Get the military to pay for it...I got my BS degree while on active duty for nothing out of pocket except gas money to / from home to class and books...I still have my GI Bill with 25K+ on it to use for grad school...I've also managed to complete my Cisco certifications while on AD - again, all paid for my the AF.

Education is a business. Their product is like any other comsumer product for sale. Look around and get the best deal you can. You'll be surprised at what you can get from a school.

Avoid what I call expensive money...loans/ fancy cars / dead end education products...If you want to waste money - put it into a index mutual fund and forget about it for 15-20 years...


-LAFF

As the non-pilot father of a teenage girl who is consumed with flying, the posts on ERAU were extremely helpful. The economics of training, getting a job, and making a living in aviation are now making more sense to me.

Can I ask a similar question, and get your response on how it is in the real world? How are women treated in the aviation industry, through training, the military and commercial aviation? Do they have a even chance, or are the odds of succeeding even longer?

Thanks

It is definately getting better for women. If you can be supportive to her,See her through the first 5-7 years after she has finished training, then she can make it. Dont limit her passion just because you read some of the grouchy postings of the guys who didnt stick it out.
Yes there is a future for her, and in the end, its better than being some nameless, overweight housewife who drives a minivan and whose highpoint of the day is "as the world turns"

Well with any profession...i genreally think women have it harder. However, some of the best pilots i know are women. Just like anybody else, if he/she shows commitment to the profession...they will be fine

Bobby,

If your daughter is serious about aviation have her look into the AF - she has the same chance as anyone else going to OTS / UPT.

If the military is not her thing - make sure she get a BA/BS in something not related to aviation (business / engineering / science) then get her into a school like www.allatps.com for her ratings.

Also , read the thread about loan payments in the money talk area...its an eyeopener.

Why set your kid up for that type of failure?


-LAFF

You have to be careful with the jet training program at ERAU. I did it and thought it was great. They NEVER tell you that its a type rating or anything else. Infact you cant really even log it. All it does is prepare you for what the training will be like at a regional. And its damn true. The instructors are retired regional guys and gals.....i got friends at interships who say it was the EXACT same thing. Its expenisve.....if you want to pay for it...but its a great tool. Also, if you get your aero sci degree at riddle... you DONT HAVE to take the crj course....thats only for Airline Pilot Concentraion kids. There are other concentrations that will get you a Aero Sci degree at a little cheaper price. Just FYI. Which reminds me....you can get a degree from riddle at a lot cheaper price...and do all your flight training off campus. Its up to you to research it and find out what your options are!

originally posted by rickair7777, 1/30/06:

Horsesh*it. CRJ groundschool and non-motion sim training (or any sim) might MAYBE make your eventual airline new-hire training a LITTLE easier if: A) You work for an airline that flies the CRJ and you get assigned the CRJ. B) You still remember anything after 2-3 years flight instructing.

That sort of training WILL NOT make you significantly more competetive for hiring, and will not get you hired with less than 1000+ hours in a real airplane unless the school has an established program with one or more airlines. If so, check it out VERY carefully. Few programs of this sort actually deliver what they imply (they NEVER promise, only imply).

Worry about the fundamentals of aviation before you go for the big shiny jet. If you want to have a "Great Experience" go skydiving. The concept of paying a lot of money to sit in a video game that looks like a CRJ cockpit is ludicrous to anyone who has spent a few years in the real thing...LOL Your airline will spend $50K+ to train you when you get there, so save YOUR money for something else.

ERAU sounds like a good school, but the cost is way out of proportion. Get your ratings at your FBO, get a 4 year degree (in something marketable) from a state school, and flight instruct. I have plenty of friends who learned this the hard way... aviation is litered with debt- ridden ER grads.

Save your money. Avoid Embry-Riddle. Avoid the CAPT program and whatever it operates under next. Like Uncle Bose said about debt, I'm one of their victims.

There seeems to be no lack of opportunity for women in aviation (including military) today. Affirmativer action is still around, and it helps. From my instructor experience women are better at multi-tasking, and struggle more with technical subjects...a lot of what the typical teenage boy learns about computers, car and motorcycle engines also applies to airplanes. The girls don't usually have that background. Obviously the girl with an engineering degree is the exception...

I would note that most of my female pilot friends have left the airline business because of the physiological hardships. It ages you fast...the guys end up looking "distingushed", but it's different for girls. My friends went to corporate aviation, it's a LOT more conducive to being a mother...less time on the road, less red-eyes, and less altitude exposure for most of those pilots. A young woman can start out on the airline path and switch tracks later on if she wants to.

My father's company had one female pilot that I know about. She was basically one of the guys - she had to be to enjoy flying helo's and working around off-shore oil workers...

I've met more woman flying in the past few years than i did at the beginning of my AF career.

Aviation is amazing for the diversity / backgrounds the people in it have...I bet someone on here gave up a medical practice for being a pilot.

-LAFF