Quick question from a aspiring pilot.

[WS]

While I agree that part 61 at a local airport is a better learning environment I personally couldn't go that route. The GI Bill has two main methods of paying for flight instruction.

Option 1) You find a VA approved flight school at an airport, part 141 or 61, you pay out of pocket, and at the end of the year the VA will reimburse you for up to 10k or so of the costs. This is great if you have the capital and don't want a degree. There's another catch: they will not under any circumstances cover your PPL.

Option 2) there is no cap on public university tuition that will be covered by the VA as long as you are pursuing a degree, on top of that they pay you a stipend every month to help out so you can focus more on school.. This varies by location but is about $1200/month where I'm living. Schools have tapped into this by creating "flight technology" degrees and including all instruction, plane rental, fuel, etc costs into tuition. So often times you'll see 2 and 4 year programs at universities that give you a AAS or BS/BA in aviation science or something that takes you through private all the way up through ATP prep. They are very expensive programs but are taken mostly by veterans who aren't paying for it anyway.... My 2 year career helicopter pilot program and associates degree is $85k-$95k when all is said and done.

If I had the money I would go to college for something more academic like computer science or engineering and just pay for my part 61 training out of pocket and wait until the end of every year to get some of that back. Because your right; part 141 is extremely structured and frustrating at times with how little control I actually have over when I fly, who my instructor is, CCX's, etc. However, being married with 4 kids that's not an option for me right now. Sooooo for the majority of vets coming out of the service, collegiate aviation is the better option financially because not only does it pay 100% no strings attached, it pays you while your enrolled.


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Your first option there refers to the old Chapter 30 GI Bill. that would not pay for PPL, but began paying once you start working on Instrument/Commercial which was often done concurrently in a combined program. They would reimburse you 60% of your flight costs, and nothing more. The school had to be part 141, AND VA approved.

The second option you referred to is the new Post 9/11 GI Bill. Eligibility depends upon how many days were served past 9/11 as I recall, so any newly seperated folks would be 100% eligible. This is a FAR better program for flight training as has already been described.

I actually used both, so I can attest to both. When my Chapter 30 bennies were exhausted, I was able to use one more year of post 9/11 bennies, but they only paid out at 80% as Ive been out a while. You cant mix and match, once you switch over, you cant switch back.

 

[Andrew_Neal]

Your first option there refers to the old Chapter 30 GI Bill. that would not pay for PPL, but began paying once you start working on Instrument/Commercial which was often done concurrently in a combined program. They would reimburse you 60% of your flight costs, and nothing more. The school had to be part 141, AND VA approved.

The second option you referred to is the new Post 9/11 GI Bill. Eligibility depends upon how many days were served past 9/11 as I recall, so any newly seperated folks would be 100% eligible. This is a FAR better program for flight training as has already been described.

I actually used both, so I can attest to both. When my Chapter 30 bennies were exhausted, I was able to use one more year of post 9/11 bennies, but they only paid out at 80% as Ive been out a while. You cant mix and match, once you switch over, you cant switch back.

Yeah I noted that it does not pay for your PPL. I started using chapter 30 as well until I found a school that does all the flight training through post 9/11 so I converted over.

I think the bottom line is.. unless you feel like spending the money to go to a local airport and eventually get reimbursed for part of the training.. Post 9/11 is really the best deal.


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