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AirmetTango · May 16th, 2009, 14:43

Hey Joe -

First, welcome to Jetcareers; I think you'll find that it's a great place to help you network as you make your career change and get questions answered. I encourage you to read through as many of the career change threads as you can bear; your questions about whether to go to a small FBO vs. major flight school are a very common concern for career changers, so you'll find a variety of opinions on that subject have already been posted. Everyone's situation is unique, so ultimately you can only decide for yourself, but I'm sure you'll find plenty of new perspectives that might shed light on considerations that you may not have thought of.

That said, I'm a career changer, too. I made the decision to switch from environmental engineering to aviation in early 2002. I had already been flying as a student pilot and private pilot for about 2 years. If you discount my years as a flight instructor (which we shouldn't, because flight instruction IS professional aviation!), I completed the career change last summer when I landed my "dream job", my first full time corporate piloting position. So I guess you could say it took about 6 years for me to reach my career change goals, even though it only took a little over a year to get all of the certificates required to fly professionally.

I got my private certificate at a small mom and pop style FBO, then went to a large aviation school for my instrument, commercial, multi-engine, and initial CFI certificates and ratings. I went back to a mom and pop FBO for my CFII. For me, the larger school environment worked very well and was very rewarding. Did I need to go to a larger school to get the certificates quickly? No, absolutely not. I got good training from both school types - if you do your research and make an intelligent, informed decision, you will do fine with either a large or small school. The right small FBO can easily and happily handle an accelerated training schedule, if that's the way you want to do it.

The best advice I can think of is that in this economic climate we are currently in, I would strongly advise against taking out loans and putting yourself into major debt just to complete your ratings quickly, regardless whether it's for a large or small school. Take your time, give yourself the opportunity to learn the information well, and skip an aviation related degree...you won't need it for any pilot job, corporate or airline. Instead, get a degree that you can use as a back up in case you need to supplement your income later during downturns in the industry.

May 16th, 2009, 14:43	#2
AirmetTango Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: NW Ohio Posts: 97	Re: From minors to minors? Hey Joe - First, welcome to Jetcareers; I think you'll find that it's a great place to help you network as you make your career change and get questions answered. I encourage you to read through as many of the career change threads as you can bear; your questions about whether to go to a small FBO vs. major flight school are a very common concern for career changers, so you'll find a variety of opinions on that subject have already been posted. Everyone's situation is unique, so ultimately you can only decide for yourself, but I'm sure you'll find plenty of new perspectives that might shed light on considerations that you may not have thought of. That said, I'm a career changer, too. I made the decision to switch from environmental engineering to aviation in early 2002. I had already been flying as a student pilot and private pilot for about 2 years. If you discount my years as a flight instructor (which we shouldn't, because flight instruction IS professional aviation!), I completed the career change last summer when I landed my "dream job", my first full time corporate piloting position. So I guess you could say it took about 6 years for me to reach my career change goals, even though it only took a little over a year to get all of the certificates required to fly professionally. I got my private certificate at a small mom and pop style FBO, then went to a large aviation school for my instrument, commercial, multi-engine, and initial CFI certificates and ratings. I went back to a mom and pop FBO for my CFII. For me, the larger school environment worked very well and was very rewarding. Did I need to go to a larger school to get the certificates quickly? No, absolutely not. I got good training from both school types - if you do your research and make an intelligent, informed decision, you will do fine with either a large or small school. The right small FBO can easily and happily handle an accelerated training schedule, if that's the way you want to do it. The best advice I can think of is that in this economic climate we are currently in, I would strongly advise against taking out loans and putting yourself into major debt just to complete your ratings quickly, regardless whether it's for a large or small school. Take your time, give yourself the opportunity to learn the information well, and skip an aviation related degree...you won't need it for any pilot job, corporate or airline. Instead, get a degree that you can use as a back up in case you need to supplement your income later during downturns in the industry.