First of all, I'm new to this forum and forums in general, so my apologies if I do something wrong.
So, I'm 16 years old living in DFW, TX. I've been aspiring to be a pilot for a LONG time. At the moment I have a basic plan to achieve my goal but money is an issue so I've been digging deeper to find ways to cut out some costs. So I come to this forum for ideas that would eleviate the financial stress and comments on my current ideas. So, first my basic plan.
At the moment, I'm a junior in high school. I do normal high school classes the first half of the day, and the second half i drive to a nearby airport and take aircraft mechanics classes from my local community college. My current plan has me doing well in high school (my goal is 3.75+ GPA and 2000+ SAT/30+ ACT which is reasonable for me) and graduating while continuing my aircraft mechanic courses. After graduation, I'd spend at most my first year finishing the mechanics classes and getting my A&P license. This could be used as a back-up career if things dont pan out, and as a plus for getting a job as a pilot. After finishing that, I'd "transfer" to a 4-year university with a professional pilot program to get all my licenses to fly. I'd hopefully recieve a decent amount of scholarships and the rest would be financed by loans. Then building hours and one day flying for a major airline. Now this is where it gets tricky. I've always wanted to live in England. In an ideal world, I'd be flying for BA. I also have dual citizenship with Spain and US of course. Spain, being part of the EU, would (hopefully) grant me normal tuition at schools in England. The international tuition rates would still be seemingly cheaper. This isnt confirmed. Ive looked but the laws are confusing to be honest. So, ive looked at universities in England that offer flight training and have information on what would be needed as an international student (University of Leeds, University of Salford) and the price of attending would seemingly be cheaper than going to a university in the US. Doing my training in England would grant me the licenses needed to fly for a British airline and be able to live in England. But that would also make my A&P License practically useless but still something good to have on a resume to get ahead of other candidates who dont have that type of aircraft knowledge. But im getting ahead of myself. Wherever i would go would almost entirely be based upon the cost and what would be cheaper. So, ultimately, im asking what do you think the best course of action would be. You can go along my plan or completely change the course if it would benefit me. Any opinions whatsoever would be greatly appriciatied. The more information the better. Thanks in advance!

 

I fly with several pilots who took all of their courses in Oxford, England (Kidlington). All of them enjoy their experience there.

Is there a particular reason you want to live in England so badly? It is easily one of the most expensive places in the world to live and pilot jobs are rather scarce at the moment. Moreover, I have several Brit friends and family that have left England, or would leave if they were younger. Between the cost-of-living, the immigration problem, and the politics many of them do not wish to stay.


That aside, the plan to get your A&P is a great one. Stick with it. Beyond that, and I think 95% of the airline pilot forum membership would agree with me, is to get a degree in something other than any professional pilot program. It is an extremely limiting degree, it's needlessly expensive, and airlines do not care what your major is in. Find something else that interests you.

I would aim for a university that you believe you would enjoy your time at, that also has a nearby FBO flight school.

Good luck.

 

Wow! That's a lot to try and plan for. The first thing I would ask, is why you want to be an A&P? Is it to work on your own plane some day? Is it because you think it will help you understand aircraft systems? Do you think you can fall back on that, if you get furloughed from an airline? Do you want to be a bush pilot, run your own svc, and work on your planes?

I think you need something like 1900 hours of experience to become an A&P, and after all that, you won't make much money doing it. Most A&Ps try to get jobs in heavy maintenance or at power plants, which pay well and have more job security. So unless it is something you REALLY want to do, I don't think it will help you much at all as far as either being a pilot or having a back up career. However, it may help you to work at an FBO and trade work for flight lessons.

To get an ATPL in Europe you need to take something like 14 tests and it definitely will not be cheaper to learn to fly there, ALTHOUGH, as an EU citizen, university will most definitely be cheaper than in the US.

Since you are in HS, why not explore the Civil Air Patrol or Young Eagles? You will get an early exposure to aviation and in the YE, you will probably meet some very experienced A&P's. Right now there is a growing shortage of them, because just like regional pilots, they've been underpaid for too long.

 

Getting an A&P is a great part of the plan. It has opened doors for flying jobs for me and have always been able to find work wrenching when the flying jobs were scarce.

 

I just like England. I prefer the rainy and cold than the HOT and dry of Texas, I watch the Premier League every Saturday, stuff like that. But i wouldn't have any trouble staying in the US if it would benefit my career plan.

 

I've heard this before and originally i was planning on doing this but then i looked into the universities that offer flight school and figured if i got my 4 year degree and pilot licenses at the same time it would cost about the same and would save time that can be used for hour building. Also, i did some basic tuition costs for the full four years and concluded that in the US it would be like $150,000 USD and in England it would be $100,000 USD (just course costs, not living expenses etc.) Would the "2 birds, 1 stone" approach work or am i overlooking other aspects?

 

I'd like to get my A&P license for a few reasons. First of all, I'm already enrolled in the program at my local community college to get the A&P about 2 years from now at most. Second, it would help to know the aircraft systems as well as learning the actual flying of the aircraft later on. I've also heard it's a good thing to have on a resume because it would put you above other candidates for a job who don't have the mechanical knowledge that'd I'd have. I also enjoy the program and i would assume it would help having that knowledge while learning to fly compared to starting practically clueless.

The experience hours I hadn't heard or thought about so i did some research and found this page.

A and P License Eligibility Requirements

It says, "you must have 18 months of practical experience with either power plants or airframes, or 30 months of practical experience working on both at the same time. As an alternative to this experience requirement, you can graduate from an FAA-Approved Aviation Maintenance Technician School."

 

Depends on what kind of flying you want to do. For 91/135, especially bush flying it would be good to have.

If it's airlines, your priority should be getting a seniority number as fast as possible. College and flight training would come first, then a regional job (or 135/91 jet job). The A&P would be more of a hobby thing when you can get around to it.

Any pilot with a decent mechanical aptitude can understand the systems sufficiently to fly the plane. I would have reservations about a pilot who can't do a brake job on a car or understand a basic DC electrical diagram.


Disclaimer: I'd love to have an A&P and work on my own airplane. I wrench my own cars. And I may do the A&P as I near retirement. But it's not the direct path to an airline career. You can of course choose to take the side road if you like.

If you really want to fly in Europe (it will be easier to get a good airline job in the US), I'd still look at training in the US just to save a lot of money, then do a EASA license conversion(also available in the US). That way you'll have both certs and can choose to work wherever the best opportunity is (probably the US for the forseeable future).

Also look into ab initio training programs sponsored by EU airlines (probably best to checkout pprune.org for that).

 

The OP has already begun his A&P training at a local community college, it appears he'll finish then transfer to a 4-year program. This plan will set him back very little if anything at all and has a huge benefit.
I personally went from a mechanic to fe and then fo at a long-haul freight carrier. That path is not available anymore, but it did get me to my job flying at a legacy today.

 

If training to be an A&P is what you like and it isn't expensive, then go for it. It won't hurt you and it will help you to know more about airplanes. Down the road, when you call in an MEL and the maint. guy gives you some 'tude, you can set him straight. I just think hitching your back up plan to aviation, is putting too many eggs in one basket. If the economy is bad for the pilots, it will be bad for all of aviation as well. But, hey, at least you have a back up plan and are well informed!