I thought we were supposed to pursue careers we love and not care about the money though;). I was always planning on becoming an architect but ever since I got to control an airplane for the first time...well most of you probably know the feeling.

Haha, yes I caught on about a used plane, no need to clarify. I've checked out some relatively cheap Cessna's and Piper's on Controller. I'll take a look at Tradeaplane and start figuring out costs.

Money is probably going to be an issue depending on how much I can work while staying focused on school, so this seems like a good way to go. Thanks for the advice!

When I was in school, a pair of twin brothers owned a C-172 which was very nicely equipped for IFR training at the time (mid-late 80s timeframe). I'm pretty sure that they had it on some type of lease back to the FBO that we all trained out of with contacts with the flight program out of Oklahoma State.
That aircraft was ALWAYS booked - both for the IFR training and many x/cs because it was one of the nicest aircraft. The FBO handled all of the maintenance I think and although I don't know what of financial deal with the FBO or school they might have had, I did ask them once a question about cost and they made it sound like they weren't having to make any payments or anything else and were very happy with the outcome.
So buying your own plane and then seeing if you could lease it back to them for training might an option.

USMCFLYR

Overall it sounds like you have a good plan, except for the wanting to fly for a living part, but since you'll probably persist anyway :rolleyes:, a couple of thoughts:

Private Pilot Multiengine - worthless (unless you have access to a twin you can fly, and good luck getting any insurance company to cover you). It's too expensive, you can't use it for anything, and you'll have to go back and take another multi-checkride to add commercial privileges. Even if you did find an aircraft you could fly, it would cost a lot more $$ to not only remain current, but proficient (they are not one and the same).

Likewise with the instrument, remaining current and proficient is a challenge, but one which can be overcome with a much smaller outlay of $$ then the multi.

Toward all of these ends, since purchasing an aircraft outright is cost prohibitive, consider looking at a flying club or parnership. If you have an aircraft and an appropriately rated safety pilot, you can practice instruments and maintain your currency/proficiency while building time under the hood.

Go to Med school...buy a plane...

On a serious note.... the best laid plans.... anyways... get your ppl... enjoy college.... it will all fall together.

Post-scriptus: Someone else pointed out that engineering school is very demanding, and you would probably need to devote your attention to that full time while in school. I would tend to agree with that. Consider working on your engineering major during the school year, and take summers as your "vacation" to do commercial/CFI/multi ground schools and concentrated instruction to add the appropriate ratings. You can still fly during the year for proficiency and fun (and time building), but focus on engineering during fall and spring semesters, and focus on flying during summer sessions. I have no doubt you'll do better in engineering AND be better prepared for your checkrides in less time than spreading it out over the years and halfway doing both.

Thanks everyone for the great advice! Gave me a better idea on how to run my life over the next few years. Revised my plans and I'm hoping things will work out, if not I have engineering and I'll fly for fun.

There has been a few comments about buying a plane and then selling after training instead of renting. Would anyone be willing to actually figure out the cost practicality of this for me. I did some number crunching and I got around the same price for buying vs. renting, but I had to take educated guesses at fuel, insurance, maintenance, and hangar costs and I just did average rental and instructor price, based on a bit of research. However I could lease the plane while I'm not there, and then sell it after training making buying the cheaper option.

At the moment I feel renting would be the best option as I will be flying mostly in the summer and doing school the rest of the year with periodic flights and then I can rent whatever plane I need, but if you can prove me wrong go for it. If anyone could do an estimate for a used c-172, piper warrior, or similar plane versus renting that would be great! (I would like to get a few different estimates to see if everyone's numbers math up.)

Thanks again everyone,
~Jason

Edit: Oh and for the calculations I used 250 hours flight time and four years.

Plane costs
 

If you aren't going to fly 125 hours a year or more, rent. If you want to get your ratings quick and cheap, buy an IFR 150, 152, 172 or Warrior, put the least amount of money down that you can. Don't borrow money for anything else. Partnerships can be great in this instance. Fly your butt off until you have your private, instrument, and 240 hours. Then sell it as quickly as possible. You have to do 10 hours complex for the Commercial rating, and you can start learning the manuevers in your plane. Do the commercial, CFI and CFII as quick as possible. Then, you can get paid to fly and build time while in school. Only then would I consider a commercial Multi Engine add-on, unless you have access to a twin REALLY cheap with attainable insurance.

I agree with atlSCIP - I think a buying a portion of a partnership would serve you best - you don't have to front the entire cost of the aircraft or the fixed expenses. I haven't looked recently, but there always used to be flyers with shares available when I frequented FBO's. A couple things to be aware of:

1) I would absolutely have a good mechanic do a thorough pre-purchase on the aircraft. You're making a substantial investment, you need to know what condition it's in.

2) Be aware that you may not be able to sell your share immediately when you are ready to get out. This is really no different than owning an aircraft outright yourself.

3) Evaluate your partners - along the lines of #1, are they going to take care of the aircraft? This becomes more of an issue as you move up in complexity and performance. For example: You are the most careful and consciencous pilot out there and baby the engine. You'll still end up footing part of the bill when your partner continually shock cools the turbocharged engine in your SuperDuper Skyblaster.

This is much less of a concern (but still very much a consideration) in a simpler fixed gear, fixed prop trainer like a Warrior, Skyhawk, etc, and an excellent reason to limit your selection to said aircraft - they're also cheaper per hour.

Thanks for the info!

my two cents, get into this field for a profession if you love it, the money isnt great unless you get lucky and make it to fedex or ups, so you need to just be happy to show up and get paid for something that you absolutely love to do. you will meet some great people along the way, it never gets boring, but it's not the 9-5, you won't be home with the fam every night, if you can handle making sacrifices like that, being treated like crap at a regional for 5-10 years and then starting from the bottom again at a major then go get that PPL, get a degree, then if you still have the bug, get the rest of the ratings. Best of luck to you!