^^^ This "kid" has to be a troll.

Don't worry, although there are some negative personality traits that seem to be rife among our colleagues, they are very exaggerated on boards like this, and the vast majority of pilots I work with are positive, upbeat people. Your comments about why you want to be a pilot indicate to me a good understanding of what it entails; the best parts of my job are the flexibility to live where I want, and the fact that when my trip ends no one is sending me emails that need to be read during my weekend. My friends who have good jobs in industry are most jealous of that. The bad parts are the cumulative effects of stress and fatigue, along with having missed out on many parties and special occasions over the course of my career. You will be successful in aviation if you are able to enjoy the bookwork, and have the spatial orientation capability required, in my opinion.

As a parent myself, I can tell you that we know that our children will one day make their own decisions, and in some ways we look forward to that day. Yours are probably most worried about you sinking time and money into something for which you will not be successful in the future. Show them that this is something that you really want to do, and they will most likely get on board, like my parents did 30 years ago. I would suggest that taking the private pilot written exam on your own and passing with a good score would accomplish this. It will be a little harder if you haven't yet had any flying lessons, but can be done with very little monetary investment. There are many ways to prepare for this exam which I'll leave to you to figure out.

Good luck whichever way you choose!
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Once again, thank you so much you've been actual helpful unlike the others. I'm looking forward to starting a professional pilot career.

FWIW, my degree is rather bland, though I did get out in 3.5 years with honors. I’ve easily had a job since I was 14, some better than others. Different strokes & drums for various drummers.


To the original poster, yes it’s doable, motivation factors in heavily, keep your record clean. Don’t put it all off any longer, at the very least start some ‘ground school’ study. If not a local course, get a book or 3.

Thank you sir, I'll definitely be looking into that.

I was also once 17 and going to college when I decided I wanted to be a professional pilot. My parents did not agree with my decision. I paid my own way thru school and training, all by myself, thus they had no say in it. Started instructing when I was 20. Graduated debt free. Then 9/11 happened and the aviation industry was in a nosedive. Pilots were getting furloughed left and right. Luckily I had a backup degree and I'm glad I did because that is what has been paying the bills since I graduated.

I would also suggest you get a degree in something other than flying, and get your certificates/ratings on the side at a Part 61 school. By the time you graduate with your bachelor's degree, you should have 1500 hours to apply to the regionals. If the aviation industry takes a ****, you'll have a degree to fall back on.

Plenty of good books out there to start reading. I personally like the Jeppesen Sanderson training products. Also, there are the FAA airplane flying handbook, pilots handbook of aeronautical knowledge, the instrument flying handbook, that are free for download from the faa website. Also, everything explained for the professional pilot, is a good read as well. GL

The above concrete advice that is not in line with the OPs plan will not be tolerated!!

https://www.eaa.org/airventure

Depending on where you live, make plans to come to Oshkosh this Summer. You have Sun & Fun near Tampa shortly too. It’s a great way to give any aviation interest a boost.

I also think you should get a degree not related to aviation. You really need a "Plan B" in case something happens that stops you from flying. An aviation degree is putting all your eggs in one basket. Accounting, Engineering, or even just Business if you have to is better. I know there are advantages as far as getting hired quicker but again, it's high risk because of the "eggs in one basket thing". Remember you'll be making 6 figures pretty quickly (relatively speaking) as a pilot and you get to depend on that level of income, especially if you wind up with a spouse and kids. You need a non-flying skill that will at least eventually get you close to 6 figures. I lost my medical and have no backup career, luckily I have a very good Loss of Medical Insurance Plan that will pay me about 2/3 of what I made when flying until I reach normal retirement age.

Also, you're young enough that automation may be a threat to your career. Single Pilot Airliners, etc. There's an extensive thread talking about this here:

https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/h...nger-guys.html

I graduated with an aviation degree 30yrs ago and Have been a professional pilot since then. I'd offer you advice but you wont listen anyhow. After reading the entire thread, you don't want advice, you want someone to confirm your bias and thoughts. You already know more about the industry than people who have been in it for a long time. You think you know the future. So..... you'll fit in just fine with all the other type A know it all personalities in aviation. If your plan doesn't work out you'll wish you had listened to all the good advice in here that you dismissed out of hand because it doesn't support your plan. Then you'll figure out what to do next the hard way.

If your plan doesn't work out it will just mean another slot for the next kid that asks for advice then argues with the answers and the cycle continues. Good luck and see you on the line.., maybe.