Quote:
Originally Posted by Firebird2XC  I got my private license when I was active duty Army at the Flying Club at Ft Lewis. Did it on weekends, when the weather was good enough.
It took me a YEAR... for all of about 50 hours in flight time. I've flown 50 hours in two weeks at an airline!
My advice? Save up the money in advance. Korea's a good place to save your dough, if you can. Then, save up your leave, too.
Either from Korea, or better yet, Stateside, take 30 days leave.
Fly your arse off. Find a place where you can devote a solid 30 days to flying. Fly twice a day, if they'll let you. There are places out there that specialize in "Accelerated ratings". In 2002, I went to a place in Tucson and did my Instrument Rating from start to finish in 16 days.
It was a little grueling, but throwing down the gauntlet and getting it DONE feels awesome when it's finished.
In the meantime, don't despair. At least the possibility exists. I spent two year long tours in Iraq pissed at the world because I couldn't fly and felt I was losing precious time in my career. Ultimately, it didn't matter at all, and I wound up flying with an airline a year after I got out of the Army. If I'd been Stateside sooner, I'd have spent those years instructing because the airline hiring requirements were different.
Don't sweat it. Just find the best way to make the max use of your learning potential, time, and money. Doing your training as continuously as possible in a shorter, continuous span of time is one of the best ways to do that. Stringing it out just runs up the bill. |
Thanks for the advice brother. I am one of those guys that likes to knock it all out at once.
I hate to say this (slap me on the cheek for this) but money isn't a problem. I've been wanting to fly for years now but never had the chance until recently, so I've got enough saved up for it.
But yeah I think I might just go back to the states and fly there. I'm kinda pissed because the area I just left had the cheapest rates ever. I could've knocked out the whole private for 3500 bucks if I had the time. Now I'm going to Colorado where rental rates are exorbitant.
The leave idea is pretty good. Does anybody have any recommendations on where to go for the accelerated private course? I'm kinda saving up for terminal leave, but I think I might take that sacrifice to get it knocked out.