iflyjets4food

You're right, you are not....it is a school. Just thought I'd ask.

Rama

I'm glad you are striving for what you desire, but you must also look at the downside. The pay is not very good except for at a handful of companies, every time you take a new job its on training pay, buy your own hotel and food. After ioe its first year pay maybe $15-18,000 a year and at a base you may not like.
Then there's seniority, if you upgrade or go for a better job its back to the bottom. You might miss a lot of time with your family.
Having said all that, I still enjoy what I do no matter how much the company tries to make it misearable. Sometimes I'm gone for 5 weeks in a row. Money is ok not great. I would do it again though a little smarter next time. Good friends, good timing and good luck can make or break your career.

otter

Pushing forty is a hard time to start flight school. What happiens if another 9/11 or something else blows up? After 9/11, airlines all but stoped hirring. If you look at aviationinterviews.com and go back to 2001 and 2002 you will see pilot's flight time in the 3000 hour range. That's to fly a 1900 or a Dash 8 If something like that happiens agian, you'll be a CFII for 2000 hours. However, I to understand the dream to fly. When I was a CFII and a older student came to me, we had this talk to make sure he or she understood. Good luck....

Sky_Bound

Otter;

Pushing 40 any career change decision has been tough.
I'm in a nearly no lose situation.
I've worked hard all my life and have a good life because of that.
My company has been sold years ago and I've been enjoying "costly jobs/adventures" since.

But 39 is still young and it takes a lot of money to make it to the "twilight years"

I currently have the freedom to take 2 years to get into a new job like what DCA or similar can open the doors to.

I'm not concerned with making Max Capt @250k a year with a major.
I would think I've done the right thing if I instructed for 20 years @ $20 an hour :P

I'm older and have been successful so I'm lucky in that perspective.
I'm not looking for as much as a younger pilot in training might be.
They have time on their side to get that max Capt job while conversely I don't have the 5 - 10 years to beg, barter for my hours.

My business was successful because I and some others worked about 100 hours a week for nill pay, so I'm used to "paying ones dues" to get where you want.

The missus thinks I already have too many expensive "hobbies".
I do realize my case is different but I think this fits the bill for me.

thanks for the reply !

LAfrequentflyer

I'll be in the same boat as you when i retire and go into aviation as my second career...Actually, I'll be 41 when i start my second career in aviation. I'm not worried about it at all...I've worked hard , have served my country, i'll have a retirement so making ends meet won't be an issue...Like you I'm not interested in the $250K per year captain job...I'll be happy working at a regional...

I'm set on going thru All ATPs - on this board and thru others i've heard a lot of good things about them...

Its nice to see another person jumping into aviation after retirement...

V/r,
Cajuns Fan...

Sky_Bound

I understand why you would say that but so many industries and people were hurt by 9/11 not just the airlines and pilots.

I live in Las Vegas and I saw people losing their jobs and homes from the gaming industry "cracking".

Right about now the only other alternative is to purchase about a 250k Sport Fisherman and set up charter in the Turks and Caicos :P

But then again I'm looking at about the same low income and possible investment failure as "Pilot education" :P

The only difference is the bank likes the idea of Airline Pilot more than Boat Captain ! lol

Again I'm not worried up making my upgrades as fast as possible although I would like to get to decent pay in about 5 years

Today at my FAA med exam I had a chance to talk to some pilots as well as the Doc who's been private for years.

One pilot suggested getting turbo prop out of school and enjoy the "flying".
He said if you go right to "auto-pilot jets" you'll miss so much of the "beauty" of flying. He said he now cherishes those days of "flying".

Like now and through out my life I plan on keeping up with my "road scholar" education and if I get some advice I feel right for me I just might take that avenue, like jump to turbo props and not worry about how fast I get the Capt seat and my line till 60 ! *)

I've gained some pretty good advice from my peers and elders over the years and I have always counted that more important than "proper schooling".

LiVe2FlY

Make sure you are getting all the info....the 65k does not give you 1000TT and 100ME unless you are hired or retained as an instructor. The hiring process at DCA is somewhat confusing and fluctuates rapidly. Even if you are a fortunate student to get hired the wait for standardization class varies between 2-6 months.Also, they may try to send you elsewhere to other campuses i.e. New Bedford, Ma . Now my position was different, I was 20 and did not have the money to sit around in orlando for that period of time nor move and return for the "stands class". So if you are retained Then you can expect your 1000TT and 100ME but plan on spending 3 years in your endeavor (10-14 months for training and 18-24 months instruc).Now the other thing is the lack of experience you will have as a grad through the program, you are looking at around 300 hrs total with maybe 20 hrs of solo time. 300 hrs is plenty of time to learn how it works but when you are with an instructor for 280 of it you are not making decisions and you always have the comfort of knowing there is an instructor to bail you out. So my point is, if you spend that much money there is still the risk of ending up with only 300 hrs for 65K. I went part 61 thru commercial and 141 for multi thru CFII and there is a major difference. 141 such as DCA will get you a level of knowledge that you could only get from other high ranking (expensive) schools but again lack of flight experience. Part 61 is the exact opposite and much less expensive. DCA is still a good school and was a fun place to be excluding the pressure of stage checks and FAA rides, but there was always a big secret about everything and it kind of felt like we were being suckered.

HIREME

Just some FYI. I went to a 141 school at a busy airport in Mississippi just outside of Memphis TN. While it wasn't perfect, they didn't spend a ton of $$$ on advertising and I was able to go through MEI for about 45k. I finished training in one year and was guaranteed an instructor job. After working as an instructor for exactly one year I now have a job flying jets at a great regional and have loved the ride. Liking your flying jobs, like most other jobs, will greatly depend on your personal attitude. Go in with reasonable expectations and remember why you do what you do. DON'T go into this industry with the goal of making lots of $$$. We do it because we love it and I think it's a great job.

Av8trxx

This thread made me think of a new guy who flew some IOE with my Captain not too long ago. This F/O position was his first job out of college. ERAU to be specific. (Everything is ERAU don't ya know.) He saw a 'love the smell of jet fuel in the morning' sticker and said, "Yeah, we had those at Riddle". Ummmm...OK.

He has student loans totaling about $150K for this 19K job and he is happy as a pig in shyte. The smile is permanently affixed across his face and you have to wonder why. OH...maybe it's beacuse he hasn't gotten the first loan payment bill yet.

Can anyone elaborate on the kind of payoff and monthly payments one would have for a $150K student loan?!?!?

WatchThis!

I think anyway you slice it, it's never going to be pretty on a $19K salary. I made some assumptions early in this thread making a guess at what a guy or gal would have to live on after taxes, loan payments, and other expense. The result was based on $60K of debt - I think this guy is SCREWED at $150K. There is no way he'll make the payments.