gcpilot

Care to share what that school would be? What does "ALL" ratings include, uptill CFII or all the way to ATP?

Climbto450

Maybe this isn't the right career for you.

40yrOldRookie

So, a little over 10 years later, what happened? Are you a pilot now?

dpatton

What did you end up doing

tshanno

I'd like to know what the poster did as well, ten years later LOL.

This is my first post. I'm considering becoming a pilot. Yah, anyway, I guess I should start a new thread.

tshanno

Hello All, I'm Travis. Cool forum. I'm too new to start my own thread.

And so the first thing I did after graduating from truck driving school was to investigate helicopters LOL. Hey, I learned how to operate an asynchronous 13-speed gearbox, how much harder could a helicopter be? LOL. I read the FAA helicopter operation handbook and got excited. Then I saw that becoming a helicopter pilot is substantially more expensive than becoming a commercial driver--and dropped the idea of becoming a pilot. Looked like getting all those hours was pretty much a military thing. That was all ten years ago--I got my CDL in October 2013.

But the idea resurfaces from time to time--not flying helicopters per se, but rather the idea of switching careers from commercial driver to commercial pilot. Don't see what the big deal is, we're just adding one dimension, right? Instead of the DOT breathing down my neck, it's the FAA. I guess I'd have to shave my face more than once every three weeks and wear a tie--ugh--but sacrifices must be made if you want to touch the sky, am I right?

But now in relative seriousness:

1) I turn 52 this year. So even if I were ready to fly for Delta today, my career would only be 13 or 15 years long. I'd do no better than first officer that whole time. Always Riker, never Picard. I wouldn't make it to the higher income echelons, but this isn't all about the money, it's about taking on fresh challenge. That being said, my inner accountant wants to know what my final few years in the industry are going to look like, which is when I'd presumably be making the most money I'm liable to make.

2) I have two associates degrees, one in Information Technology--graduated with honors in 2002. Yep, ancient IT degree. Another AAS from a community college, also honor grad in 2005, lots of math. Are hiring managers in this industry going to possibly look at these two degrees as equivalent to a single bachelors degree? (I could get a bachelors in statistics, but that'd be maybe 18 months to get done--worth it?)

3) Schools are expensive and they will tell you *anything* to get you in the door. Like trucking recruiters. But let's not talk about them. Let's talk instead about how much I don't want to drop another 100k on education. Any sense of how far a person can go using FAA material and an aircraft flight simulator in the living room? I'm guessing that it's most of the way to a private pilots license.

4) Some trucking companies front the cost of training to obtain a CDL, in exchange for a year of service with said company. Do any airlines do anything along these lines? I've seen various adverts from various flight schools indicating as much, but I think they're lying.

5) Those who become commercial pilots usually obtain their 1,500 hours as a trainer, a CFI, do I have that right? If not, what? Rent 1,500 hours of airplane time? That's too spendy.

I'm beyond bored with driving, but I'm good at it and it's paying the bills. I have every confidence that I could become a good pilot--but I'm simply too old to go into more debt to get there.

I'ma keep reading. Thank you for reading. I know you have your choice in forum threads to peruse and thank you again for choosing this one LOL

rickair7777

Hard to get a good ROI with helicopter training. Different story with fixed-wing and airlines right now.

If you hustle you could easily have almost ten-ish years as a regional CA. That pays $200k+ right now.

In this climate you could also get a second-tier major job quickly, even skipping the regionals and still have a few years as a CA at the end (maybe five-ish). You could even get a legacy job and upgrade there. Major FO pay will be $200-300k, major CA pay (narrowbody) $300-500k.

No, they won't count as a bachelors. Good news is that almost nobody requires a 4-year degree anymore, and a 2-year will help some. 4-year makes you more competitive at the top tier majors. Second tier majors might actually prefer somebody with an AA or two... they know you don't have bad ADD, but you're not as likely to leave for DAL in six months.

At your age, if you're going to do it, you need to fly. If you have time and money it wouldn't hurt to finish the degree on the side but I wouldn't delay flight training or experience building at a regional for that.

Technically you can do almost 100% self-study (I did for PPL). A CFI is required to certify your knowledge, which they can do based on an oral exam and evidence of completing home study (such as a completed workbook, or certificate for an online course). In reality you're still going to need some one-on-discussion along the way with your CFI. But you can minimize that by preparing thoroughly.

Do not use a PC sim for PPL training... too much visual-outside-the-window and seat-of-your pants feel. A PC sim has *limited* utility for instrument rating training: AFTER you learn the proper way to do it in the sim and airplane with a CFI-I, then (and only then) you can practice instrument procedures with a PC (I did that too).

A few such programs have popped up with major airlines, not sure how the funding works though. I think full rides are for DEI, but you'd have to research that. There are also programs where you pay and have a guaranteed path to a specific major (not strictly necessary in this climate).

All regionals will provide the necessary training for your ATP, you just need to show up with enough hours.

Yes usually as a CFI, which is in high demand. Some wealthy career changers just fly their own plane which will work fine right now (in normal times they used to be more pick about the quality of the flight time, they preffered professional experience to recreational time).

There are a few other niche opportunities flying small planes which don't require a CFI rating, just a CPL.

It's going to be an investment of both time and money, the question is can you get a good return on that. In normal times, not at your age but right now the retirements are driving a real shortage, and driving wages way up. So if you get right on it and don't hit any big speedbumps I think you can get a good ROI. How much do you make driving truck and how many days/month do you work to do that?

Also the age issue is mitigated because after you retire from airlines at age 65 (or 67), you can alwys go get a non-airline pilot job and many of those are paying quite well for experienced turbine pilots. Or you could just go straight to the fractionals, get comfortable, and not have to retire until 70 at the earliest.

IntheBiz

I have been dreaming of this for decades since I was a kid. I couldn't afford to go to flight school so I became a mechanic instead.
FFWD 35 years later, I was an A&P mechanic at 2 majors, then I was a flight mechanic with *lots* of Charter supps (think express one, Tower and every mom-pop outfit with a 727, MD-80 and 747, too many to count).
And then the last twenty years I've been an aviation engineer at a big cargo operator flying Big Boeing freighters.

I'm 53. I'm feeling bored. If write one more Engineering Order to upgrade the FMC or new EFB app or assist writing another OPS SPEC with FOPS, I'm gonna jump out this window.
Always the bridesmaid.

My kid is determined to be a pilot and we're both looking thru so many schools, of which all have some negatives and risks. But now I'm inspired to go to school with him. Maybe I wanna move into the flight deck myself.

Do I even have a chance? Would anyone hire me? How the hell will I support myself thru flight school and instructing for those 4 or so years enroute to a Regional? Would I even make the investment back?
Midlife crises?? God I hope not, that means I'd live to be 100.

pilotca86

This is a pretty old thread but much still applies today and some of it doesn't. I just retired as a 777 captain after 37 years with a major US carrier. I recieved lots of crappy advice and discouragement as I tried to break into the world of aviation. It's amazing how many of those people were just like me, they weren't born with an ATP either. This is a tough profession but it's not impossible to make it. You need a plan and the discipline to see it through. You can make it without a college degree but that will be a strike but you can still move forward. A college degree will help you have a back up plan and we all need one. I wish all of you the best of luck, don't listen to people who discourage you. If you are motivated you can do it.