Originally Posted by MikeDD
Thanks for the help everyone!
I am looking to train full time. I live in Hawaii and am eager to get going to the mainland around May. The large schools I have looked into and talked with are RAA, Delta Academy, Pan Am, ATP and a few others. I can sum them all up as too expensive. My goal here is not to be 40,000 in debt when I finish. The 40,000 I have should be enough to get me through all the ratings. I would be most interested in finding a nice flight school in the Midwest or anywhere that has a cheap cost of living, lower fuel prices and knowledgeable instructors.
Mike
Mike:
I, too, am in the same shoes as you are. The research that I have done is as follows:
Local FBO
PPL to Comm w/I - 20K-25K; transfer to flight academy-CFI to MEI, another 30K. You've spent approx 50K to 55K at that point...w/o housing.
My plans are to do the flight academy up to CFII/MEI @ about 42K to 50K--which includes housing
. Schools such as ATP and DCA, I believe, may fall into this category. Shoot, get FS if you can
. The less you have to pay for outta pocket expenses the better off you will be.