Hi M20EPilot,

CubDriver is correct, you and I do have quite a few similarities. I used to be a mechanical engineer, and made the switch to professional aviation just over five years ago when I was 30. It still amazes me its been that long already, time sure has flown by. The nice thing about my previous engineering career is that I was able to prepare myself financially for aviation. When I made the switch, I had no debt (including flight training, which I had paid cash for). I also had a comfortable savings cushion, which I strongly recommend.

When I made that jump, it was 2007 and almost everybody was hiring. I was building time as a CFI, and knew that in a few months I'd have my pick of airlines. In spring 2008 I was hired by ASA, and then days later I was put in a hiring pool as the economy started crashing. A few weeks after that, they started furloughing guys and I knew it was going to be awhile before airlines started hiring again.

Fortunately I had an ok charter job at that time, and went from a king air SIC to PIC on a Chieftain. That was an excellent experience, for many reasons (both good and bad). In late 2008, I got on with a corporate flight department flying a Citation. It was a great job in some ways, and terrible in others. The pay wasn't what I was promised, and with the bad economy I was threatened with my job if made any demands about what I was promised in my interview. I stuck it out for a couple of years, and eventually the guy that threatened us all the time was fired. I got typed, and started getting some TPIC. But the pay was still WAY too low for what I was doing, and I was only flying about 250 hrs/yr.

Eventually I made the very tough decision to leave corporate for the airlines, as I knew that if I got much older it was going to become very difficult to make the switch to first year regional pay and QOL. That was over a year ago, and I'm pretty happy with the decision. I finally live where I want to live, I'm a lineholder, and being off first year pay really takes the stress of financially. I have two type ratings, my ATP, and will have 3500 hours in a few more months. With the right connections, that really makes one marketable for some decent corporate gigs. Then again, I might just stay put for another year and see if this mass hiring thing really does come true, and ride the wave on the airline side of things.

I have ZERO regrets about leaving engineering for this career. Even though I clearly had to jump through some hoops over the past few years, it has been an enjoyable adventure, and financially everything has worked out well. I still have money in savings, I have a lot of time off, I like my job, I feel challenged, I have fun, and I've been steadily progressing through my career. If you have the right personality and goals in life, this is a pretty sweet job. But it's not stable like engineering, and if your short term goals include settling down and having a family, you will probably hate it. Good luck, and feel free to PM me if you have any questions!