My turn folks!
I'm an aeronautical engineer, currently working with defense aircraft development at Embraer (Brazil). I graduated in 2008, did a 1 year trainee program and work effectively since 2 years, and now I’m (almost) 25. The salary is very good, and the job is quite interesting, but…
I’ve always been an aviation fanatic. My dream was to be a fighter pilot, but for some reasons I decided not to join the Air Force and became an engineer instead. I do not regret, but now I feel that I cannot stay the hole day sitting in front of the computer while the other guys pull into the blue sky out there...
During college I started flying sailplanes, took my license and have been flying on weekends ever since. I love gliding, it’s the most enjoyable flight for me, but unfortunately I cannot make money doing that!
So last year I started my private license. Took about 8 hours in a taildragger and was about to solo, but the club was very crowded and I could not arrange me flights on the weekends (I cannot fly during the week because of my job), so I got disappointed and quit for a while.
In Brazil we have a huge problem with flight schools. Despite our 1325 rotary and 11151 fixed wing fleet (2009 data), we have a lack of training aircraft and flight instructors. For airplane license it’s less complicated, but for heli the things are really bad. To check heli IFR one has to pay something like US$4,000 an hour!!! And there is a queue!!! Complete absurd…
But now I decided to come back into flying and this time is for real. My plans are to use my next vacation to finish my airplane private and in parallel save money to do the heli training in the US. I need to save money to complete the training until I become CFI and start making some bucks (or just survive!) and accumulate some hours. I think I can save something like US$70,000 until late next year, what would be sufficient to do the training and live for a while in the US. Then I would come back to Brazil and find a job as a pilot. The market is quite warm for heli pilots and will be hotter for airliners too with the World Cup and Olympic Games coming in the next years…
So, I’ve taken the hard decision of quitting my good paying and quite stable job and going deeper into the flying game. I read a lot of forums and many professional pilots’ opinions before doing it, and I think it’s what I want. A friend of mine is in the same situation, and he’s planning to go with me so we can share our experiences/expenses.
I’m thinking of moving to Florida or California (where there are good soaring sites too!) and join a flight school with good support for international students (heard about Bristow Academy, is it good?).
Any comments and/or suggestions are welcome!
Good flights!