I... Wow... That thought hadn't occurred to me at all. That's effing brilliant.

I've got a meeting with a VA coordinator on base next week. I'm definitely going to throw this at them and see what's up. I owe you a beer.

Oh, lets say you do finish your Private through Commercial cert between Spring-Fall quarter... its right about time for Aerial Surveying season in November (SkyLens/AirAmerica) or drop zones hiring Jump Pilots when the weather warms in March. Great opportunity to fly for these operators and getting some money/experience while taking classes online towards that non-aviation degree :). Then, doing CFI in the Summer or Fall following year if your heart desires. You can even start submitting applications to a big university after that and already be sitting pretty!

BRILLIANT! definitely going to look at an AS in business or AV MGMT so that I can get a full course load and max GI Bill benefits. Hopefully the VA lets me do what I want.

I see what you're trying to get at here. Although, you will still have a semester or two where you will be full time when you combine your flying and aeronautics course. I don't have to take any gen ed classes (I have a Masters in Meteorology) but I will have 13 credits this semester and 12 credits next (my final) semester. I will get everything done in three semesters up to CFI and MEI (I had my private before I started). Only my first semester did I have less than a full time work load. I had 8 credits and got around 60% of the BAH.

As far as getting BAH year round, good luck with that one. They will only pay you from the day the class starts till the day the class ends, prorated for partial months.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm open to all possibilities there, I don't care how I build the time, I'm not picky. I just want to make sure I'm getting the most bang for my buck with the VA money.

Yeah, I know it's a pipe dream but it's sounds like the easiest way to go to school and only focus on flight. I worked my way through college for my B.S. degree, and I really don't want that kind of stress again.

from talking to basically every flight school there is that accepts VA benefits, it looks like with the new likely impending policy changes, there is not way to avoid paying out of pocket or taking a loan for at least 20-30k, so I will likely need to stick around the active duty army another year to save $$ so that I don't have to take out a loan or a minimal one. Right now, as it stands, with my bachelors I will likely only be able to get 60-75% BAH coverage, so saving for another year may be smart. I know that's another year I could be building my flight time, but nothing is guaranteed, and if I'm gonna do this, I don't want to take out loans for an unknown future. The tricky point will be once I am a CFI working for poverty wages being able to float without the VA BAH, but certainly I'm not the first one who has been in that boat..building hours to apply to a regional. Thoughts?

I am currently using my post 9/11 at Auburn. They announced these impending changes to us back in the spring and basically told us we should start taking out loans or prepare for out of pocket because the changes are taking effect ASAP and there would be no grandfather policy. This happened as I was mid commercial, and now doing commercial multi with the threat of out of pocket that I was not prepared for coming into this program. Do yourself a favor and save as much as possible and prepare for the worst. Hopefully this bill will be overturned, but for now there is very little information being given by the VA and it looks like our free ride for flight training is on the chopping block.

Are you in their 4 year program at Auburn? In one year i can save 30-35 k from my job I think and that should be enough to get me by two years of an AS degree (assuming the VA still pays for more if it's going toward a degree vs just a 10-12 month flight program)

Yes, four year degree in professional flight management. It was designed to cover flight training up to commercial multi with a bachelors in business management. So everything is (was) covered 100% under post 9/11. I thankfully haven't had to cut into my savings in the first 3 years of school, and I live with 2 other guys, so I have a little tucked away that should carry me through. With the new bill, they would still cover all costs until you reach the minimum hours according to the FARs, as well as a certain number of ground hours, etc. But as soon as you hit mins, all flight training is out of pocket, while degree related classes are still covered.

how many hours did it take you to get your PPL?