BigKitten229180

Basically my life consists of living at my parents house while attending community college and getting out as much as possible. I get my AA in business the end of this semester but I cant stand living with my family anymore as they are insane. I want to fly. I have about 400/month in obligations that I need to pay (car note/insurance) would it be worth it start ATP with the full loan zero to hero once I get my AA and finish my bachelors in the regionals? I just feel like if I stay home any longer i will go insane and leaving to university will just be more debt. I currently owe about 10k on my car and 6k in subsidized student loans. Also located in South Florida where it isn’t very cheap to live

sourdough44

Yes you should get flying, at least an intro flight. Get going towards your private, start ground school right now.

Are you a candidate to join the National Guard or other Reserve unit? Yes, get going & move out. Of course moving out cost money.

BigKitten229180

What benefit involving an aviation career would joining the reserves give me?

rickair7777

Additional income and a side job with zero scheduling conflicts with an airline employer. Also there are GI Bill benefits for school and potentially flight training. If you join an operational guard/reserve squadron, you'll meet a lot of major airline pilots (networking). Also intangibles such as service to country and camaraderie.

All that said, don't join the military unless you do have a motive to serve, potentially under arduous conditions.

BigKitten229180

I went by ATP today plan on starting when i finish my AA in June. Spoke to a few guys there that were visiting, one was a captain at Spirit with no degree the other was a 30 year captain at AA both recommended me to finish my AA start my training and finish my degree when i finish training. Anyways what would you recommend i study before i start the training at ATP? What tests can I/should i take before i start to make that 9month process easier for me?

AirBear

Don't take out a huge loan until you've passed the PPL checkride, and maybe even the Instrument checkride. More than a few pilots have made that mistake, incurred a lot of debt, then found out they didn't have the aptitude to be a pilot.

The military option is a good idea, with an AA degree you might get selected for Warrant Officer Flight Training (Helicopter) however a brief Google search didn't turn up any aviation units in South Florida, perhaps someone here can help. The search did turn up jobs like ATC equipment repair which would give you a good backup career to flying. Some of these are in West Palm Beach, others scattered around requiring more of a drive.

https://nationalguard.com/select-your-state/FL

https://jobs.nationalguard.com/ngb/b...=search&page=1

rickair7777

I wouldn't take any tests, but if you find out what textbooks the school uses, might want to get the PPL text.

Also the FAA airplane flying handbook and instrument handbooks are good reads... pdf versions are free from the government. Some parts of the FAA Airman's Information Manual (AIM) are pretty readable, others might not make much sense before flight training.

Everything Explained for the Professional Pilot would give you some insight into turbine aircraft operations, although that's not relevant while doing your initial training.

Oh yeah, re. ATP... they have developed a rep as a meat grinder lately, apparently you have to be pretty motivated and driven to avoid checkride failures (which are career-altering, or career-ending if you get too many). I recently talked a relative into bailing on his plans for ATP and finding a good local school. "Glossy Brochure" flight schools with lots of ads online and in aviation magazines may be good at only one thing: separating aviation noobs from their money.