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Flight school money

Old 06-18-2013, 09:05 PM
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Default Flight school money

My question to everyone is how did most of you pay for your flight training? I have been searching for financing but there doesn’t seem to be many options. I am looking for a few places to try to secure loans for flight training if anyone has had any luck with this.
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Old 06-18-2013, 09:17 PM
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Pilot finance works great, doesn't work at all schools. Used that in conjunction with my GI Bill.
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Old 06-18-2013, 09:18 PM
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Originally Posted by aaltes View Post
My question to everyone is how did most of you pay for your flight training? I have been searching for financing but there doesn’t seem to be many options. I am looking for a few places to try to secure loans for flight training if anyone has had any luck with this.
I paid cash. It took me several years this way, but I think it was worth it. Having no debt in this industry (especially starting out) is key.
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Old 06-18-2013, 09:35 PM
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I have seen that website but haven’t done much research about it. I am not too concerned about taking on debt right now. My fulltime job will allow me to repay it back. Getting my PPL and then my CFI is why I would not like to drag it out too long. The sooner I can get into teaching and building hours is the better. I am not in a rush to get into the left seat, but in a hurry to get onto the right side and start my career.
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Old 06-18-2013, 09:40 PM
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Originally Posted by aaltes View Post
My question to everyone is how did most of you pay for your flight training? I have been searching for financing but there doesn’t seem to be many options. I am looking for a few places to try to secure loans for flight training if anyone has had any luck with this.
Financing it is a very very bad way to do it. Think about it, you don't pay back 70K or whatever, you end up paying back 120K because of interest. If you were paying as you go with a different job that you work the entire time, that's a lot of money you are left with to invest to make your quality of life much better, especially considering you may not be able to pay back the loans at the wages that you may get hired at. Bad bad idea to finance it. So many people are concerned with "how can I get done as fast as possible and then get to the majors as quick as possible!?". Got news for you, guys that graduated with me 10 YEARS ago still haven't made it to the majors. I know of two that made it to larger charter operations, but otherwise it's been slim pickins and you're competing with all of these guys.

You need to get in ROTC or serve in the military first and use the GI Bill, this is one of the ways that the big pilot schools inflate their numbers, because many of their graduates do this, but they don't tell you a lot of the people going there don't have the same financial concerns as everyone else, then you add the ones that can have mom and dad pay for it, and all of a sudden it's not what it seems from the outside, hence why it's so hard to get financing.

Soooooo, you find something you like doing that pays well, heck, working for beverage distribution paid well for me, and you earn your certificates on the side as you go. Live as you would as a student, save your $$$, get the 10K and get your private, then get 5K and get your commercial, then get your multi for a few thousand more, and so on. If you do this, you'll be far ahead of most anyone else, and yes, maybe a few years behind the guy that has mommy and daddy pay for it, but nothing you will ever do will allow you to keep up with them early in life, and the military guys already spent several years doing something else. Slow down and get a good job, screw being a commercial pilot, get your certs and ratings over a few years, then reassess and get into commercial aviation if that's what you want.
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Old 06-18-2013, 09:41 PM
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Originally Posted by wrxpilot View Post
I paid cash. It took me several years this way, but I think it was worth it. Having no debt in this industry (especially starting out) is key.
The value of that is simply staggering. It's almost impossible to understand before you amass a bunch of debt and look back. You are truly ahead of so many people, even if they got their certs 2 years faster.
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Old 06-18-2013, 09:42 PM
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Originally Posted by aaltes View Post
The sooner I can get into teaching and building hours is the better.
No, it's not. You won't win anything doing this.
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Old 06-19-2013, 01:40 AM
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I went to Riddle and did all loans, I would trade it all for no loans and working my way through flight training. Great experience, but loans suck.
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Old 06-19-2013, 04:20 AM
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Originally Posted by aaltes View Post
My question to everyone is how did most of you pay for your flight training? I have been searching for financing but there doesn’t seem to be many options. I am looking for a few places to try to secure loans for flight training if anyone has had any luck with this.
I joined the military, had a part time job in college, went to a relatively cheap state college, and did my flight training at an FBO that was reasonably priced.

You obviously don't have to do all those things, your life is yours---but I did finish everything through CFI, II, MEI and four year degree with money in the bank and an IRA. The trade off was years of my life earning the money to get my education.
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Old 06-19-2013, 07:19 PM
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I plan on paying for most out of pocket. But will need some extra money up front to get things going. I do not intend on taking on a ton of loans just to rush to something that is not guaranteed. I greatly appreciate everyone’s insight. It has allowed me to really think about the big picture as well
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