42-Year Old Looking to Start New Career
 

Hi there. I am 42 years old and currently looking into another career. I have both an undergraduate and a law degree, but have a passion for aviation. I am also recently divorced and awaiting the sale of my home. My goal would be to combine some type of law with aviation, but i have seen schools that offer a complete package from zero hours to instructor or commercial. i also had a dream of starting my own or purchasing a flight school part 61 or FBO operation and trying to teach LSA sport license instruction.

My question is i have seen the fast track programs and was wondering if some of the schools are good and others not so good. I was hoping to find out the best option if i want to eventually purchase an LSA and teach with it, to make a nice side income if i don't get into owning an FBO (assuming one is available to purchase or partner up with) I currently live on the east coast, but was thinking of doing this in AZ if possible.

thanks.

Have you got a private pilot certificate yet? Instrument, multi-engine, or flight instructor? First things first, get those and then decide whether you like teaching or not.

If you are considering getting all your pilot certs through AllATPs or another pilot mill of this sort, there are years worth of threads discussing the subject to be found here. Use the search window at the upper left-hand side or use the field-limited search engine to dig them up. That will help narrow your question to something more specific.

Buy an airplane and learn to fly it from a local instructor. Once you have your private (or LSA) then make the decision to pursue the dream if you still have it. That road costs you $40,000 at most if you did the worst and just wrote off the plane. I would assume that if you're going through a divorce it is a somewhat turbulent time in your life, do not make a large decision quickly based on a childhood dream.

I love airplanes, I love teaching, I love to fly but some days being a pilot is just a dang job. Please do yourself a favor and give yourself a moment of pause before you sink yourself financially.

42 and looking for a new career
 

I don't even have my PPL yet. I was hoping that i could find a reasonably priced school, that i could finish within a reasonable period of time. i would love to teach flying on the LSA (piper sport) and possibly go in and be a partner on an existing flight school. not sure what the pay is.

also if i did have my qualifications and purchased my own LSA, how many hours could i reasonably instruct at what $$ per hour in a sunny area like Phoenix.

Also the ATP flight school and some others i see a lot of ads for, but i just wanted an honest opinion as to their reputation and ablilty to teach well.

money is also a factor, but i saw it runs about 40,000

You need to learn to fly first. It is not possible to have the proper point of perspective needed to operate or even buy a local flight school without first being a pilot, preferably an experienced pilot. Get your flight certificates then look at this question again. If you are in it for the money, I would not suggest getting into local flight schools. There are many better options in how to spend your time and effort, if take home pay is a high priority for you. Most local flight schools are break-even propositions at best.

Looking several years down the road, you may be able to flight instruct as a Sport Pilot Instructor. If you provide the airplane and the flight instruction under FAA CFR14 Part 61 rules, you can charge about $30 an hour and maybe $100 an hour for the airplane as a ballpark figure. You will never make very much money doing this. While the per hour figures are not bad, there are numerous problems with flying for a living at these rates. I used to be an instructor at a large Part 141 school and the best instructors defined by billable hours made about $35,000 per annum.

Really and truly, this subject has been discussed ad nauseum here at APC over the years. Hit the books for a few hours and get back to us. Also, internet still carries with it the need to capitalize and edit your writing to some extent, although there is more latitude for slop than in legal briefs. :)

On 2/24/10, you posted this:

I would think deciding what exactly you'd like to do is a good first step. Wastes less time, you know. And money, too.

Dont do it!!

This mid-life, post divorce "career" change has red flags all over. It will take you quite some time to get all the ratings to instruct.

I'm going to guess that you'll have a little money (more than the typical twenty something with the same dreams), so go buy a plane you like, and start learning. It doesn't have to be the plane you'll (maybe) want to instruct in later.

There are quite a few choices in the LSA category, of which I have zero expertise, but if that's what you like, I'm sure they're fine. The reality is that the venerable Cessna 172 is still (in my mind) the best overall choice to start with. Naturally, my first plane was a 1974 C172m, with a 150hp Lycoming burning car gas. The fuel burn on that wasn't that much higher than the Rotax engines that are popular in the LSA's.

After you get your ratings, you'll have a plane to lease back to a school and maybe teach there. It's relatively easy to find a home for a C172 on a "lease-back".

Then, if all that works out (in a few years, to be honest), then you might consider getting involved in ownership of a school. Trying to push it, in my opinion, is an absolute guarantee to make a small fortune... out of a bigger one.

Right now, i am looking for another career. I was planning on possibly doing something with my law degree (like take the bar exam first) but i have a few logged hours, and really like the looks of the new LSA planes. i guess i was hoping to combine my law degree with aviation somehow. I also was looking into the leasebacks to FBO's and i guess a lot of people said it was a bad idea, and that the FBO is the only one that makes out well. I had figured that if i did get a certification to instruct on something like the Pipersport, then i could purchase one, and instruct in it. I guess a cheaper option would be to purchase a used 172 or piper archer and use that for my certifications and then instruct in it. not sure where to look to get a deal on a plane that i could get VFR and IFR rated.

If you want a million dollars from an aviation business, start with two million. Seriously, do some research, most throw their money away. Keep a good job, learn to fly, rent a plane, have fun.