Diver Driver

If I could change anything, I'd have gotten a Meteorology degree instead of what I currently have that's aviation related. That and maybe I'd have chosen other than Comair in 2007 to go to....

NoBeta

I would have tried to avoid being ripped off out of 15k by 3 different schools.

jedinein

Do your IFR in a twin. The incremental cost is lower than flying in a single, then having to build multi hours. Do as much as you can in a multi until you have 500 MEL.
Make up your mind to enjoy the journey.
Find out who the Santa Claus examiners are and ensure you take your checkrides from them, going so far as to do your training at a mom & pop, but do a "finish up" from the puppy mill. Or, go to a part 141 school with self-examining authority so as to not have any failed checkrides.
Don't extend yourself into a situation where you're trying to accomplish something before the old-timers in the industry think you should have it, especially if one of them is the examiner.
Don't start drinking. Avoid alcohol like the plague, same with smoking (why be ineligible for a part 121 carrier with an expensive habit (Alaska)?) Not started, you won't have to worry about timing, or how long 'til the next fix.
Learn to drink your coffee black.
Don't be the one that reports squawks, and don't be the one where the unreported squawks catches up with you, either during a ramp check or something majorly wrong happens inflight.
Get to a regional and out of probation as quick as you can. Then you can relax and go after fun type ratings, seaplane certificates, and other fun aviation events, if you have time and the money...
Learn to fall asleep anywhere, at any time, on command.
If you want to fly fighters, go for it.
Spend money on the online and CD ground schools. Knock all of the writtens out as soon as possible and get the ratings as soon as possible. If you even think you want to go for the airlines, it is best to get to the first regional job now, when the minimums are low, the various regs haven't kicked in yet, and a 250 hour wonder can be hired. Mortgage the house, sell the cat, put the children to work, whatever it takes to get in before the hours lock.
Miss a hiring boom, that's okay. There'll be another one in a few years.
Leave early, do the speed limit, get there early. Enjoy the few minutes break. No speeding tickets, no DUIs, no excitement.
If your friends are into prohibited stuff, find new friends.
If aviation is your passion, don't be afraid to enjoy the heck out of it. Every once in awhile, go up for a fun flight and enjoy it.
Be paranoid about your alarm clock.
Don't even think about working as a ramp rat, or in any occupation that requires lifting heavy stuff all day where you're not building flight time. Flip burgers instead.
If you're going to CFI, find a busy flight school with several twins, and get your time in there, get hired as a CFI, and get the CFII and MEI asap. Time is money in this case.
No matter what obstacles you face or setbacks that leave you with pieces, always keep getting back up for more. It ain't over 'til you're six feet under.
Your job as pilot is to say "no" when the situation calls for it, even if it is to the person that could fire you. If the flight is not safe, don't go.

jedinein

0 to ATP in 15 years. The FBO route does have its pitfalls.

Outlaw2097

* Got a degree outside of aviation
* Done flying at an FBO, or bought a plane and paid a freelance instructor
* Learn to fly for the fun of it, not to run around the country playing pilot looking for a plane to fly
* Educate those about to replay this scenario

grecoaj

If I could go back and give my past-self some advice, I'd fully explain the difference between part 61 and 141 and try to convince myself to drive the extra 20 minutes to the 141 school. It would have saved me a lot of money and time. I also *might* not have taken out such a large loan to get a BS degree, but at the time, the airline industry was pretty low and I wanted a backup plan.

Hope this helps, good luck!

172skyhigh

Im out 24k and only have my ppl and Instr. rating with 80 hours. i would have bought a 1970 152 until i had my CFI, then sell it and brake even. And flight schools will try to ripped you off. make sure what your getting billed for.

USMCFLYR

YIKES!
Averaging $300/hr so far?
Time to reevaluate the process I think.

USMCFLYR

galaxy flyer

Great topic, Tonker

Start early, if you can--piloting needs to become part of you, like breathing. Trite, but after 30+ years, it is a life, not a job.

I solo'd on my 16th birthday, Dad helped, then said, it's your's now. I worked at an FBO, using my wages to pay for training. It was easier then, gas was .50 cents a gallon and a PA-28 cost, with employee discount, about $20 an hour. Inflation and bank debt has run the prices out of control.

Get a college degree and learn something that is useful, aviation studies isn't a degree, economics, business management, a science or engineering is. It doesn't have to be from Harvard, but my business degree helped me innumerable times, if only to understand this wacky business. You might need the education, if things don't work out.

I did own, with a partner, an Aeronca Champ to build time. It cost us $1,000 a piece, flew it a lot and learned a lot. It was in Trade-a-Plane a couple of years ago for $30,000. Selling it for what we had in it was a mistake.

Then, I met a life-long friend in an ANG unit, was selected 2 years later to go to UPT and fly the F-100. There is still no better training than the military, don't dismiss it. I paid the AF back by being able to select and send 20+ young men and two women to go to UPT. Research the Reserves, the best combination, but AD is certainly excellent, my nephew is USN pilot on his first cruise.

Don't get fixated on one track--life is not a dress rehearsal. Being an airline pilot is a fine goal and career, but variety has a value all it's own. I have been an airline pilot (Eastern, gone in '89), flew night checks, corporate, fighters (F-100 and A-10), full-time military airlift (C-5) and now corporate (sort of) again. I enjoyed everyday of it, even if only about a 1000 days of it was spent at my original goal--the airlines.

GF

172skyhigh

Yes and all SEL. Gotta love American Flyers. After my ppl i told then to scr*w off, now im flying a brand new 162 for 100 bucks an hour much better deal. What can i say im young dumb and new to the industry