Aviation Managment

[vipermcg]

I would like to get a degree in Aviation Managment and fly in my spare time. Livingon campus, how feasible is this? Is there an FBO on/near campus that might give a discount to Purdue students? Also, how hard would it be to find flying time with all your other school work? Is there any way you could get college credits for any of the flying? Thanks alot for any help.

[Jason]

There is only one FBO at Lafayette/Purdue University Airport(LAF) - Lafayette Aviation (www.lafayetteaviation.com). Usually the instructors there are a pretty good. In four years of dealing with them I found the service to be ok but not great - and they're a little on the expensive side. If you're looking for a cheaper way to go check out the Purdue Pilots flying club - don't know the website - it is a university sanctioned stuent organization that has 3 Warriors and a really nice Archer(as of a few years ago) -the planes are cheaper than the FBO and it's not as expensive to join as most flying clubs. I believe they are using Lafayette Aviation instructors still.

As far as living on campus - no big deal there - it's not far from campus and all of your aviation classes will be at the Aviation Technology Building at the airport anyway.

As far as time - I personally wouldn't recommned triing to learn how to fly your first semester. You're going to be busy with classes and adjusting to the college enviornment and that should take precedence. Wait until your second semester(or at least halfway thru the first semester) before you start flying to give you time to get a grasp on things.

You can get some credit for flying - when I went I got (if I remember correctly) 6 hours of credit for having my PPL (I went thru the flight program) but it would all depend on wether or not the Aviation Management curriculum/advisors allow you to use the flight courses as electives for the management degree and I believe they will.

Jason

[PurduePilot]

Jason pretty much nailed all the important points. I just want to add that I'm the President of Purdue Pilots, Inc. so I can answer any questions have you have about them.

[Jason]

You still have N38394 don't you? That's the correct # isn't it? I taught in it back in the day at Aretz right after the paint job - sweet airplane.

Jason

[vipermcg]

Does Purdue Pilots give discounts on flight training to students?

[Jason]

Well I guess you could think of it as a discount. The idea is that you join the club and pay dues - the club owns the airplanes and "rents" them to their members. The advantage being that he club only has to only cover their expenses not make a profit as an FBO does so it will naturally be cheaper than renting from an FBO. I just found the website - go to http://roger.ecn.purdue.edu/~ppi/ and you can see about the fliying club. It looks like it's a one time $65 fee, $40 a semester, and the rate on the VFR Warrior is $66/hr vs. $76 an hour at the FBO - a difference of $10 an hour plus tax(in the flying club you're not required to pay tax) so in reality you're saving about $15 an hour by joining the flying club.

Look at this way - if you fly say 40 hours(chosen randomly) over the course of an academic year at the flying club you would incur a $40 dues charge each semester for a total of $80 plus $2,640 for rental charges($66 times 40 hours) even if you add in the one time charge of $65 initiatin fee that's a total of $2,785. At the FBO for the same amount of flight time you'd pay a total of $3,222($76/hr times 40 hours plus taxes).

There are added benefits as well - the club also usually has various activities throughout the year, etc etc.

Jason

[PurduePilot]

Jason about nailed it! My work here is done!