hi,

Im 18 and a private pilot. Just wonder whats the cheapest way to get my training done. Is it cheaper to just go to a accelerated flight school like atp or flight safety or to just keep doing what im doing? Unfortunately because the FBO at my field lacks planes that are safe, I am forced to join a club and pay 90 dollers in club fees a month.

Thanks

The cheapest way would probably be to find semi-hot to hot CFI girl/woman (actually it would be easier if she was ugly) with her own plane and get some........ free flight instruction and hours

Since you are still young and already have your private, I would attempt working a job to pay for the training as I go along. Be careful with loans, these have been known to ruin people when the get their first CFI job, and these days the CFI route has once again become basically the only way to build time.

I recommend doing what I did. I started when I was 16 and still in high school and I'm 21 now, so we're close to being in the same boat. I always had a job that allowed me to get at least a 2 hour lesson a week with the occasional solo cross country to work on my commercial hours. I did all of my stuff under part 61 which allowed me the flexibility to take time off if I needed to. Each certificate did take me 9-12 months, but hey I'm 21 with an awesome job and my friends are still doing construction jobs and flipping burgers.

A lot of people will tell you to worry about getting your multi-engine time and tons of PIC and so on, but don't buy into it. While these times are eventually important of course, you should look into splitting time, buying block time in an A/C for a discount or even getting up in the backseat for another student's lesson if it's okay with the CFI/student. Just worry about getting that commercial ticket so you can start getting paid for your hours. Snag every opportunity you can to be in an airplane, even if you can't log the time. Experience is experience and it will all help your skills and knowledge.

If I could go back and do it all again the only thing I would change is the amount of studying I did, which was definitely not enough. I just had two students that started flying at the same time in late summer pass their PPL rides on the first try at about the same time. Each of them did very well but one student spent only $6,000 where the other one spent close to $10,000. The only difference was that the first student had always come to each lesson with far too many books, tons of questions and always wrote everything down. Basically I could tell this guy did his homework and I required less flights of him to get my signature. The second student didn't fly regularly and didn't do as much homework.

So long story short, when you study at home it's free. The more you study, the more you can show an instructor you have what it takes. He'll probably sign you off sooner and bam. Money saved.

I don't know if I'd go that far, these ratings have really paid off for me. PIC is a pretty big deal the further you go down the road. Also, getting my multi-rating was huge. I've logged about 30 hours of multi time and have never paid for anything more than my rating. Flights come up and I have had the OPPORTUNITY to go on them and log the multi hours. Without the rating it would have been nothing more than mental experience. Get what you know you're going to need (gonna need that multi) and never turn anything down.

I think he's talking more about the programs that have you, once you get your private, do the next 100+hrs in twins.

The outright cheapest route is to build your time in the cheapest airplane possible, like C150/152's, cherokee 140's, etc.. Something with a fuel burn of 6-ish gal/hr. Since your club membership is monthly, then I'd highly recommend trying to bulk up on hours, so that fee is then divided by a greater number of hours. If you can get one of these that are IFR equipped, get that rating done in the mean-time. You need 40hrs of actual/simulated instrument towards your rating. 15 of that has to be with an instructor. So get enough confidence and have a confident safety pilot go with you on at least 20+hrs of simulated, pending how well you're doing, to practice and build those hours without paying for a CFI.

Once you get close to getting your total time requirements for the commercial, then get some training in the complex aircraft. If you can swing it, use both a fixed gear, and complex planes for your check-ride, less time in the retract will be less money, but the logistic's will become an issue.

In the end, nothing in aviation is cheap, and you need to expect to have some cushion funding for when things aren't working out, because eventually something will be rescheduled, take longer, or whatever it may be, and cost some more money.

Jared, thanks for the inside. I can relate to where your coming from. I also agree with what I would have to change so far in my flight training and that is to study more.

AJ