the King

I've been a year this May, and I definitely feel sharper than I was then. Full time instructing teaches you how to deal with long days and dealing with people. This time last year, I was still trying to finish school, instruct, and have some sort of life with the time that was left. After 6 months full-time, I'd say you find that balance that works for you.

As for training, look at it this way: Most students don't really know how to learn, they cram. That works well for classes you don't care about, but the skills that have been drilled into your brain will serve you well at your next job.

marlonmoneda1

Not very many places I know where in four years you have enough time to get your ratings (going about three times a week starting at private, without very much opportunity to do much more because flight slots are soo packed plus shortage of instructors especially these days), go to 17-19 credits worth of classes to get your degree in four years, work 30-40 hours a week to make enough money to survive on, and compete for the very small amount of corporate, or internship style flying gigs to build hours (we only have like 5 or 6 spots avail for 200+ person program per year, all for almost no pay) all at the same time...you need monetary support to not have to work in order to have the time to get all those ratings done that quickly...which I never had...plus the extra money available to pull out of loans to be able to fly extra during the summer (most places have an annual limit, which you push rather easily when you go to a private school and pay for all flight training without any help) Most people I know that got ahead like that were fortunate enough to have either relatively well off parents, a parent that already was an professional pilot (for connections or starting flight training at a much younger age), a parent who bought them a plane or already owned one, or parents focused on doing their best to help pay for college or living expenses during summers so they could get ahead.

All of that is fine of course, but most people dont have such luxuries unfortunatlely...its just the reality that there just simply isnt enough time, money, good weather, or luck to get all your ratings, 1000 more hours, a four year degree, corporate experience, pay car insurance, rent, utilities, food money, beer money, girlfriend date money, strip club money, frat events, practice music, play shows in a band, pay for doctor bills, cell phone bills, travel across country occasionally to be able to go back home to california at least once a year if that, pay for gas, pay for new auto transmission because mine went out, pay for furniture, dishes, moving to a new apartment, buy winter clothes, school supplies, 800 dollars of books a semester, pay for city fine because you didnt have enough time to shovel the snow off your sidewalk everytime it snowed, birthday gifts, christmas gifts, snow tires, etc etc etc....well, you get the picture

Besides, what am I complaining about anyway? im 24 at a regional, I guess it worked out just fine...lol

So many different roads to the same thing!

TXTECHKA

For anybody that is looking at a situation like this in the future you may want to consider a different route to your flying career. By going somewhere other than one of these aviation colleges/pilot factories you can save a lot of money and put it towards other things. Also by going to a state school and doing your training at a local fbo you can get things done for cheaper in addition to there being less competition for training time and local flying jobs.

For the guy that asked about where I used to fly charter. It was out in Lubbock, Texas flyin a baron and occasionally a king air part time (they'd call when they needed me). My main time building job was a corporate job flying a cessna 310 and a malibu mirage in addition to a bunch of flight instructing. This all sounds like a very time consuming thing but it wasn't too bad. I still partied way harder than I should have at college and was very active in my frat as well other activities on campus. It did take me five years to graduate but this was mainly due to too much partying and too little studying, not due to my flying.

meeko031

working for the regionals out of college will hurt you in the long run.(if applying with no 500pic) without atp mins, you will not be able to upgrade...at all. you will build all that flying time in the right seat with no future of upgrading, right?

grossole

1/2 of your SIC time can be counted towards the PIC requirement if I remember correctly.

TXTECHKA

Thats the way I see it. I have heard they can count some sic towards it but who cares, why does everybody think its so hard to just get the pic minimums for the atp? I did go to my regional straight from college at twenty three years old but that was with 2000TT 600 multi and 1800 pic.

djrogs03

I agree/disagree...I was fortunate enough to go to a 4 year school and do all the above, thanks to Sallie Mae. I even interned in the Flight Operations at NWA. No one in my family is a pilot, no one is well off, and it was my choice and i payed my way (all out). I ended up getting all my ratings and getting my Bachelors in 3 years. It's all about your drive, and if you want to do it you can. Not to mention it was an out of state school. I know of people who didn't go that route and are FO's just like me, but if **** goes sour or i feel like doing something more with my life, and pull in extra sources of income to pay for all the above, i can with that degree...that Aviation degree.

145Driver

If you could find an FBO who had 135 ops in single engines, like say a 182, 206, etc..., you might be able to bid online and get freight runs. Our FBO did that. We only did 135 IFR though, so that didn't help me much. I think VFR mins are fairly low, like 500 hours, 50 at night, and a certain amount of x/c and instrument maybe? I can't remember, and you could look that up to find accurate numbers. That may be one option for the charter stuff for you, as it would obviously work on your schedule.

Brendan

Thanks. I'm within 2 hours drive of Chicago and Indianapolis so I'm thinking that might open up some more opportunities when I go looking.

Anyway, I've been thinking about what to do after graduation as well. For anybody that went straight to the regionals, do you have any regrets? Not necessarily specifics to your airline, but whether you wish you would have done something else first. I think I'm about 50/50 at this point (regional vs. instructing). I have a strong connection with my school and fraternity and don't know if I'll be ready to leave that after graduation.

Andrew_VT

I agree with you on the monetary point of not being able to do it without help...but it doesn't take that much help (relative to standard education costs that is).

Cheap local college (with cheap online credits mixed in)...cheap local FBO's...instruct last 2 years of college...

I never would have been able to accomplish what I did time-wise and money-wise had I gone to one of those 'aviation universities'.