Finance Flying?

integra144 · May 5th, 2008, 19:56

Can people give advice on how to finance flying? My parents are paying for my 4 year college degree in accounting, but they want me to start paying for flying myself, they will cosign the loan. In the summer I want to fly more and it is already costing around $1,500 for 2x 2:30 lessons a week. I taking a 141 course.

I know Sallie Mai offers loans, but has anyone used any other? I looked on the web, but some look shady like http://www.pilotfinance.com/.

Also should I take like $40,000 at once to cover Private, Instrument and Commercial?

What are your recommendations? My parents think I am getting myself into a dead end job.

Thanks

Dreampilot · May 5th, 2008, 20:01

With the price of fuel, it's probably going to cost you more than 40 grand. They just raised the instructor fee at my school to $50 a hour but again, I am no expert in this field. Do what you want to do, just research research research.

tonyw · May 5th, 2008, 20:54

Why would you want to incur debt when you are talking about going into a profession that will pay you $20K a year to start?

Think about the $50K that you will have to finance and then think about how much each month you will be coughing up.

Can you live on the amount that's left over?

Pay as you go.

Besides, what's the rush? Airlines are laying off people so what's the point of rushing?

MarkE · May 5th, 2008, 22:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonyw

Why would you want to incur debt when you are talking about going into a profession that will pay you $20K a year to start?

Think about the $50K that you will have to finance and then think about how much each month you will be coughing up.

Can you live on the amount that's left over?

Pay as you go.

Besides, what's the rush? Airlines are laying off people so what's the point of rushing?

I financed and got my private in 2007. I was gonna take out another loan and finish my ratings but decided to put the brakes on that idea. By this time next year my car will paid off, the loan for my PPL will be paid off and two other things I'm paying on will be gone. I'll have almost $800 a month available to me. It made more sense to just wait a year and pay as I go. Sucks cause I'm older than most starting out but it's better than paying "insanity" interest on a loan. I enjoy flying. If I can get paid to do it awesome, if not then I'll just buy my own plane one day

Chet Kelly · May 5th, 2008, 22:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by integra144

Can people give advice on how to finance flying? My parents are paying for my 4 year college degree in accounting, but they want me to start paying for flying myself, they will cosign the loan. In the summer I want to fly more and it is already costing around $1,500 for 2x 2:30 lessons a week. I taking a 141 course.

I know Sallie Mai offers loans, but has anyone used any other? I looked on the web, but some look shady like http://www.pilotfinance.com/.

Also should I take like $40,000 at once to cover Private, Instrument and Commercial?

What are your recommendations? My parents think I am getting myself into a dead end job.

Thanks

Quote:

Also should I take like $40,000 at once to cover Private, Instrument and Commercial?

Absolutely NOT! Ask yourself this question: would you borrow $40,000.00 and invest it in a poor stock with no growth and a negative rate of return?

By all means get your flying tickets if you so desire, but ONLY when you can pay cash for them.

Quote:

What are your recommendations? My parents think I am getting myself into a dead end job.

First and foremost get your accounting degree. Once you have done that and have secured good employment, then begin your flight training.

Superfly7XAF · May 5th, 2008, 23:07

, That's more or less the route I'm taking. I'm an engineer 40 hours a week and aviator every second in between.

Airdale · May 5th, 2008, 23:09

Thats great your parents are paying for school, but dude, look into a part 61 flight school at your local airport FBO. Take your time getting your hours and ratings. Pay for as much of it as you can up front. Work like a dog on the nights and weekends with a full time job if you can. Its not impossible.

I went into the military and got $50k in college funds. My parents couldn't afford college and flight training, so I chose to earn my college money and finance my flight training. Just recently my parents offered to pay my flight school loan off in place of what they would have spent on college. I'm enrolled in a degree program now with my free college tuition. I can't tell you what it feels like to be rid of that monster loan payment.

If my parents didn't pay off this school loan, I'd really be treading water. $540/month payments on Regional FO pay.

Don't rush, take your time and try to pay as you go. Look up local flight schools in your area. Enjoy the flying at a relaxing, affordable pace. Thats my advice.

Holocene · May 5th, 2008, 23:10

Take out a loan for 100K. That should get you in a jet soon enough.

surreal1221 · May 5th, 2008, 23:12

No, do not do it.

Find something else to do.

Debt is bad.

TexasFlyer · May 5th, 2008, 23:44

Here is a summary of what I did. I wanted to fly since I was 3 years old, but I had to work hard to get into a position to do such in a smart (debt free) way.

1) I got an accounting degree in 1996 because my parents told me they would let me live at their house for free if I did this. But if I pursued flying, I could just get out because it is a dead end job (sounds familair almost, does it not???). I had a loan for my accounting degree that my parents co-signed. They would not touch a loan for flying. I ended up paying back my college loans over 10 years by making double payments every month since accounting paid me okay to start and my next job even better.

2) While working I was able to get my Private. I paid cash for it. But, gave up flying by 1998 because it was depressing knowing I was "wasting money" tooling around the pattern once a month when I should be saving for a good flight school program.

3) Also, I realized I hated accounting but it as a good job when it come to paying basic bills. But it would never pay enough for me to pay cash for all my ratings and be able to make a move to a poor flying career which would require me to be debt free and have some cash in a "reserve" fund while I made poverty wages for a few years.

4) In 1999, I went into a highly stressful, but high paying sales career. It's a crappy life, but look into things like Financial Planning (sales job), Executive Recruiting (sales job), Employer Benefit Plan Sales (sales job), etc. Your first year will be a struggle to build the business but by your second or third year you should be able to clear 6 figures easily. And at that point, you'll pay off your life's debt pretty quickly and be able to save Thousands of Dollars every month!

5) From 1999 to 2007 (yes, 8 years of hard work!!!), I was able to buy a new 2006 truck for cash *my reliable transport), buy a new 2006 Harley for cash (my cheap hobby), and save up enough money to pay 100% of flight school ($50k projection) and live on for 24 months with zero income due to residual income I have coming in from the x-sales career (lets just say it's a good amount of money in savings).

Oh, and here was the ultimate test. In 2005, 2006, and 2007 I was working 60 hours a week. I was making six figures a year. I had a thick savings account. I had zero debt. I was able to live very comfortably on the money while saving around $2,000 to $3,000 in cash every single month (saving around $30k to $36k per year in cash... how long until retirement if you can do that?). I was very unhappy though since I really wanted to fly for a living. So what was the ultimate test? I quit and left all that behind. I should have my Commercial Multi Add On in about 16 hours from now. And I'll then be working toward my Instructor Certificates. I'm going to be very poor in the near future. But I am very happy with my decision.

It's not a race to the finish. Just do it right. Have a fun journey. If I would have rushed. This is the likely story. I would have had my college loans and a flight training loan totalling around $100k. I would have been hired to work for poverty wages around 1998. I would have had no choice but to defer most of my debts and paid on them as I could. The balance would not have gone down at all. I would be holding out to make Captain of a few years so then I could finally begin to pay those loans down while only hoping I did not run into any other debt issues. Then, 9-11 would have happened and I would have been furloughed after 9-11. Now I would have had a real problem. I'd probably be bankrupt and still struggling today to recover. I may also be bitter toward the industry after such events because large debts can have a way to turn you bitter when compounded by other bad things in life/ career. I'm glad I did not pick to rush and take out a big loan. I seen many people do it this way and end up losing their passion for aviation due to it.

Just my 2 cents (or maybe $1 worth)

HOTDOG · May 7th, 2008, 09:29

Everyone has a unique path that they follow.

I've kept my day IT job and it has allowed me to fly sporadically through the years....in '01 I got my PP, '02 I got my IR, now its '08 and after 5 years of not flying, I got back into it and got my flight review, IPC and now I finally have enough hours to get my CSEL...but through it all I kept my day job and it has paid my bills.

I will eventually get my CFI and hopefully work my way up to 135 minimums and get a freight gig....

But, the bottom line is, do it the way that works best for you as everyone's personal situation is different.