Nortonious

Hey bro, I'm all about chasing one's dreams...otherwise might as well quit living. I've had a great run of an aviation career by most standards and can still say that eventually, there comes a time when it will be about the money. Don't get me wrong, I love flying regardless, butI think that the financial burden of scraping along at the bottom of the aviation food chain can make a guy jaded.

Anyway, if I were you, I'd just enjoy the GA thing for awhile. Enjoy it, gain skills, learn all you can as you go and let the other career pay the bills...and then you never know what aviation-related opportunities might come your way.

usmc-sgt

I would also consider what others are saying as a very viable option. You could work IT part time and instruct when you want and do fairly well as you progress through the ranks and gain some experience.

Depending on what you are into and the experience you begin to gain you can really have a ton of fun out there. In my time as a CFI I was fortunate to have some tailwheel experience which led me into aerobatic instruction in most aerobatic planes out there. My love for older airplanes scored me quite a few flight reviews in stearmans, wacos and travelair biplanes as well as quite a few others. After I acquired more multi time I ran into a guy who I did some part 91 work (non scheduled, personal use) for him in his cessna 414 twin.

Moral of the story..you can have one hell of a time flying as a CFI and doing part 91 work and some of the guys who I envy most have done just that, everything from tundra in alaska in a beaver to twin otters on floats inthe caribbean and then the occasional citation to the park city. A lot of fun out there to be had and most of it is not in the airlines.

Cubdriver

Well its about money and quality of life for those who are professionals and those who depend on it for their livlihood, but there is a place for hobby pilots also if you are mainly interested in fun, self improvement, and instruction. I would never hold a part-time flying job if it robbed a full time pilot of their opportunity, and I would never pay to fly commercially. These are no no's. But you can find lots of things to do in aviation just the same and I would not discourage someone from trying it as a serious hobby.

pompeync

Like I said if I could some day get back to making $60-70,000 as a pilot in the regionals, I would be living my dream... If not then part time CFI wouldn't be bad either.

cargo hopeful

I would probably do what most on here already said, keep your day job and get all your ratings on the side and then instruct when you have free time and build up your hours in this horrible hiring environment. Then when hiring picks back up, you have the option of shooting in a resume or staying put at your current high paying IT job.

[QUOTE=pompeync;484875]I try to be realistic and realize I will never be flying 747's on Pacific routes or 777's on trans-Atlantic crossings, but If I could get back to what I am making in my IT job, but flying, then I would be "living the dream".

The person who thinks he can and the person who thinks he can’t are both right, just pick one. Sure you are 40 now, if you work hard at your training and finish all your ratings in 18-24 months and then flight instruct for another 2 years, you would be 43-44 with a decent amount of flight time for the regionals. Add another 5-6 years at the regional level and you’ll be ready for the majors. So now you are 50 entering the majors with 15 years left to at least make into the right seat of that 747, 777, 787, or 767 on a trans-atlantic crossing! This is all a very, very long shot, but doable providing that the economy holds up and you survive furloughs. Now that’s what I call a gamble if you dare!

atpwannabe

pompeync:

You can't get it any better than that. He tells it like it "i"......."s".....is!!!

I'm 46, but I look like I'm in my early to mid 30's. I'm in good shape and my health is excellent.

I've decided to do exactly what rickair7777 has advised. I have my eyes trained on becoming either a regional captain then hopefully an IP for that airline or I plan on flying corporate. I do know that with corporate, if you're not a people person, you may have problems. Moderate customer contact...just depends upon who you fly for.

All the best my friend.


Blue skies.



atp

stbloc

If your a UK citizen I would get all your JAA license here in the USA and then convert to a FAA. It wouldn't cost much more. You could go right in to a 737 flying in Eurpoe. Why would you want to make 20k at a regional when you could go right to a major in Europe. Or you can start at a regional here fly for 1 year then apply with the majors in Europe. You have a huge advantage.

WEACLRS

Mark - If you want to fly because it's a passion, then you are doing it for the right reasons.

I started down the path at age 40 also. I was in the IT field, as you were, in CA and part of the last of the "dot-bomb" bust. I did have my commercial multi when I left CA for FL to start this path. I had similar aspirations. Single, no kids, no great debt. I just wanted to replace 75% of my CA salary flying. Anything more was gravy. I left CA for FL in October of 2001, and we know what happened a month earlier. No one was hiring, the outlook was bleak, airlines were going out of business, blah, blah, blah.

Kinda like now, as a matter of fact.

I finished my CFI work by the summer of 2002 and taught for a year and a half, building time. The hiring started again in dribs and drabs. I was hired by a regional in 2004, hiring really started to pick up, made captain in 2005, became senior fairly quickly, and then was picked up by a major in the winter of 2007. I would have been quite satisfied with being a senior captain at the regional, especially as they have obtained a larger a/c to fly that would have paid me the 75% of my CA salary flying I was looking for. I far prefer flying to working IT.

If you really want to do this, now is the best time to start, if you have the courage. Yes the hiring has stopped. This'll give you a chance to catch up and be at the front of the line when it starts again...and it will. And in this business you always want to be at the start of a hiring wave. The toughest thing to do in the world is "buy low" when everyone is screaming the sky is falling.

If you can, borrow as little money as possible. Keep the IT job, cut your expenses to the bone, and pay as you go. Nobody cares where you train. And you can train to the same speed as ATP promises anywhere, if you put in effort. What you don't want is $750 monthly payment of your student loans while you are trying to live on an instructor salary or first year pay.

Once you are ready to start CFI training, transfer to a large school that favors hiring their internal grads and has lots of students. Borrowing the money for CFI training might be more reasonable. This will give you a pool of students for teaching and building time.

All this is predicated that you absolutely love the act of moving an aircraft from point A to point B more than anything else. If you don't, this job, with company issues, furloughs, three nights-a-week in the hotel, away from home and family (with rare exceptions) will drive you nuts. However, those 55 to 60 hour - 5 1/2 to 6 day work weeks, maybe five days of vacation every two years, endless hours of staring at a cubicle trying to figure out why the server isn't talking to the printer, will end. Compared to your old life you won't know what to do with all the spare time. I'm still adjusting. (This is not normal, but I'm in a stretch right now where I'll work 4 days in a period of 23). And, when you leave the a/c, you're done. No worrying about what's waiting for you tomorrow.

So, if you really want it, and you are beholding only to yourself, go for it. My story may not be typical, but it can be done. I had a great time at my regional. And I'd still trade it in a heart beat over what I was doing before.

PM me if you have any questions. Good Luck!

Airframe

Wow, I thought it was nearly impossible to upgrade at a regional in 1 year.

BoredwLife

Go for a Major if you want it. Heck by the time you reach 65 I am sure the retirement age will be 110. You could have a good long career at a major then.