College student with some questions
 

Hi,

I'm a college student who has been reading these forums for a long time. I've done a lot of research on the industry and despite many of the things I've read, I am still interested in potentially becoming a pilot.

I have two years of school left and will be graduating with no debt because of a sizable merit scholarship. I should have some degree of employability (not an art history major), but I'm no engineer and worry about the costs of learning how to fly. It would have to be through the civilian route.

Specifically, I have two separate questions. I've read around but I'm still having trouble finding accurate estimates for the cost of flight training. What are some realistic numbers to plan for? For instance, I know that 40 hours for a PPL is probably not realistic and would appreciate hearing realistic numbers for PPL through CFI.

Also, for someone starting at this point of my life, I was hoping maybe to get some advice and perspective on timing and how to do it. I was thinking my best option would be to train after college on the side while working, but I would love to hear any from you guys regarding this. My family is extremely unsupportive of becoming a pilot and I can certainly understand why, so it would be nice to learn a little more about the most responsible ways to train and enter the field.

I appreciate any advice and please let me know if I'm misinformed about anything.

40 hours is realistic for a highly motivated and capable student who is working with an experienced and effective instructor. Take either one of those out of the mix and time, and training cost, will increase.

I signed off a few students in a Part 141 school in the "low 40's" for PPL (all passed) but they worked hard to be extremely prepared for each lesson, and hanger flew each profile many times before getting into the actual plane. Average times are 45-50 hours, you can certainly fly more.

I've seen students meet the FAA minimum hour requirements and be ready to test for each of their ratings (PPL-ATP). I've also seen students not be prepared and never finish. You'll fall in between those times.

I'm not clear on your second question.

Thanks for that! That makes sense.

Sorry to not be clear on the second part. I guess I was just looking for advice on the best ways to go about training, since I feel that I am starting pretty late.

Would you happen to know realistic estimates for the overall cost?

Appreciate your reply.

In your 20's is not too late. You can get all your training and fly for crappy places for the next decade or so to get experience. If you get hired at a legacy or other really food outfit somewhere in your 30's, you still have maybe 25-30 years before retirement.
I have no idea about training costs nowdays, just beware of hidden fees or extra costs that some places may not be upfront about.

I just finished all of my ratings through private, instrument, single and multi engine commercial and total cost was $31,000 including all books, headset, and examiner fees.

This is reasonable in today's market. You'll have to shop around, and hit the books so as to avoid wasting time in the airplane. If you have to train in a high-rent district, it will probably cost more.

I tell my students to budget 50 thousand. That's $200/hr ($150ish for a plane and $50 for an instructor) times 250 hours. The cost you save flying solo offsets with the cost of flying twins and high-performance.

I find 31k to be completely unreasonable, unless you are getting and aircraft from a flying club or a friend. National average for private is around 70 hours recently, but being young you can probably finish in the 40-50 hour category, so there's 10k (160/ hour for airplane and 50 for instructor). Instrument is 35 hour and can be done in that range ($7,500), that's 80 hours then time build solo until 150 hours (11k). Single commercial I would call 20 hours ($4,500), 20 hours of multi at anywhere from 210 per hour - 350 per hour so call it 295 (7k). That's 40,000 before cfi which you will need unless you find a banner or traffic job at 250 which are hard to come by, so add another 15 for cfi, cfii, and mei. Each of my numbers is rounded up for cost of a written (150 per certificate) books, ect. I don't want to discourage anyone but this is an industry you have to be certain about, if you think it would be fun to be a pilot because it looks cool the chances of making a career of it are slimer, most people have a deep passion for what they do and don't see themselves doing anything else in life. Not that it can't be done but kids, wife, financial issues bring alot of people to the breaking point and we have all seen it happen. Good luck

Thanks! I appreciate the numbers. I haven't seen any numbers from the flight schools in my area that would come close to $31K...they are closer to your range. I'm in an extremely expensive part of the country.

At first blush, my feeling is that if 70 hours is the national AVERAGE there is a severe shortage of experienced instructors. To the OP, interview as many CFI's as you can and ask the tough questions.

How many students have you signed off?
What's your pass/fail rate?
How may hours do your PPL students have at sign off? Why?
How do YOU prepare for my lesson?
Etc....

As much as I like to see new CFI's get work, unless they're in a university flight school under close close supervision of an experienced CP, I'd pass. Go for experience and proven track record, it's YOUR money.

70 hour average for PPL is failure of CFI's IMO. Not everyone is cut out to be a pilot, for a CFI to milk students who won't make it is highly unethical.

Watch out for the milkman!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3123/...5fe5ba.jpg?v=0