05eclipse05

My name's Chad. Just turned 26. Been in the automotive industry since I was 17. The industry has changed alot, and while I do make decent money, I dont "enjoy" going to work anymore. I want to be happy at the end of the day.

I've always been a aviation fan. The mechanics of it all kept me interested. And I recently had my first helicopter flight, which kinda helped me push over the edge and seriously consider a career change.

So here I am. I feel "old" to be doing such a change. I have no flight hours logged - just a class I took as an intro to helicopter lessons. I'm considering what would be a smart choice on how to approach my goal to become a pilot. Or at least, get a foot in the door. I've considered going through the military to get my training (was told by airforce friends it's not a smart idea), or wondering if school would be a better option. I just have to weigh my choices carefully. I'm getting married this November, and don't want to make dumb financial choice at this point in my life.

Any and all guidance is much appreciated. By the way, I have no major preference for what kind of pilot I want to be. Fixed wing vs. not. But if I had to choose, it would probably be a helicopter pilot.

EvilMonkey

Try to get a Air National Guard flight slot...

rickair7777

If you do some reading on these forums you can probably get a feel for where you stand and what your options are.

I'll try to help...

First off, 26 is not too old. But the age limit for military flight training is generally 28 without a waiver and the application process takes at least a year so if you want to go that route you need to get started. Check out baseops.net for that.

Do you have a college degree? If not, then your career options are limited. Military is not an option unless you want army RW and even then you might need some college to be competitive? Major airline options are extremely limited to non-existent also. Regionals would have you in a heartbeat but you're too young to spend a career at a regional, don't fall into that trap.

Re. military training... most folks who have been around for a while will tell you to try for the air national guard and air force reserve, in that order. That way if you get accepted you know what type of aircraft you'll be trained on and you can progress in both your civilian and military careers at the same time. If you're interested in airlines, you'll want FW for sure. The military in general and guard/reserves in particular are the best way to acquire flight training and experience, in that it's all paid for and you get decent pay and benefits (civilian world is the opposite). But if you're going to go military, there's more to it than just flying...you need to understand and accept that,

Re. RW vs. FW...job opportunities are more available in FW and the major airline captain pay scales far exceed anything reasonably available to RW pilots. Entry-level RW pay is better than regionals but like I said the pay caps out much lower. Also if you're going to be a family man RW is significantly hazardous, while airlines are statistically very safe. All the US airline pilots who died in the last decade or so screwed up badly. Helo training is very expensive and job opportunities at the entry level are hard to come by, so military is probably the way to go there.

Re. money...if you have a clean record (including criminal, dui, aviation training failures, incidents, accidents) and keep it that way then your shot at a major airline in the next 5-10 years should be pretty good...ultimately that will pay more than a typical desk job. If you don't make it to a major then your lifetime income will be mediocre. Corporate aviation is another option, but the path is different from airlines. Due to massive mandatory retirements, the airlines are probably a better bet for someone your age. Currently a lot of corporate guys are applying to major airlines...

PotatoChip

If you like helicopters, and your wife to be is flexible, I would seriously consider the Army WOFT program. Do you have a college degree?
It's certainly not too late for a career change, but it's long road to enjoy being an airline pilot.

I also seriously disagree with rickair that you have a "pretty good" chance of working for a major airline in 5-10 years. That's being VERY generous.

HappyCrew

I also agree with Chip.. To end up at a major in 5-10 years if you start tomorrow is going to be difficult. The 10 year mark would be a little more realistic. Good luck

727gm

I had a private certif. and about 70 hours at age 26, and haphazardly added ratings when I could afford it, eventually quit engineering at nearly 32, but am flying 747's now... you're not too old.....

akkalakakalakka

I started flight training when I was 25, going on 26... I worked hard, got my ratings, flight instructed for two years and racked up 1500 hours, and the other minimum requirements to be hired on at a regional just after my 30th birthday. They hire people now well into their 50's. If your goal is to fly for a major, while it's not outside the realm of possibility to be in at 10 years, give it 15. A 41 year old FO for a major is quite common. Then you have 24 more years to be able to build up a nice retirement. The majors will not look at you without a college degree, regardless of what it says on their hiring website, so there's an obstacle you may need to overcome as well.


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osuav8r

Some other guys have mentioned it, but I wanted to hammer the point home that you will likely make far more careerwise as a fixed wing pilot than a helicopter pilot. There's much fewer helicopter jobs to be had in general and the average salaries aren't all that great. When you look at them next to legacy airline pay, they really aren't great. Someone will no doubt chime in and say that they have a friend that makes $250k flying a corporate helicopter. While they may or may not be lying to you, there are definitely guys that make $250k+ flying for the legacy airlines. You can use the pay scales on airline pilot central to do the math yourself. Pretty much all the captains at American, United, and Delta are making $180k-220k these days, with a few outliers making $300k+. If a helicopter guy is making $100k, he is very near the top of his game and doesn't have a lot of room left to make a lot more money. While you may like the idea of flying helicopters more, life gets expensive when you have a family, nice house, decent cars, etc. and the more you can make, the better you will be able to provide yourself and your family a nice comfortable middle class existence.

El Pilot

You could do both. Age shouldn't matter, your only as old as you want to be. I would research Community Colleges that have fixed wing programs. Once you get to the CFI level, you can instruct part time on the weekends and work full time job during the week. Slowly you could add on the Commercial Helicopter and CFI. While it won't be cheap, it will be less expensive then going all Heli from the start.

Bozo the pilot

Same here- just on the airbus. Go for it if you really want it.