Looking for some advice...

P

Paul Klempner

New Member
Hello, I m looking to gain some insight on becoming a pilot, and what the best route to becoming a pilot is?

I am looking into careers because i am 23 and sick of breaking my back in hard labor jobs, time for school and a career!

So I am wondering what programs are the best as in cost/length ability to get me work after graduation.

I honestly don' know much so any information you can lend would help....
 
Do you have any flight time? Getting a Private Pilot Certificate would be step 1. Step 2 through 3300 are all up for debate on which order they come in and which ones are actually necessary.
 
With all due respect, you shouldn't get into this career for the money, time off, or job security (I can't believe I said that). Only go here if you really, REALLY, like flying and airplanes. Aviation as such. I'd tell you to pursue your PPL and see how it goes. I've heard an analogy that if you want to be a nigh t freight pilot you should lock yourself into a closet with a vacuum cleaner on (jets are loud), eat 7-11 food (catering is lousy) and then try to sleep all day and see how you feel.
 
Paul Klempner said:
Hello, I m looking to gain some insight on becoming a pilot, and what the best route to becoming a pilot is?

I am looking into careers because i am 23 and sick of breaking my back in hard labor jobs, time for school and a career!

So I am wondering what programs are the best as in cost/length ability to get me work after graduation.

I honestly don' know much so any information you can lend would help....
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I can relate as I got into Aviation somewhat late at the age of 21, but I did have a passion for desktop flight simulation. So I will recommend you do the same and it can be done for.. Free. Grab a copy of microsoft flight simulator and learn the basics. Read books about flying at the library. after a few weeks of doing that, go ahead and schedule a discovery flight at your local airport. If the passion is still there and it's something you think you can accomplish start looking at schools. At 23 years old, you are still fairly young but you don't want to slack off either. Try looking for 2 year associate's degree colleges in Aviation. Those schools will provide you with a path to become employable and earn college credits which you can then transfer to finish your college degree. You don't need a degree to become employed as a Pilot, but you could later on if you want to fly widebody Aircraft for top tier Airlines. At the bare minimum you will need to go to school and achieve the following stages..

1. Private Pilot (similar to a driver's license.. you can fly for fun but can't get paid. license to learn)
2. Instrument Rating ( like an endorsement to fly in clouds and low visibility)
3. Commercial Pilot (you can get paid to fly but need to accumulate 250 hours as a Pilot to take this test)

Cost: Around $30,000 if you stick with flying single engine airplanes. Add a Multi Engine rating and optional CFI (Allows you to teach other students how to fly thus making you more employable) $40-$45,000.

If you decide it's not for you, even with the Private Pilot, you can still fly as a hobby. So it's a good first step. Also if you are good with your hands, might as well look into Aircraft Mechanic.
 
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Welcome to JC, you made a good first step in the right direction seeking advice here. This place is a gold mine of great information and people here will give you solid advice, whether it's the advice you want to hear or not.

Definitely dip your toes in the water before swan diving into the deep end. Go to a local airport, take a discovery flight. If that peaks you interest, then start looking into the most economic ways to earn the ratings. If you are looking into a degree route, a two year program will cost more than your local flight school but being able to transfer the credits earned is a benefit of going that route.

I'm not sure how much you know about the industry, but do some research about flight training. Look into pt 61 vs pt 141 training, if that sounds completely foreign to you, I will include a link at the bottom for you to read.

As others have stated, on the outside looking in while working labor intensive jobs this career sounds great. However, it does come with its share of issues. If you don't have a financial safety net you can find yourself in a bad place pretty quick, training is very expensive and the wages are quite low to start. You have probably read that there is a pilot shortage and wages are on the rise, which is true. However, the low time pilot jobs are still pretty low paying when you consider the debt you'll be in. Another way to avoid that stress of debt is to find a good school that will lead to a potential job after completion as a CFI, a school that will pay for add ons and maybe even your intitial CFI once you earn your commercial. Some schools are now salary around 30k with incentives for productivity as a CFI.

If you have any more questions in detail shoot me a PM. I'm a nerd and love to talk aviation :) Also, use the search function on here. There are many threads through the years that will answer questions that you have.

https://www.flyingmag.com/pilot-technique/new-pilots/flight-school-part-61-or-part-141
 
If you're okay with having little to no social life (except on overnights when the crew doesn't suck), making crap money for a few years, and being gone a lot, then this is a great job. It takes a special kind of crazy to put up with the schedule.
 
Inverted25 said:
If your young make sure that you have a plan for when automation takes your job well before you can even think about retirement
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Yeah by then we will have service to Mars too, right?

Cars will be floating and you can request an Uber airplane!


Yeah, I don't think I could see myself being happy in this industry with my debt and long training paths for the time off/money. I mean I'm new so I'm in no way complaining about my pay, I can live very comfortably single. I really love the job and typically don't want 15 days off a month (until the snow hits ;)). The friends I do have in the industry who did it for time off and money are absolutely miserable. They probably will be those guys at a legacy complaining about everything.

Anyways, depending on the route you go from private to CFI at today's rental rates you're probably looking at anywhere from $40-60,000. Largely depends on how often you fly and grasp things. You could do it year or it could take you 2-3, all depends on how much time you can give to training. The more frequent you fly, the better you'll be. Some people solo in single digit hours, some solo in 20 hours and some solo at 80 hours for example. It's hard to say but hopefully you can do it all at the minimum time to save money. You can find a flight school with the cheapest airplane, don't go for the biggest one! If they have a 152 and you can make weight and balance work, fly that thing! Then you'll need to build your hours to apply to corporate/airlines/etc which is usually done instructing. You won't make a whole lot of money doing that, probably around $30k unless you find a really good gig for around $40k ish. Then if you want the regional route you're looking at about $40-50k your first year.


It would probably be better to ask any specific questions you have on training paths. Lots of routes and different opinions so the vague question could lead this thread down many, many paths.
 
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Inverted25 said:
If your young make sure that you have a plan for when automation takes your job well before you can even think about retirement
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Good advice, and probably applicable for just about any career. Automation will affect a lot more than just pilots.
 
Don't we have fifteen threads about automation already?
I'll echo previous thoughts, this is not the type of job you last a career in unless you LOVE it. Think of a crappy teacher you've had in life, probably because they turned out to hate kids or hate teaching. Kind of like that, except, instead of messing up young minds, you'll be a pain in the ass to fly with and won't stop whining when we go to the bar!
Even before earning a private pilot certificate, take a few discovery flights at a couple different flight schools, maybe even a couple different airports. Hang out before and after the flight and shoot the bull with whoever is around. Get a feel for the personalities and the culture, maybe even get into a couple conversations with transient corporate/charter pilots.
You're looking for an emotional response. A spark. I saw it all the time when I was instructing and I also saw people quit and fail that didn't have it.
Plenty of research and some fun flights, hopefully get one or two great instructors that aren't just marking time until they get to fly and RJ. You'll figure out if it's right for you and then you can feel great about embarking on a great adventure! Yes, you'll be poor, eat bad food and you'll work your butt off to get to claw your way up to a job that will actually pay you a living wage to fly something cool. But the journey is half the fun, and it beats the hell out of lot of other careers with similar suffering.
Remember your teacher telling you nobody will ever pay you to stare out a window? She lied!
 
Paul Klempner said:
Hello, I m looking to gain some insight on becoming a pilot, and what the best route to becoming a pilot is?

I am looking into careers because i am 23 and sick of breaking my back in hard labor jobs, time for school and a career!

So I am wondering what programs are the best as in cost/length ability to get me work after graduation.

I honestly don' know much so any information you can lend would help....
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If you don't have any flight time right now, you should go on an intro flight to get a sense of if flying is really for you. Many flight schools offer short intro flights for free or at least for reduced cost. Many people recommend getting your private pilot certificate before jumping into flying as a career, for this reason. It is generally a long, hard expensive road before you can make money as a pilot, and going through private pilot training will give you a sense of whether this is something you want to do and whether it is worth it.

As others have pointed out, flying as a career will likely only be worth it if you have a good deal of passion for it; and such passion will help motivate you through flight training. It is true that you can make very good money as a pilot, but it is very difficult to make it to this level of the profession; pilots at legacy airlines make up a rather small portion of the total number of professional pilots and there is no guarantee you will make it that far. It is also true that compensation in the lower levels of the industry has increased in recent years, but I believe the current market conditions that have caused this are a bit of an anomaly and probably won't last much longer.

It is difficult to give any more advice than this without more information, such as if you have any flight time already. Best of luck with your career.

Inverted25 said:
I was just being sarcastic figured you would come in strong with that nonsense like usual.
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Yep, I figured as much since you were complaining about how I wouldn't accept [your version of] "reality" in that other thread. Still good advice though, even if you were not sincere. Although I'm not sure it's very nice to give someone seeking career advice, advice that you don't actually believe, all just to ridicule another user on this forum.
 
Inverted25 said:
If your young make sure that you have a plan for when automation takes your job well before you can even think about retirement
Click to expand...

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Don’t know if anyone has mentioned it yet, but sometime before you invest too much money in flight training, get a first class medical. Yes only a third class medical is required to get your private pilot certificate.

But getting the first class medical is for you to find out if you will have extra things to take care of and then for you to decide whether it is still worth it to continue spending money on flight training and overcoming any issues that may or may not be discovered.

That way you’ll know before you invest too much time and money into it.
 
jspeed87 said:
Cost: Around $30,000 if you stick with flying single engine airplanes. Add a Multi Engine rating and optional CFI (Allows you to teach other students how to fly thus making you more employable) $40-$45,000.
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Where, what schools? Please tell me? Mom & Pops? They're no longer affiliated with financing any longer, like they used to be. Probably better that they're not either. As they can close on you without notice and take all your money with them. Pay as you go, 141 college programs or the big (expensive) academies are you only chances these days.
 
woodreau said:
Don’t know if anyone has mentioned it yet, but sometime before you invest too much money in flight training, get a first class medical. Yes only a third class medical is required to get your private pilot certificate.

But getting the first class medical is for you to find out if you will have extra things to take care of and then for you to decide whether it is still worth it to continue spending money on flight training and overcoming any issues that may or may not be discovered.

That way you’ll know before you invest too much time and money into it.
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The medical is basically your FAA beginners training permit and yes you need this green light in the beginning, so you don't burn up a bundle for no reason.
 
A80TRACON said:
Me thinks ya'll been trolled
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By the OP? It seems like, when new posters come here asking for advice, they are often accused of being trolls. With all due respect, that doesn't seem very constructive and frankly it comes across as a bit mean-spirited toward these advice seekers. Aviation is a strange and unknown world to most people. I think what is often perceived as "trolling" by some on here is really just a lack of knowledge about the industry (which most of us had when Aviation was new to us...).
 
Yakob said:
By the OP? It seems like, when new posters come here asking for advice, they are often accused of being trolls. With all due respect, that doesn't seem very constructive and frankly it comes across as a bit mean-spirited toward these advice seekers. Aviation is a strange and unknown world to most people. I think what is often perceived as "trolling" by some on here is really just a lack of knowledge about the industry (which most of us had when Aviation was new to us...).
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I remember when the only time I touched an airplane was when I was flying as an airline passenger. Life was so much simpler then.:(
 
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