walmart and buy myself a radio controlled plane...

 

[moxiepilot]

you would probably have more money that way to find a good paying job.

Honestly, if you like flying, why not get your instrument and just buy a plane with all the money you could save?

 

[nocturnalaviator]

I'm 43, have 165 hours, and have no intentions of pursuing a ATP certification. I would greatly appreciate some help from my peers....thanks!!

You'll need that ATP MEL to move up the ladder in pay as a career pilot someday. Potential to make 50K or more with just a commercial ticket is luck. WORK is a 4 letter word as I'm sure you already know. "office in the sky" "living the dream" are cute sayings. However, in 20F and below when the engine won't start, or 100F with high humidity and the student is frustrating the heck out of you results in a very tiring and exhausting 8-10hr day. At the end of the month coming up with $1500 after all that, the cute words no longer hold the same meaning but are said and ment out of pure sarcasm. It's a love/hate relationship. I love it more than I hate it and I'm sure you will too. It's a long road, and it takes stamina and a positive reputation with the right people. Fortunate for you to have a pool of cash to help you through the low pay, which reminds me please don't use it to your advantage and instruct for free. Good luck.

Try Cave flight school at N14 (Flying W) in Lumberton.

Is it Cave school now instead of AeroPrep at the "W"? Or visa versa?