bcpilot

U have a business degree, U can easily get a job for 60-80k start, I'd get that business major degree job for now; If U don't get that job where U live, move to a place where U can get a job, keep expenses low by sharing w/roomates.

There on, U have 2 options:

1) U can work your primary job, earn decent money & fly at the local FBO/school on the weekends or even qualify for a loan with those nice looking paystubs from the job...

2) Option 2: Save for a down pmt on a IFR cert 152 or 172 or any 4 place airplane or buy Cash or seller carry financing........... U are a business major, think outside the box & make things happen......

Take your office & other buddies to the 100 dollar burger trips & make sure they are 50 miles away.......... Bulid those x-country hours for cheap & make money on your primary job.....

Get a freelance CFI to give U Instrument & then for commercial, just rent the complex from a school for the 10-20 hrs

Repeat the steps for CFI & CFII & 12 months later U will be a full commercial pilot CFI & CFII

If U buy your own plane, then repeat the steps by becoming the freelance CFI yourself & with your plane & rent it cheap, so U work the job on weekedays & fly on the weekends....

Ultrasweatproof

9kBud - I'd much rather move or commute to do something I really enjoy than to move entirely to teach at some small town JC in a place I've never heard of.

bcpilot - It's not so easy. I've been looking at a few job markets since may. I have friends with business degrees in economics, finance, and accounting who are working at places like Target. Lowes wasn't my first choice, trust me.

grecoaj

1987 was a good year. By the way, you might be my long lost twin, although I don't have the guts to share my story and I'm glad you're reaching out here, hopefully you'll get advice from many people/places. The advice that I've been given was to get a job in the field that I got my BS in in order to fund my training. Easier said than done, but don't give up. You are in a pretty good place, having a degree without debt or dependents. That being said, you might have to enter the suck for a year or two in order to get your ratings. What I mean is, you might have to get a job you don't like, maybe even hate. I understand that cuts it close, but you might be surprised how quickly you can build time. If you can survive off ramen and cereal while living in a pop-up trailer at the drop zone while you build your time (not unlike someone I know...), then do it! Look all around for flying gigs. Last but not least, get a plan. Learn all you can about how and where to get the ratings you need, grab a calendar and write down the goals. I love the sky, I'm only happy when I'm flying. That fuels me when I go into work at JCPenney.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Ultrasweatproof

grecoaj- Good news is the flightschool I fly at is great (little pricey but thorough) and they hire the CFI's they train fulltime. My CFI back in 05 is now a captain at Skywest. Heck, the guy I did my BFR with a year or so back just got hired at Skywest. Bad news is I still haven't landed a "lowly" hourly job.

Nice to know that there are still some other guys out there taking the long road to a potential flying job while our peers are already in the right seat.

BTW- I'm still waiting to here back from JCPenney...

Ultrasweatproof

Figure I'd bump this thread and give anyone in a similiar situation an update as to what it is like "paying as you go" to finance training.

Shortly after begining this thread, in October 2011, I got a job in a quality department of a railroad component manufacturer. I've felt fortunate to come into this job where I have 2 to 3 hours overtime per-day.

It's taken me since October, 2011 to get through all my ratings up to just begining the flying portion of the CFI. I've accomplished everything in around the minimum amount of hours required and it still took my 8 months to get my instrument rating and over a year to get my commercial. I think the multi took about 8 months as well. Since March, 2014 after the multi check-ride, I've been working on ground for the CFI. I am currently waiting for my flight school to find a replacement complex airplane since someone had damaged the last one so I can begin preparing for the check-ride.

Overall it has been a long journey to this point. At this juncture I am just committed to earing my CFI since I am so close and then it might be time to re-evaluate, like I did in 2011.

I still need 1200hrs to meet ATP mins and my written is only good until July 2016. Not sure I'm going to be able to meet those hours and get a class date at a regional by that point.

My back-up plan which might become a real possibility is to apply for the train crew at Union Pacific and go that route.

I'm married now, want to buy a small house, and my wife ultimately wants kids in 3 or so years so that changes the outlook of things. Also need to start saving for retirement....

Anyways, sorry for a quick and not very well-written post. Am posting this quickly on my lunch break.

I play around with a blog, off-and-on at flightlevel065.blogspot.com. Feel free to check that out if you'd like.

mexipilot84

National guard/reserves Id say is a great route, you have the degree you can be a CO as long as you qualify medically. There is also the warrant officer option in the army, less BS to deal with, but you will most likely be RW, however you can always do the add ons quickly for FW.

Find a unit in your area and get to know some people. Really a rewarding path in the end, more than anything not paying for training.

JohnBurke

To the original poster; many of us, myself included, came indigent circumstances, and paid our way, working off each rating as able. To b where you are at this stage, degree and free of loan debt, holding your ratings and clear, speaks highly of your dedication. If there's any question as to whether you have the sticking power to see your goals through, I suspect you've clearly put that to rest. You can.

Marriage does change the equation somewhat, but your wife should understand where your goals lay when she met you; you've been working through the difficult end of learning to fly and paying as you go, all along, and there is some light at the end of the tunnel. No matter what you do in aviation, however, there's going to come a time when you jump off the proverbial cliff and spread the wings. It means a pay cut and tightening the budget. You can work part time as a flight instructor, you can do all that you are able part time, but to fullly commit will require a lifestyle change, which may be perceived as a step backward. It's the leap of faith.

Your step may be to something other than the airlines; night freight, for example You may find that instructing for now provides some supplementary income, and you may elect to use that at some future time to make a move. Many of us have done it, and fully understand your position. I've been there myself.

Your effort and your present position does portray you in a very good light. You're clearly someone who sets goals and achieves them, and who believes in his ability to do so. If you need hours quickly, you may want to think about a busy season flying banners or some other work that keeps you moving a lot.

You were wise to seek qualifications outside aviation and to keep your day job, and to have the patience to see things through at a slower pace. It's not easy, but you're in a much better position than those who tried to fast-track themselves and are now saddled with debt.

I believe that if anyone is capable of achieving the goal, you are, but you're right that you do have decisions to make. You do have the power of choice at this point, which is in your favor. Good luck.

Ultrasweatproof

John,

My wife is entirely understanding and in full support of my life's ambitions as much as I am of hers. She's from a small town in central Europe and is giving up everything she's known to build a life with me in America. I tried to scare her off with the realities of aviation but alas, we are married.

I guess at nearly 28 years of age, I am feeling old and anxious, ready to make that leap.

As I mentioned, I am grateful for a job at a good company that allows me to choose to pursue something so fulfilling to me. It's also provided me the opportunity to learn an entirely different industry (re-manufacturing/rail products) and business systems (quality management). Not to mention also meeting some great people. But I am bored of doing something entirely non-fulfilling 11 hours a day. However, I couldn't imagine having an 80,000 dollar loan around my neck so I don't think I would change anything. I stress to anyone thinking about taking on debt to reconsider, hard.

My intent is to work full-time and instruct during the nights and on weekends and see how things looking going into 2016, depending on my housing situation.

As this point I really enjoy the process of teaching and look forward to it but Ameriflight, or Aperature Aviation would be fantastic also; Skywest would be a dream.

Thank you John, for your kind words of encouragement. I appreciate it.

Flightcap

Thanks for returning to the forums and sharing your story thus far. Flying is a lifelong journey that very rarely falls into the norm of "instruct, get your 1500, go regional, upgrade, go major, upgrade, -------> retire." There are always twists along the way. Sometimes the twists even take pilots completely out of the profession, but I like to think that the journey continues.

Kudos on sticking in there and keeping yourself debt free. You are actually able to pursue the dream with your limited resources whereas others with the same resources cannot due to their debt load.

As another future company, consider SeaPort. They're a scheduled 135 passenger-carrying op based in Memphis flying Caravans with a two-man crew. I've seen them guys with 300 hours, provided the applicant knew somebody in the operation and was sharp enough to impress the interviewers. They will more often hire around the 500 - 1000 range. Any of my friends who have worked there have been happy with the pilot group, got some good PIC turbine time quickly, and easily got hired at their regional of choice.

Good luck!

Packrat

Forget about the PhD in History. Its harder to get a college teaching job than a major airline job.

Ever consider the military route?