Originally Posted by
Pantera
30k survivable? LOL what a joke. ANY pilot that spends 100k to get through training should start at a minimum 70K a year. If there is a shortage the airlines have nobody to blame but themselves.
Why? Who is going to pay the extra money, who is going to have their pay cut? Why is it anyone other than the person who took the loans out to do the proper research and find the most cost effective way to train?
It's not my fault the folks who went to DCA or ATP are terrible at economics and bought that SJS crap.
The cheapest way to get your ratings nowadays is to buy the plane, fly the snot out of it getting your time and ratings as quickly as possible, and then sell the plane. In most cases you get back what you spent to buy it, sometimes even a bit more.... so it ends up costing you the gas, insurance, tie-down and instructor. If you do it fast enough you can skip the annual and hopefully avoid some mx costs... but even if it takes a few years, in the long run it's still the cheapest way to get your time and ratings, especially since you'll be trying to do 150+ hours a year at least...
I did it that way and made $500 on all my ratings PVT-CFII. In the process of earning my A&P I've earned nearly $20k. With my CFI-ing over the last few years I've earned another $30k.
It can be done but isn't easy, nor should it be. I earned my ratings, I didn't buy them.