Paying for flight training
 

Hey guys. How did/are you pay/paying for your flight training? I have a not pilot friend who did some road painting on the side. She said it was contract work, and compensation varied by contract, but she said pay was an average of about 50 bucks an hour. She said she took home 1600 after taxes for 3 days of work. I obviously know this is an average, and salary can vary considerably. I am intrigued, though. I was just wondering if anyone else knows of any other odd ball jobs that one might be able to do for a decent pay to pay for more than one or two hours of flight time a month.....

Do whatever you are good at, work your butt off, save all you can, study hard to reduce your training costs.

I used a combination of VA benefits, parents help and waiting tables 5 days a week. I wouldn't look for a holy grail of jobs because once you get a taste of the money its hard to leave. best of luck.

edit: i did have a student who would work on a fishing boat for two weeks and make some decent coin, then come back and fly for two weeks, rinse and repeat. i will say that he never ended up finishing

I went to the military and used my GI Bill. Worked full time at DL to pay for training while the VA reiumbursed me, just kept reinvesting the money I got back into flight time.

Worked full time, night shift, washing airplanes and then becoming a non-licensed aircraft mechanic. Delivered pizzas and worked back of the house on weekends.

You ever watch Deadliest Catch? Go on one of those boats and get 30 grand for a few weeks of work. Easy job.

Here's what we know now:

You don't have to get your certificates and ratings "right away" or "as fast as possible". Anyone who tells you that has their eyes on YOUR MONEY and they just want to get their hands on it. Find a job, maybe takes a few years, where you can save and scrounge and have enough on the side to get your ratings. A few years and you've got those certs/ratings and you are debt free. It can not be stated enough how far ahead of the game you'll be because of this.

For those of you who used your VA benefits, how did you do it? 141 school or an aviation college or some other way? I've got my PPL already, so I BELIEVE anything after that is considered continuing education, if the training is done at a 141 school, correct?

Do you have the Montgomery GI Bill or the Post 9/11? If you still have the Montgomery and haven't converted, you have the option of going to a Part 141 VA approved flight school to get your ratings. In that scenario, 60% of your training costs are covered. You are on the hook for the other 40%.

If you have already converted to Post 9/11, there is really only one way to get your ratings that makes sense and that is to get them at a college while getting your associates or bachelors. In that scenario everything is 100% covered plus you get a book stipend and a housing allowance based on the number of credits you are taking. The other way is to use a Yellow Ribbon program and you are limited in what you can spend on that. I don't know much about that so you would have to ask someone else.

When I left the military I had a choice since I still had the Montgomery GI Bill. Despite already having a Masters degree and not needing another degree, I chose to convert to the Post 9/11 GI bill and get my training in pursuit of an Associate’s degree. I did this for a couple reasons. First, I would occur no debt since everything is paid for. Secondly, I would then get a reduced ATP of 1250 hours. The negative is that it would take me about 6 – 8 months longer to get all my ratings. Due to my Undergrad degree, I was able to get all my Gen Eds credited so all I had to do was the flying (I already had my PPL like you when I entered) and take the aviation specific classes needed for the degree. I will complete everything this summer, 18 total months.

It all depends on your stiuation and what works best for you. If you have a large family that you need to support, then going back to school may not be an option for you.