Advice For a 27 Year Old Career Changer

[thebot]

I took DE's suggestion and went with the FBO training, and I am thankful that I did. Yes it took a little longer... but I did avoid the debt. Later on go join a flying club or do some timebuilding at some places like the aviator then get your CFI's and let someone else buy your time in the plane.

I'd say (opinion only) with the current economic climate and its direct tie to this industry in addition to record high (and ever increasing in the long run) fuel costs. Avoid cutting checks to big name flight schools unless your financial status allows you to do so without racking up a bunch of debt. I am not saying these institutions are bad in anyway... they arn't.. but what you are really paying for is quick training and in some cases...pretty airplanes (which sometimes is a disadvantage) learn in some crappy planes first that arn't loaded with 430's, weather scopes, and auto pilots You'll later find out how great of a pilot you are after you train in some beaters where maintaining centerline taxi requires some odd rudder positions and straight and level flight is actually a 1-2 degree bank according to one of your indicators lol.

So final thought in this post. Don't rush too much right now... the industry is in a standstill or decline at the moment (speaking domestic) Save up your cash; start your training down the street at your local Ma and Pa FBO and study this stuff like its your playboy mag ! It might take you a little longer than a promised 3 or 4 months but you won't have a big loan payment in the end and you'll probably finish up right when there is another upswing in domestic aviation

A lot of times at these local places you'll find a rarer breed of instructors that are teaching because they LOVE aviation and might actually teach you the art of flying, and not just the way to pass a checkride. There are 2 ways of learning.. the text book way, or the art of mastering a craft. Aviation is a tradeskill... So personally i'm glad I flew with some old birds who did everything from crop-dusting to flying 747's because they were comfortable enough (and experienced enough) to teach me the craft in a way that no text book or formula standard could do. I'm not saying you can't find that at some big academy.. but I think you might have better luck finding those guys at some local airport.

Good luck on your journey man ! I'm sure you'll come to the best decision for you.

[nkoenig]

Originally Posted by thebot

I took DE's suggestion and went with the FBO training, and I am thankful that I did. Yes it took a little longer... but I did avoid the debt. Later on go join a flying club or do some timebuilding at some places like the aviator then get your CFI's and let someone else buy your time in the plane.

I'd say (opinion only) with the current economic climate and its direct tie to this industry in addition to record high (and ever increasing in the long run) fuel costs. Avoid cutting checks to big name flight schools unless your financial status allows you to do so without racking up a bunch of debt. I am not saying these institutions are bad in anyway... they arn't.. but what you are really paying for is quick training and in some cases...pretty airplanes (which sometimes is a disadvantage) learn in some crappy planes first that arn't loaded with 430's, weather scopes, and auto pilots You'll later find out how great of a pilot you are after you train in some beaters where maintaining centerline taxi requires some odd rudder positions and straight and level flight is actually a 1-2 degree bank according to one of your indicators lol.

So final thought in this post. Don't rush too much right now... the industry is in a standstill or decline at the moment (speaking domestic) Save up your cash; start your training down the street at your local Ma and Pa FBO and study this stuff like its your playboy mag ! It might take you a little longer than a promised 3 or 4 months but you won't have a big loan payment in the end and you'll probably finish up right when there is another upswing in domestic aviation

A lot of times at these local places you'll find a rarer breed of instructors that are teaching because they LOVE aviation and might actually teach you the art of flying, and not just the way to pass a checkride. There are 2 ways of learning.. the text book way, or the art of mastering a craft. Aviation is a tradeskill... So personally i'm glad I flew with some old birds who did everything from crop-dusting to flying 747's because they were comfortable enough (and experienced enough) to teach me the craft in a way that no text book or formula standard could do. I'm not saying you can't find that at some big academy.. but I think you might have better luck finding those guys at some local airport.

Good luck on your journey man ! I'm sure you'll come to the best decision for you.

Great Post!