New user: re 31 Years too old?

[Boris Badenov]

MOSES: judging by the night restriction on your PPL, you're doing your training in Canada. Is that where you're planning to work as well? If so, just bear in mind that most of us are in the States. I imagine that the job markets might be VERY different, although I don't know. The upside here is that, typically, other countries have fewer pilots competing for jobs, due to the higher costs of training. But don't bank on that. Talk to some of the regionals you're targeting and ask them what realistic minimum times are. Tailor your flying to fit that. For example, when I was a CFI, I knew I wanted to fly 135 cargo. One of the big stumbling blocks to that is the 500 hours cross country. So I made sure that whenever possible I took students to other, nearby airports. Good for them as they learned to fly from unfamiliar fields (which is, after all, the whole point) and good for me as I got to log cross country. That's just an example, but you get the idea.

[MOSES1]

Thanks for the response Boris and Jettison.
Yes, I'm hoping on flying somewhere in the West Indies in the near future. Even though I was born and raised in Canada, its somewhat difficult to get into the airlines (Air Canada) up here. Fortunately for me though, my parents obtained dual citizenship for me in Trinidad and Tobago about 28 years ago which means I can live there and work if my situation permits me to. My ultimate goal and dream would be to first fly Dash 8's for Liat while building hours and then eventually move on to the majors like Caribbean Airlines or even Air Jamaica sometime in the long future.
Currently, I'm still working on my night rating and IFR. Eventually, after many hours of flying I'll get my multi-engline rating and finally my commercial license.
I think I'll take your advice and work on my CFI once I'm finished my Commercial and built tons of hours.
It definitely looks as though I'll be in this one for the long haul. I've also put graduate school on hold until I've finished my multi-engine rating. I'm still a firm believer though that I should take my current career and education seriously just in case the aviation industry gets tough again.

Thanks again,


Moses

[germb747]

No, 31 isn't too old. But, while I'm one of those guys who "couldn't imagine doing anything else but fly", I'd probably think twice about leaving a good career paying $80K+ per year and good benefits for a career in the volatile field of aviation. There's a big difference between flying for pleasure and flying for a living. If your current work/life isn't satisfying, then by all means take the leap. But if you're happy there, then why not consider flying as a pastime? Professional flying is a lot of fun until the reality hits that you're spending most of your time away from home (especially on special occasions), weekends and holidays mean nothing, you're bringing in far less income with a huge training debt, and you can lose your job in a heartbeat. Go where your heart takes you, but don't do so without a reality check. Good luck and congrats on your PPL.

[Fabio Gil]

Hope I am not late to continue this forum.

Hello everyone!

I am new in this my self and this was the first question I was looking for when I enter in every forum I got my hands on. Finaly I found a good one.

I do to have the dream in making a career change, Aviation have been in my blood signs I was a little boy, unfortunately I never have any influence to get me in a good direction of my dream, so I whent another way doing art. I am a Art Director working in advertising doing 36k a year, just got married last november. And also I am 30yrs old.

So I am working hard right now compliting my dream getting my PPL. but also whant to get all my ratings and traying to do somthing that realy make me happy.

How much a person can earn starting in aviation industry, I know is not so mush for the first 2 years, but then what is it get good or what?

Can I leave bean a instructor and have another job related in aviation.

Anyways this is my first post and thnkz to you all for just being there.

<S> to all

[germb747]

check out http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com to get an idea about what the pay scales are. Fuel was about 1/3 of what it is now when I got my ratings--too bad because the cost is being passed on to folks like yourself. Beyond that, spend some time reading the forum, you'll learn alot. In the meantime, good luck!

[MOSES1]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the response to my last post. Since I was 3 years of age flying is all that I wanted to do. Even though I went in another direction (sciences), I pray that I'm not too old or late to get in to the aviation industry. I've done a lot of research (Homework. lol) and strongly believe that I still have a chance at making it. I know that there will be a huge pay decrease but I'm preparing myself for it by saving and investing for the hard years.
Thanks for the website, I check APC about 3 times a day. lol
Currently, I'm still working on my night rating and building a lot of PIC time. The weather looks good all week in Toronto, so I'll probably do about 4-5 hours this week.

Take Care,

Moses

[pilot@32]

I'm glad I came across this post. Glad to see I'm not the only one with these thoughts. Gonna stay positive and hope/believe that this dream WILL become a reality.

[MOSES1]

Hey Guys,

I thought I would write back since its been about 2 months. lol
So far, I've completed my night rating and working on pounding the hours for my Commercial License. My goal is to write the exam in September and hopefully finish my PIC hours by the end of October. I also got a great deal on a C-182 that I was recently checked out on. Currently I've been trying my hardest to get out atleast 4 -5 hours a week of flying plus my full-time day job.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what to look out for on the Commercial Pilot written exam? Also, what should I expect on the flight test?

Thanks...