Originally Posted by
UNCLERUSS
Greetings Experts. This is my first post so please forgive my ignorance.
A brief background : Me: Australian non-pilot, living in Colombia, married to a Colombian, adopted three Colombian girls. The eldest (who's very smart) has just graduated from H.School at 16, and SHE is fast tracking English now, to then move on to pursue (with our help$$$) her career as a Pilot (Commercial). I started researching forums and found this one with 10 pages of very interesting and useful info. Thank you all, in advance !
But, may I bore you all with several questions ?
1. Now, in the current Trump era, VISAS to enter the USA would seem to be a shot in the dark, moreso if you're from South America. Jerry is ! Or am I wrong and there are ways for flight training students to get in still ?
2. If you could get a (student) visa, where does one look for flight training ? There are so many schools in so many states, and add to that, Universities; with fees ranging from $75000 to well above. We of course have to add housing etc to the costs... Any recommendations ? I've read here about ATP (not viewed too well), VGT and a few others.
3. The growth numbers mentioned in the posts in the forum at pprune.org (2016) showed significant growth numbers for pilots in the years ahead. Is that still foreseen ?
4. If not the USA as the location for flight training, would you recommend Australia or New Zealand ? Being a Australian citizen I "should" be able to get her a visa there (though my own govt is becoming as xenophobic as the US).
5. It's been recommended to us by local AVIANCA pilots here in Colombia, to do the theoretical studies here (good school they say is the AAA in Medellin) in Colombia, then accumulate flying hours in the USA. Does this seem to be an option, experts ?
I'd greatly appreciate ANY suggestions from any and all.
As a thanks for wading through all this, here's an old joke I remember : A guy gets on a brand new Japan Airlines A399 Airbus. He's shown around by the "hostie" who demonstrates the super features in the toilets, which includes a bidet style spray of warm water followed by a soothing burst of hot air to dry one's toosh. He was not however informed about the ATR button and as most of the instructions were in Japanese, he didn't understand them. Sadly, he used the ATR button and awoke in a hospital bed the next day. Next to him on the night stand was his penis in a jar. When asked what the heck happened, he was told by the nurse that he pressed the Automatic Tampon Remover.
If a visa is needed then you will be needing to go to a "part 141/142" flight school vs a "part 61".
The school will help you get your visa for flight training.
Finding a flight school is going to be easy, however selecting one that best fits your needs may be a challenge. I can't really recommend one flight school vs another because they are very different and can change over time.
Things to consider:
1. Weather - you want a place where weather will not be an issue. Seattle vs Phoenix.
2. Housing and transportation- some schools provide housing and transportation to and from the school.
3. Cost what's included in the cost. Books, head sets, testing fees, examiners fee, etc.
4. Equipment- this will be very difficult to determine because they all say they have excellent maintenance and equipment.
5. Timeline- how fast or slow is the course. Can the pace be slowed down or speed up depending on the students need. Are their enough aircraft and instructors. Will your daughter fly with the same instructor? All these things can have an impact on delays.
The need for pilots is very strong right now and for the next 10-15 years.
You could do theory in Columbia but, I still think the flight school will provide its own ground courses. So she may end up going through two ground courses. But it might be a good introduction before you spend so much in the US.