New GI Bill and Flight Training

[ozziecat35]

I have been unable to reach anyone at the VA regarding some Post-9/11 GI Bill questions I have. Their phone # wont get me through, and the emails I have sent have gone unanswered for 3 weeks now. Does anyone have any suggestions or contact #s they may be able to suggest? Thanks! (I am in the Northeast Region).

Unfortunately, the only thing more aggravating than trying to use Post 9-11 GI Bill money for flight training is trying to talk to the VA themselves. The few times I've gotten someone on the phone, they either don't get what I'm asking and I get the canned "the VA doesn't pay for the flight training" response, or I get hung up on in one manner or another...You might try the Q&A forum they have, though it took them 6 weeks to answer one of my questions, and even then they didn't actually answer my question...I think it was a bot.

 

[HumbleSiPilot77]

I would recommend getting the flight training related questions answered on forums like these or via school reps. If the school has been doing it, they know the ins and outs... I called the VA twice so far on admin related issues and they always called me on the time the call was scheduled and resolved situations like updating status or changing address. They don't know more about flight training than anyone else...

Sent from my iPad 3

 

[vaheyboats]

Received my private pilot Dec 22nd through Hampton University, online. Private pilot plus a little bit of BAH paid for. Was difficult working with the school, as they didnt know what they were doing, VA was impossible to even reach, but in the end I have a free pilot license plus a couple bucks. Not bad if you have the patience and time.
I will have to wait til Aug to continue, when the VA benefit year resets. The school I used is private and doesnt participate in the Yellow ribbon, so 18k in VA benefits were burnt up pretty fast with private plus required classes.

 

[ozziecat35]

Glad you're getting something out of it! Congrats.

 

[Flush!]

My wife and I might be moving to Houston, partly because we still can't find any California schools who offer a degree program in conjunction with the GI Bill. Are there any schools in the Houston area?

Still no schools in the LA area, or Orange County?

 

[Der_Meister]

I work for a school in AZ across the airport from ERAU. We offer fixed wing VA flight training, there is another school next to us that provides Heilo training. I know from our side its a 2+1 deal; two years with us and you get all the way through CFI/CFII, then another year at either NAU or GCU (possibly ASU) for a bachelors degree in aviation management or a aviation business degree.

 

[ozziecat35]

Let's resurrect this thread, how's everyone doing so far?

With the whole MSU fiasco, I had funds from the VA to finish my CMEL and CSEL @ ATP. I got my CMEL about a month ago, and have 5 more hours in my CSEL program. After that, I'm outta funds. I wouldn't have been able to take 4 weeks off anyways to got o CFI school down south w/ ATP, so no big loss there. I'm now at WVUIT (West VA. Tech) as part of the MSU Teach Out. No flying involved, but my Bachelors will get taken care of, and hopefully I can use part of the BAH towards my CFI locally. That actually raises a question.

Has anyone used the Chap. 33 benefits to go to school from the public institution "pot of money" & then pursued flight training on the side using the $10,000 cap? I know you can't use a combination of Chap. 30 (MGIB) or Chap. 33 (Post 9-11) at the same time, but technically, I'd be using Chap. 33 for both...I figure for $10,000, I could get my CFI and II from Am. Flyers up in DPA.

 

[vaheyboats]

Let's resurrect this thread, how's everyone doing so far?

With the whole MSU fiasco, I had funds from the VA to finish my CMEL and CSEL @ ATP. I got my CMEL about a month ago, and have 5 more hours in my CSEL program. After that, I'm outta funds. I wouldn't have been able to take 4 weeks off anyways to got o CFI school down south w/ ATP, so no big loss there. I'm now at WVUIT (West VA. Tech) as part of the MSU Teach Out. No flying involved, but my Bachelors will get taken care of, and hopefully I can use part of the BAH towards my CFI locally. That actually raises a question.

Has anyone used the Chap. 33 benefits to go to school from the public institution "pot of money" & then pursued flight training on the side using the $10,000 cap? I know you can't use a combination of Chap. 30 (MGIB) or Chap. 33 (Post 9-11) at the same time, but technically, I'd be using Chap. 33 for both...I figure for $10,000, I could get my CFI and II from Am. Flyers up in DPA.

Yes!
I used my post 9-11 last fall at an IHL to start an aviation degree and received my private pilot. My benefits for the year were almost used up just by then, since flight is expensive and I couldnt get yellow ribbon. This spring I am using the $10,300 to start my instrument/commercail. I just had to make sure I wasnt enrolled at the IHL any more. So you can tap into both in the same fiscal year as long as they arent simultaneous. I am lucky to have a head school instructor who is very knowledgeable about this and knows the right people at the VA (http://www.horizonflightcenter.com/).

 

[ozziecat35]

Awesome news man! Glad you found something that worked for you.

 

[Aceninja]

I'm starting school at Aviator College this fall. I already have my PPL, so I'm looking at paying around $18k out of pocket. It includes ME, Commercial, CFI, MEII. Will let you guys know more once I start. They do have the Yellow Ribbon which is a boon for me

 

[dayt005]

I'm doing the exact same thing at Aviator College and beginning this summer (May 3rd). The staff was very helpful in making sure that all of my previous college credits transferred which freed up more money for flying. I'm 100% post 9/11 and already have PPL.

 

[dayt005]

I'm doing the exact same thing at Aviator College and beginning this summer (May 3rd). The staff was very helpful in making sure that all of my previous college credits transferred which freed up more money for flying. I'm 100% post 9/11 and already have PPL.

 

[Aceninja]

Cool. I'll see you out there in August. The staff at Aviator have been pretty helpful as well

 

[dayt005]

I just arrived here at Aviator today and looking forward to flying with this school. So far everything has been pretty smooth.

 

[40joel]

I used post 9/11 and it paid 100% of flight training from pvt-cfi at K-State. This was a godsend because I had no one to co-sign and not much credit which is why I did the military thing in the first place

 

[40joel]

Forgot to mention that this thread is how I found out about it in the first place so thanks guys!

 

[CFI A&P]

If you guys are at Aviator FPR, PM me when you're ready for spin training. I do spin training nearby in a Pitts and it seems that the Aviator candidates enjoy it over a C172.

 

[PeterPilot12]

I was under the impression in order to use post 9/11 all you needed to do was find a part 141 school

 

[hook_dupin]

I was under the impression in order to use post 9/11 all you needed to do was find a part 141 school

False. The part 141 school then needs to be approved by the VA. That's not so hard of a process...just an annoying one to accomplish. This training all gets accomplished under the non-college degree side, which has a $10k/year cap. The advantage to this side is you can knock out ratings as fast as you want provided you have funding available.

Separate from that, if you got to a college with an aviation department (Institute of Higher Learning in VA vernacular), you can then qualify for about $18K/year in funding. This option goes slower, but it gets you a degree as well. I'll leave the argument of "Are aviation degrees valuable" to other threads. Suffice to say, anything which you paid $0 for certainly has some value....

 

[mat]

18K per year for private or foreign schools. There is no cap for public schools. It pays up to the in-state student rate for tuition though.