Correct Way To Get PPL While Fully Employed
 

Hey guys and girls , just figured I'd like to give the aviation field a go. That being said I have done enough research to know PPL is first and you move up from there if you're satisfied and want to continue past. As the heading reads though, what's the best way in YOUR opinion to go about obtaining a PPL? I live in Indiana so any places or references for this state would be ideal! Thankyou!

Some considerations....

- You really want to fly 2-3 times/week to avoid losing progress. If you can't, it can still be done just might take longer and cost more.

- You need to do some study/prep before most flights, so you'll need to plan for that time too.

- Some training events must be done during the day, and some must be done at night. But much of it can be either day/night, so you do have the option to train in the evenings for the most part.

- Since your program may take longer than a full-time student, you'll want to consider instructor continuity. If you can find an older, established local instructor, he/she will probably be there the whole time. Otherwise look for a school which has standardized procedures, so you can more readily work with other instructors if yours gets hired by the airlines.

- Winter weather is factor where you live... may want to start in the spring and try to finish by late fall. Local instructors can advise on that.

- Best to do a pay-as-you-go model, you don't want a lot of money on account at a school if you don't have a definite completion timeline (schools of course LIKE having your money... just say no).

Awesome advice I appreciate all of that. Any tips on how one could go about finding individual instructors away from the schooling and academies?

Go to your local GA airport(s), the FBO should have a bulletin board and there often instructors knocking around the FBO. Also talk to any local flying clubs, they always have associated freelance instructors.

I would highly recommend listening to this podcast about this very subject:

Aviation Careers Podcast ? A Podcast about Achieving Your Aviation Career Goals

Going with even a small school should have advantages over going with a single self employed instructor.
A Chief Flight instructor or owner who is concerned about keeping customers and progress checks.
Insurance also.
If you want to go the independent Instructor way then call some of the local examiners and ask for a recommendation.

http://www.dperating.com/content/welcome-dperatingcom

What helped me when I was still working full-time, was to fly 2-3 times a week. I used youtube, specifically the Embry-Riddle private pilot PACE videos, along with a few from Fly 8MA. I would study anywhere and everywhere. From taking my iPad to go shopping with the wife and kids..while my wife drove, I would read or study for my checkride. Find a study buddy as well. I have been super lucky and had another guy I used to work with, who was also trying to get his PPL. We would talk on the phone and quiz each other. Those sessions were crucial. I'm doing the same for IFR, but now I retired from my full-time job and fly full-time instead. World of difference.

Amazing tips guys and or girls I really appreciate all the tips!

You do know the industry is going completely automated right. It’s gonna happen abruptly without notice

So robot planes are just going to pop up on departure frequency and check in with ATC? And that will be the first ATC ever heard of it? Get real... the federal government couldn't develop regs, certify planes, and modify ATC to handle it without a decades-long manhattan project. And somebody will have to convince the fed to spend billions and billions to eliminate a few good union jobs to make some execs richer.

And there-in lies the real problem... nobody can invest the massive R&D money needed to pull this off without government regs to guide their development a predictable timeline for certification. Chicken or Egg...

It will presumably happen eventually, but it will progress slowly over time, decades or perhaps a couple centuries.

Automated elevators have existed for 100 years, but the public did not accept them for another 50 years.

Trains are still not automated... could they be? Sure, like an elevator they operate in one dimension with some consideration for a second dimension (slowing down for curves). Why are they not? It's cheaper to pay someone than buy all of the automatic systems (with backups to the backups to the backups) necessary to replace the human. Even cargo trains still have drivers.

Also liability is a huge factor. Juries and the legal system understand unintentional human error, they'll mete out appropriate consequences. But they won't seek to bankrupt the vehicle manufacturer because some drunk driver ran a red light.

But an automated vehicle focuses 100% of liability on the manufacturer (with some possibly shared by a maintainer)... there will be no sympathy for a manufacturer which unleashes a menace on the unsuspecting public. Don't believe me? Look no further than MCAS... that's going to cost many billions, even tens of billions by the time it's said and done.

Now imagine an aircraft operated by 10,000 autonomous MCAS style systems...

And speaking of MCAS, autonomy is now that much harder at least in the US because anyone who's serious about it envisioned industry designing their regs and mostly self-certifying because autonomy and AI are pretty far beyond the FAA's capabilities. They basically would rely on "regulatory capture" to get their stuff flying. Well MCAS sure turned the tables on that.

I've said before that I had a suspicion that industry money-men might rush it, fail miserably and spectacularly, and set the whole thing back for even more decades.

I wouldn't worry too much as long as trains still have engineers.