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What you should do is get a job doing engineering work here in ICT at one of the manufacturers (Cessna, Hawker, Spirit). These three have flying clubs that are VERY cheap to earn your ratings in. Once you have enough time you might get a slot in test, demo etc. The beauty of this plan is that you are still getting paid a great wage, you continue benefits (health, 401k etc.) and make contacts while flying your butt off way cheaper than you could elsewhere. Try Cessnajobs.com and the Hawker site, there are tons of engineering gigs available. Housing is great here as well. Shoot me a PM as I know several people who got their certs this way and most are on to bigger things. |
Thank you for all the great input; it's great to hear everyone's different points of view. To answer some of the questions, I'm not married (although most likely will be shortly), have no kids, and do not own a home. My only debt is my car, and I'm hoping to pay for all my ratings on my own as the money shows up from my current job. I know for a fact that I don't want to enter an aviation career in debt...that seems to be the nail in the coffin for most people.
As much as I enjoy being an engineer right now, I can't see myself doing it for the rest of my life. Plus I'm not so keen on having new projects all the time, and a more or less undefined job role. I think I'd be a lot more happy knowing that each time I go to work, I more or less know what I'll be running into. As for $100k being good in CA, I partly agree. Yes it's nice from the standpoint that I can live pretty comfortably, eat out a lot, drive a nice car etc....BUT the housing situation is pretty demoralizing. A typical 1bdrm apartment runs $1800/month anywhere within a 30min commute for me, and any single family home under $600k is borderline on being condemned. Basically I'm stuck being a renter, and paying a ton for it. Plus I really do want a more rural lifestyle with some land and my own place. I'll have to look into whether Cisco has a flight department, but based on how most of the company is run, I'm doubting it. I would guess they charter flights through another company since they do everything else that way. But yeah....if I could fly for Cisco that would be amazing since it really is a great company. |
I am you my friend. I did the engineering thing. Ever see "office space"? I'd bet we have a lot of stories in common. And I was an engineer in ICT too....
If you are going to do it, go to a school that will get you through quickly. Seniority is everything so get your ratings as quick as possible with as much multi time as you can (such as ATP - I didn't go there though) and get on with a good regional (not someplace like mesa). There is a ton of negativity in this profession. Most of the people have never worked in a cubicle so they won't understand where we are coming from. Every time I mention that I left engineering for flying, I get grief about it. But I don't regret leaving the big salary at all. Money isn't everything and it will come around. Feel free to PM me with any questions! |
If you're going to consider Wichita, I highly recommend looking into Prairie Air Service. There's at least one Raytheon demo pilot that lives at the airport(1K1)...
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I'm sure you know this - but make sure you're soon to be wife knows what you are bringing her into. You will be gone a lot, and instability is the name of the game. Money will be very tight - and you'll either have to move every few years or commute, which means even more time gone. There are exceptions, but this career is a marriage breaker. It takes a very strong couple to endure what gets thrown at you. Hell, it's tough enough in a normal situation to keep it together, being gone so much doesn't help.
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FWIW: I'm also an engineer, also 28, also in the Bay Area, also with a "six figures" salary. (But no, I'm not at Cisco. :) )
I looked at becoming a pilot back in 2002-03, even before all the current sh*t hit the fan, and even back then I decided it wasn't worth it. I finished my private about a year ago, and mainly fly for fun, on the weekends. I still have idle fantasies of becoming a professional pilot and flying the big iron, but after reading this (and other) boards, I know I made the right choice. The way I see it, I make enough extra money as an engineer that I can fly fairly frequently if I want to, and I get to do it on my terms... over the Golden Gate and out to Half Moon Bay at sunset, rather than the 11pm Saturday night run from Fresno to Bakersfield. That said, YMMV. If it's truly your dream, follow it. But choose wisely. :-) |
I thought this was going to be a thread about getting out of aviation.
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Marriage breaker or single life maker !! Its all in how you phrase it. :) Skyhigh |
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Funny you post this - I was once a victim of Tasman Drive, stuck between the tax man and the landlord, wondering how the big number on the top of my paycheck ended up being the small number in my savings at the end of the month.
So I cashed in some stock and I bailed. Smartest thing I ever did. Life's too short to fly a desk. |
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