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Great News! (Read 284 times)
Apr 9th, 2010 at 9:08pm

Tyler012   Offline
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About a year ago I applied to get into a nearby college (Midland College) for their Professional Pilot Program.

A few days ago I got a letter telling me that there was no source of financial aid available to me from that school, so I had thought my flying days were over before they had even begun.

But today I got a letter from their Financial aid department, informing me that I just got $5,000 just to come to their school.  So once again I'm ecstatic about aviation.


Life is great!  Grin
 

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Reply #1 - Apr 10th, 2010 at 9:48am

beaky   Offline
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Congrats!  Cool

But from the look of their rates for flight training alone, you will need a whole lot more than $5K.  Shocked

And if you want to fly professionally, I'd advise against "putting all your eggs in one basket", if the aviation degree program is what you're thinking of.

although they like to see applicants with college degrees,the kind of degree you get is fairly irrelevant to airlines. "Bachelor's in Pilot Stuff" doesn't count for much in that world, any more than having your first 100 hours logged in a new Cessna with a university logo on the tail and fancy new avionics, or an old one with peeling paint, a chronic oil leak, and 30-year-old radios. They also don't care if your instructors wore uniforms or dirty t-shirts.  Grin

They mostly want to see that you are smart and dedicated enough to finish something like a 2 or 4-year degree (and maintained a healthy GPA), and have the minimum hours. Then, maybe, they might see about turning you into the kind of pilot they like to use.  Wink

For you, the degree should provide you with a "fall-back" option. Even if you land an airline job, your continued employment is not assured and you will not make much money.
Imagine paying off loans for medical school while working as a burger-flipper... that's about what a new airline pilot has to deal with. And it's not getting any better. You gotta just love flying like a junkie loves heroin, or it is not worth it.

That's assuming you get hired, either as a pilot or some other aviation-related job... it might never happen. Without some other skills or degree, however, you'll face the same scenario (huge debt and lousy pay), but you won't even be flying.  Cry

If I were younger and thinking about flying for an airline, I'd do my primary training as cheaply as possible, while earning a 2-year degree at a community college in something completely unrelated to aviation. I'd get my commercial before even my IR, so I could build hours flying banners or whatever while actually getting paid for it.

That would leave me a little money left over, so I could actually have beans with my rice for the next 10 years until I get a left seat and a little bump up in pay. Then I could maybe have a hamburger once a week. Grin

But I'm not trying to discourage you, and you don't have to listen to me... ask some airline pilots.
 

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Reply #2 - Apr 10th, 2010 at 11:15am

Tyler012   Offline
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My Soul is in the Sky
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I've thought about it beforehand, the college offers an associate of Applied Science while you're working for your certificates.

I have several fallback plans, the one most relevant is to obtain a bachelors degree in Technical systems (IT Guys) and work my way up as you said Rotty.

I'm not expecting to land a job with a major airline the first time, I'm expecting something like corporate, or cargo, or someones private flight monkey.

Thank you for the advice Rotty, it is always appreciated.  Wink

 

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Reply #3 - Apr 10th, 2010 at 2:04pm

SaultFresh   Offline
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Personally, I would probably set my sights a little lower than that as well, with minimal hours with a CPL, and a multi-IFR, you'll be lucky to find such jobs. Best bets are to become an Instructor, or to work for small bush flying operations. Also, I suggest looking into subsidized flight programs. They exist here in Canada, so they probably exist through-out the US as well. For instance, at my college, all I pay for is tuition, a normal college tuition, usually just under two grand, a semester. And that's on top of living expenses, but everything flying wise is paid for by the government (and no it's not military and I have no obligations to the military). The only flying things I had to pay for were my headset, various maps and stuff, and I have to pay for flight tests and ratings, and medicals... so... that's really not a whole lot in comparison to starting flight training with nothing, and finishing with a Multi-IFR. In any case, you should check into subsidized flight programs. They probably exist.
 
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Reply #4 - Apr 10th, 2010 at 2:35pm

beaky   Offline
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Tyler012 wrote on Apr 10th, 2010 at 11:15am:
I've thought about it beforehand, the college offers an associate of Applied Science while you're working for your certificates.

I have several fallback plans, the one most relevant is to obtain a bachelors degree in Technical systems (IT Guys) and work my way up as you said Rotty.

I'm not expecting to land a job with a major airline the first time, I'm expecting something like corporate, or cargo, or someones private flight monkey.

Thank you for the advice Rotty, it is always appreciated.  Wink



Good plan... just don't have any illusions about paying for it all, or you'll regret it for many years.
 

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