Cheaper Ways to Earn PPL

[bqmassey]

Hey everyone! I'm a college student from Lincoln, NE. Being a college student I am inherently broke, but I would really like to start flight lessons. I've been wanting very badly to fly for many years. As an Air Force brat it was my life goal to fly for the military, but I can't qualify medically.

Now I'm in my third year of college, and still not flying. I haven't been able to afford it the four or five years that I've been old enough to fly. Every birthday I tell myself I'm going to be a pilot before my next, and it's just never happened.

Additionally, I joined the Civil Air Patrol. There are a lot of things one can do to help in this organization, but my squadron was just recently formed and could use more members and pilots.

I'm asking for help from all of you to help me come up with some ways to pay for flight training (or earn it somehow). I'm looking for something a little more creative than "save up the money and then do it". If I resort to that, it will be a very, very long time before I can make it happen.

Note: My current job is a weekday job. I am absolutely prepared to take a part-time weekend job to be able to fly.

Here are the ideas that I've been able to come up with:

• Start and finish ground school now. Take out a loan when I'm finished and hit the lessons hard, and make monthly payments for the next couple of years.
• Try to talk an FBO into letting me trade weekend work for lessons
• Try for a scholarship (although I hear there really aren't that many)

My ideas aren't very creative, but that's all that I've been able to come up with. I think I'm leaning most towards the top one so far. I'd like to make the most of my flight time, since that's the expensive part. If completing groundschool prior to flying will help me get my license in fewer hours, that be great.

Can you guys think of any ways to subsidize the cost of lessons? Are there any cheaper ways to do it? Are there any ways to earn lessons instead of pay for lessons? Are there any ways I can get hours without having to rent a plane? I'm looking for anything here.

I have gotten some great ideas and advice as to how to be frugal, but I'm looking for ideas beyone spending less money and making more.

For those of you who didn't have the cash to pay for it when you got YOUR license, how did you afford it?

Thanks for any advice!

Brandon

(I'm currently accepting donations!

)

 

[wesleyj]

First you dont need ground school, you can get the books and do it on your own.

FBOs used to be willing to work with students, not so much anymore.

As for me and how I paid for mine.

I cut off the index finger of my right hand and sold it, got enough to finish my PPSEL, get the Commercial, Insturment, Multiengine and most of the way through CFI, FBO helped me with CFI and II, worked it off over 2 years,

 

[mdreger]

Feeling lucky? But not too lucky? http://www.onesixright.com/

Enter the sweepstakes. If you are too lucky, you will win the Grand Prize, which while grandiose, isn't what you are after. First prize is the one you want. An all expense paid pilot license

Good luck.

 

[AdamZ]

Brando: I admire your enthusiasm. My advice. Stay away from debt to learn to fly. work your butt off at a McDonalds, a landscaper, Kinkos anywhere. save the money and then learn to fly.

 

[jesse]

I paid for mine by working every free moment that I could and jumping all over any opportunity for overtime. It wasn't easy. Sometimes I would get frustrated because it felt like I was never going to finish. It took me about eight months. I was 17 when I finished and it felt good to accomplish that without help from anyone.

I'm sure you can find a job in the $8 /hr range pretty easily. It's very doable at that although it does take a lot of work for a little bit of flying.

 

[flyersfan31]

What Adam said.
Also,
Fly a 152, not an Archer/172. (i.e., cheapest rental you can find)
Study the Gleim prep book and Kershner or Gardner, don't do ground school.
Offer to wash planes for flight time. Even if you can't log it, you can still learn something from most pilots.

Good luck, brother.

 

[Shipoke]

Well Brandon, i agree with Ff31,find the cheapest rental and as far as ground school i did the Cessna DVD program. i think it cost about $200 but it work as long as you dont get BORED with John and Martha. also i agree trade flight time for washing planes can be a big plus even while you take lessons.Also ask the FBO if you can work towards lesson, cant hurt to ask.Anyhow GOOD LUCK and see you in the sky someday.
Dave G

 

[gismo]

I think you have two choices. One is to find the best paying part time job you can and use that to fund flight lessons. The other is to find a FBO that would hire you as a line person and give you a break on flight lessons. Hint: FBOs that stay open late are more likely to need help after school.

This is assuming that there are no flying clubs at your school (or a nearby one you don't attend?). When I was in college the school had a flying club that offered a PPL for $300. This was in the days of $.030/gal fuel so that would be more like $3000 today but that $300 was about half what the training would have cost at most FBOs. Unfortunately I didn't have $300 and wasn't ambitious enough to earn it with a part time job. FWIW McDonalds was paying something like $1.25/hr then.

 

[Skip Miller]

This was in the days of $.030/gal fuel

Typo Alert! Either that or you are older than I am. The cheapest MoGas I can remember is $0.179

-Skip

 

[jason]

Have you checked to make sure that you'll be able to get your medical. I'm not sure what your medical issues were with the military, but you should triple check that a medical isn't going to be an issue.

SCC, here in Lincoln, has PPL ground for $199.

 

[jason]

One more thing. Please don't go into debt to do this. Flying isn't cheap. Not in any way. The thing about going into debt to learn to fly is that you have to pay it all back when you're done....which is exactly when you'll want to be flying the most! You could set your flying back by years if you do this.

I know. I made the exact same mistake. I got my PPL and then couldn't afford to fly. Oh, how I wished I had done it differently.

Maybe I can buy you dinner one of these nights and tell you about the training landscape in our area. There aren't any clubs and the only FBO in Lincoln doesn't really care very much about flight training at the moment.

 

[Dave Krall CFII]

The above suggestions are all well & good I suppose but, consider the consirable mutual benefits, not limited to financial expenditures, of finding a local, sex starved aircraft owner (preferably a hottie) and trading yourself for stick time until all your desired ratings are achieved.

 

[write-stuff]

Well, lots of good suggestions so far, but many that require money. Although I don't have any advice on how you can get the dang thing for free, I sure know how you can get a head start for free: www.faa-ground-school.com

Free is good. (Hi-bandwidth multimedia - you will need a fast computer and high speed connect)

 

[Dean]

You could do like my nephew did and have your uncle pay for it, thats Uncle Sam. He is flying Blackhawks in Afghanistan and due home sometime this year.

 

[Michael]

Well, lots of good suggestions so far, but many that require money. Although I don't have any advice on how you can get the dang thing for free, I sure know how you can get a head start for free: www.faa-ground-school.com

Free is good. (Hi-bandwidth multimedia - you will need a fast computer and high speed connect)

And if you want truly free ground school... http://www.privatepilotexam.com

 

[gprellwitz]

While Dave Krall's suggestion is a great one, I know that I would have been deemed ineligible. There are some scolarships available from organizations like the ninety-nines (http://www.ninetynines.org), but most of them are geared for women. Working as a lineman is a good suggestion.

A local community college may have a very inexpensive ground school. You might also check out a local aviation museum. While it's not in your area, unfortunately, I know that the Illinois Aviation Museum at Bolingrook is offering a 10 week ground school for $95. It's geared to getting you to pass your knowledge exam, but it's still a good deal.

As someone said, make sure you're going to be able to pass your medical! If you have doubts, join AOPA as a student member and talk to their aviation medical counselors.

 

[bqmassey]

Thank you all so much for the many great responses! I really do appreciate it. Through the course of looking into this, I've found that a business at my local airport (LNK) will contribute up to $2500 towards a private pilot and $2500 towards instrument rating as an employee benefit! I monitor their website nearly HOURLY waiting for a position to open up that I would be able to fill.

I'm trying to sort out exactly what I'm going to do for ground school, since it's probably something I can start right away. A local community college offers a course for around $200, but most do-it-yourself programs are just as expensive. There are several good resources online (two of which were pointed out in this post) but they don't seem to be complete packages. The FAA publishes some materials, and I've been reading through them, but I'm wondering if I should invest in something with better visuals and in a less dry format.

I'd like to be full of wonderful aviation knowledge before I even schedule my first lesson, so that I learn quicker and it ends up costing me less. I'd love to hear what you all recommend for ground school.

I thought about starting a blog of sorts for those who may follow in my footsteps--broke young people--but my writing abilities aren't much better than my piloting skills, of which I have none.

Anyways, thank you all very much for the advice. If you have something more to add, please do so! If you ever fly into Lincoln (or crash nearby, where my Civil Air Patrol buddies and I might find you) feel free to drop me a line.

Enter the sweepstakes. If you are too lucky, you will win the Grand Prize, which while grandiose, isn't what you are after. First prize is the one you want. An all expense paid pilot license

Thanks for the link! I filled out the form right away. I also got to looking at the film itself. It looks amazing! I wish I could have gone to the one-time showing in Kansas last Thursday, but it would have been an expensive trip. I really would like to have my girlfriend see it. I've been obsessed with flying from a very young age, but she's just now being introduced to it all. I took her to the air show here the weekend before last. I'm kind of forcing it on her, but it's starting to sink in.

I've been trying to explain to her the beauty, freedom, and enjoyment of general aviation (most specifically in non-controlled, vfr instances), but I don't think it's really clicked with her yet. I've been concerned lately with where aviation in the US is headed, and I fear the day that the enjoyment drops out of it and it becomes over-controlled and strictly for transportation. My girlfriend sees no problem with completely control of airspace and endless rules and regulations. I'm hoping that One Six Right might be able to explain it better than I. One day, I'll buy that movie.

Oh, how I envy those who experienced the Golden Age of Aviation.

I paid for mine by working every free moment that I could and jumping all over any opportunity for overtime. It wasn't easy.

That's awesome that you got your ticket so young! I wish I would have been able to start lessons when I was in high school and living at home. Having so few obligatory expenses would have made saving up money so much easier.

I'm looking for a part time job now. I should be able to find something at $9/hr or better. You never know what expenses pop up, but I'm hoping to be able to put 100% of the income from this additional job towards flight lessons.

Well Brandon, i agree with Ff31,find the cheapest rental and as far as ground school i did the Cessna DVD program.

The FBO I'll probably fly out of has a C150 for $67.00/hr. I don't know a whole lot, but that seems like a fair price. Even if it isn't a fair price, I don't think I have much of a choice. It's the closest FBO of which I am aware offers lessons, and its about a 35 minute drive away. (Not what I expected, living in a town the size of Lincoln.) It wouldn't be a problem, but I don't have a car! I sold it when I moved to college.

What would all of you recommed for ground school material? Cheap is good, but the knowledge is important. I have faith that if I study hard, I'll be able to pick stuff up a lot quicker (and cheaper) in the air.

I think you have two choices. One is to find the best paying part time job you can and use that to fund flight lessons. The other is to find a FBO that would hire you as a line person and give you a break on flight lessons. Hint: FBOs that stay open late are more likely to need help after school.

I looked into some of the businesses out at LNK. Looks like one of them offers $2500 towards (or in reimbursement for) getting your license! I am trying very hard to get a job out there. It's within biking distance, as well.

Have you checked to make sure that you'll be able to get your medical. I'm not sure what your medical issues were with the military, but you should triple check that a medical isn't going to be an issue.

SCC, here in Lincoln, has PPL ground for $199.

I have a blind spot in one eye. I still have peripheral vision in it, so with both eyes open I see as well as anyone else. Unfortunately, it's still enough to keep me out of the military. I wish so badly to be in the military, as much as I wish to be a pilot, but they don't want me. I've looked into the medical stuff for the FAA though, and it doesn't seem like it's going to be a problem. There are monocular pilots with first-class medicals, flying for the airlines. From what I understand, you just have to complete a medical checkride.

I heard of that ground school at Southeast. I'm seriously considering taking it. I just don't know if it's worth it, or if I should just do it myself. A good self-taught ground school course can still cost a person $200. Several have recommended teaching yourself. If there is a good package significantly cheaper than the groundschool out at SCC, I probably will just do that. I don't know enough about what's out there.

If an extra $100 for groundschool will save me hours in the air, it would be a justifiable expense.

The thing about going into debt to learn to fly is that you have to pay it all back when you're done....which is exactly when you'll want to be flying the most!

That's an absolutely wonderful point! I'm glad you pointed that out to me. You're exactly right. I'd hate to not be able to fly because I'm paying back what I spent learning how to fly.

Maybe I can buy you dinner one of these nights and tell you about the training landscape in our area. There aren't any clubs and the only FBO in Lincoln doesn't really care very much about flight training at the moment.

Thank you for the offer! It's much appreciated! Buying my dinner is out of the question , but I'd love to sit down some time over dinner or coffee and talk about flying!

The above suggestions are all well & good I suppose but, consider the consirable mutual benefits, not limited to financial expenditures, of finding a local, sex starved aircraft owner (preferably a hottie) and trading yourself for stick time until all your desired ratings are achieved.

I would much enjoy that, but the girlfriend might not see it as a reasonable investment of my stick time. I suppose that if she's a good girlfriend, however, she would understand how important flying is to me and would give her approval.

Well, lots of good suggestions so far, but many that require money. Although I don't have any advice on how you can get the dang thing for free, I sure know how you can get a head start for free: www.faa-ground-school.com

Free is good. (Hi-bandwidth multimedia - you will need a fast computer and high speed connect)

Absolutely wonderful website! I just finished all of the available lessons. A great source of information, I just wish there were more!

You could do like my nephew did and have your uncle pay for it, thats Uncle Sam. He is flying Blackhawks in Afghanistan and due home sometime this year.

I would give anything to be able to do that. I would give anything to even be able to be on the ground for the Army or Marines, but they're not interested. My absolute dream occupation is to be a military aviator, but it's not a possibility for me in this lifetime.

Good luck to your nephew, I hope he makes it home safe and sound. I, and so many others, heavily appreciate his and his comrades' efforts.

And if you want truly free ground school... http://www.privatepilotexam.com

Looks to be another good resource. I'll be going through these lessons over the next couple of days. Thanks!

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Sportys.com and www.americanflyers.net have on-line resources as well- practice exams IIRC. If you study to fly well and safely, you'll pass the exam just fine. In other words, don't study just to answer the questions.

One nice thing about a ground school class is that your fellow students will often ask questions you might not think of asking yourself, so you learn more.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I'd like to be full of wonderful aviation knowledge before I even schedule my first lesson, so that I learn quicker and it ends up costing me less. I'd love to hear what you all recommend for ground school.

That is the best approach to saving money. I wanted to fly long before I could afford to, and did the same thing. I read lots of books and web sites.

One of the things that I can recommend is to read this board, and read the flight training section of the AOPA board as well (I think it's called "Left Seat, Right Seat"). I read the old AOPA board starting in about Oct. of 2001. I started flying in Feb. 2003 and got the private in May 2003 at 42.6 hours (and, more importantly, slightly under $4,000.) I credit the boards for a lot of that, as I'd read about the problems others were having and their solutions before I attempted the same things, so I already knew what to watch out for. Once I got in the airplane, there really weren't too many surprises!

I have faith that if I study hard, I'll be able to pick stuff up a lot quicker (and cheaper) in the air.

As noted above, you are absolutely correct. Assuming my natural abilities are "average" I probably saved 25 hours and a couple grand.

I heard of that ground school at Southeast. I'm seriously considering taking it. I just don't know if it's worth it, or if I should just do it myself. A good self-taught ground school course can still cost a person $200. Several have recommended teaching yourself.

Does that $200 include materials as well? (Books, etc.) If so, it's not necessarily a bad investment. However, it seems like you're highly motivated to learn the material and you probably don't need to pay somebody to spoon-feed it to you. I'd suggest you study on your own, and ask questions here.

A good place to start for study materials is the FAA web site. Tons of info for free, in fact you may not even need to buy any books or videos at all if you read and absorb the following publications. The books you can buy mostly just distill this information into the relevant parts and maybe add some tips and tricks.

Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
Airplane Flying Handbook
Aeronautical Information Manual
Pilot/Controller Glossary
Federal Aviation Regulations, Part 61
Federal Aviation Regulations, Part 91

The Student Pilot Guide can give you some info about flight training as well.

Read, learn, and ask us questions! We like to feel needed.

 

[cwyckham]

Through the course of looking into this, I've found that a business at my local airport (LNK) will contribute up to $2500 towards a private pilot and $2500 towards instrument rating as an employee benefit! I monitor their website nearly HOURLY waiting for a position to open up that I would be able to fill.

Good sentiment, wrong tactics. Let's say you'll spend about two hours of your time over the next month clicking on that website to see if a job popped up. Now instead, take that two hours and spend the first one and a half researching everything you can about the company and what they do and what you might be able to do for them. This should include pumping any friends/acquaintances in the know about the place and hopefully getting a contact there so you don't come through the door cold.

Now spend half an hour getting all presentable and heading out there and dropping off your resume (tailored to the job and company now that you know about them and without any errors) in person with a smile.

The lesson here is that 99% of jobs are never advertised. By the time it gets on the website, they're desperate. They'll first ask around and take on somebody they're familiar with. They'd much rather take on somebody who had the initiative to walk through the door and who looked polite and presentable somebody who saw the add on the website.

If it's a big company and you can't get by the HR people, you need to find the name of whoever would be your new direct supervisor and see if you can call or email them directly. If it's the sort of job you're actually interested in long term, tell them that you're a student and you are interested in a career in their industry and you'd like 15 minutes of their time to buy them coffee and ask them their advice. Bring along a copy of your resume so that they can see what your experience is and what you should be doing in the next couple of years to position yourself for a job in the industry. I managed to get lunch with the head of advanced design at Bombardier Aerospace, an hour with the head of engineering for Diamond Aircraft, and an hour and a half tour of MDR, the place that builds the space shuttle robotic arm this way. Each of them asked me to contact them for a formal interview when I was done school (I ended up going to New Zealand instead, but that's a different story).

Jobs, like everything else, are about people and relationships first and foremost. The web is just where you gather the information required before making a personal contact.

Good luck.

Chris

 

[Henning]

I'm asking for help from all of you to help me come up with some ways to pay for flight training (or earn it somehow). I'm looking for something a little more creative than "save up the money and then do it". If I resort to that, it will be a very, very long time before I can make it happen.

Note: My current job is a weekday job. I am absolutely prepared to take a part-time weekend job to be able to fly.

Here are the ideas that I've been able to come up with:

• Start and finish ground school now. Take out a loan when I'm finished and hit the lessons hard, and make monthly payments for the next couple of years.
• Try to talk an FBO into letting me trade weekend work for lessons
• Try for a scholarship (although I hear there really aren't that many)

My ideas aren't very creative, but that's all that I've been able to come up with.

The talk to the FBO is agood one, when you walk in have some fliers printed up "Will wash and wax planes for flight instruction"

 

[Henning]

Thank you all so much for the many great responses! I really do appreciate it. Through the course of looking into this, I've found that a business at my local airport (LNK) will contribute up to $2500 towards a private pilot and $2500 towards instrument rating as an employee benefit! I monitor their website nearly HOURLY waiting for a position to open up that I would be able to fill.

Don't wait for something to come up. Stop in weekly and ask in person, tell them you'd be willing to do anything to work there. After a while, they'll make you a job.

 

[bobloblaw310]

Don't wait for something to come up. Stop in weekly and ask in person, tell them you'd be willing to do anything to work there. After a while, they'll make you a job.

Or swear out a protection order!

 

[godzuki]

bqmassey

i just joined this site today mainly because i wont be flying any more. i know thats odd sounding isnt it. anyway i posted in the hanger talk section about my intentions to sell all my stuff, i was hoping to find a student pilot needing all of what i have. i had to drop out due to my wife being hospitalized for 3 months this was back in 03 and i havent been back since she is better but ive come to the realization i have to give up flying. this means ive got alot of stuff books manuals head set kneeboard, king flight training videos. most of it is for beginer through private's, i also have some of that which you will need for instrument and commercial ratings. i was in the baker college flight school while i was flying, if this is of intrest to you let me know, as i cant use it anymore. about the only thing im missing is the exams for solo flights as thats where i was at doing all my solo's when i dropped out.

Jim

 

[write-stuff]

Absolutely wonderful website! I just finished all of the available lessons. A great source of information, I just wish there were more!

Well, hang in there. New content is continuously being added. The new frontend has been up since last week so if you haven't been there recently, take a look. The Library section is growing, new lessons are appearing every couple of weeks, and some very unique podcasts are in the works.

Good Flying - Russ

 

[bqmassey]

Again, thanks for all of the posts everyone. The information has been incredibly helpful. Because I'm a web developer and have the ability to do so, perhaps I will try to compile all of the great advice and links to helpful resources into a web page for other poor people who want to fly. I'm a big proponent of the "Pay It Forward" methodology, as I feel many are in the aviation community.

As much as I hate too, I think I'm going to have to put lessons off for a little bit. I've got about $1400 in credit card debt and no savings. I don't want to, but I know that I would be better off eliminating debt first. Then I could fill it back up with lessons B)

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I don't have a car, either. The closest airport with an FBO that gives flight lessons is around 30 minutes away, and I don't want to have to beg my girlfriend and others to borrow their vehicles for every lesson.

Hopefully by the time I have taken care of my high-interest debt I'll be working at that aviation company and able to make use of the PPL reimbursement. We'll see how it works out. As of now, I'm reading all of the free materials I can find, taking further suggestions on how to reduce the total costs, and scrimping to blow away that debt. Maybe I'll be able to get in the air a few times with CAP or something, even if it doesn't progress me towards my license. It's been a long time since I've been up in a GA plane; I'd enjoy it even if I wasn't at the controls.

One nice thing about a ground school class is that your fellow students will often ask questions you might not think of asking yourself, so you learn more.

Great point! I'll have to look more into what materials--if any--are including with the class.

That is the best approach to saving money. I wanted to fly long before I could afford to, and did the same thing. I read lots of books and web sites.

Thanks for the links! I downloaded all of the available materials for pilots and fixed wing aircraft onto my laptop, so I can take them with me. I'll try to read through what I was able to find.

I monitor the forums over at AOPA as well. Like you, I've been able to pick up a lot of tips about problems that current student pilots are having. That will undoubtedly be a great resource. Thanks for the suggestions!

Jobs, like everything else, are about people and relationships first and foremost. The web is just where you gather the information required before making a personal contact.

Thanks for the post! I completely agree with what you've said about making personal connections. Unfortunately, their HR people aren't extremely helpful and have told me more than once to just watch the website for jobs. I'm really just looking for any kind of job that will allow me to be in or around the aircraft: line services, washing and waxing, anything that fits my schedule really. As a result, I don't really know who I would want to talk to if I am able to get past HR. However, I do know a supervising A&P out there. I tried to get some information out of him once, but he told me to just check the website for jobs. I'll harass him some more the next time I see him, and see if he can refer me to anyone.

The talk to the FBO is agood one, when you walk in have some fliers printed up "Will wash and wax planes for flight instruction"

I'd love to do that! I don't know if I should, though. I've had little experience in and around aircraft. I have no knowledge of the techniques and what isn't safe for the plane. Perhaps I'll make a trip out there and ask again if they need any help in the FBO. Maybe I can make some connections out there just by bothering them a lot.

Well, hang in there. New content is continuously being added. The new frontend has been up since last week so if you haven't been there recently, take a look. The Library section is growing, new lessons are appearing every couple of weeks, and some very unique podcasts are in the works.

Great! I look forward to it. I found the videos there incredibly helpful. I really appreciate these free resources. It's a form of philanthropy, and it's great to see so many people in the aviation circle that are willing to help, for the love of flying. I'm a pretty good web developer. If you ever have questions or need help, let me know!

 

[RogerT]

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I don't have a car, either. The closest airport with an FBO that gives flight lessons is around 30 minutes away, and I don't want to have to beg my girlfriend and others to borrow their vehicles for every lesson.

I keep my plane at Crete and I live in Lincoln. I'm down there a lot on the weekends. You're welcome to ride along. Several other people based there
live in Lincoln too.

Email me: rtracy_at_alltel.net

RT

 

[RogerT]

Maybe I can buy you dinner one of these nights and tell you about the training landscape in our area. There aren't any clubs and the only FBO in Lincoln doesn't really care very much about flight training at the moment.

Hey .. I'd be glad to get in on that dinner. I've been around the Lincoln
flying scene for a while.

Who's 180 is that in the picture? Looks like 87W.


RT

 

[jason]

Hey .. I'd be glad to get in on that dinner. I've been around the Lincoln
flying scene for a while.

Who's 180 is that in the picture? Looks like 87W.


RT

Indeed, it is 87W.

Let's plan a dinner in the next couple of weeks.

Are you interested in hitting Ames, IA on Oct. 28th?

 

[tonycondon]

Indeed, it is 87W.

Let's plan a dinner in the next couple of weeks.

Are you interested in hitting Ames, IA on Oct. 28th?

Im cooking! Come on over.

 

[RogerT]

Indeed, it is 87W.

Let's plan a dinner in the next couple of weeks.

Are you interested in hitting Ames, IA on Oct. 28th?

I'm going to Miami for a few days starting next Thurs .. so not sure
about Ames on the 28th yet. Most of my weekends are working on
getting the Phase 1 flown off my experimantal. I'm usually available locally though most nights.

Pat made some changes in the panel on 87W. Put in a Garmin panel
GPS .. a 250 I think.


RT

 

[PhantomCougar]

Alright, it's been six months since you started this thread.... by now I assume you're past solo, probably planning x-countries... right? Updates!! Por favor!

 

[Graueradler]

Hang out with flyers. CAP is one good way. Is there a pilots association where yor are? The one here schedules flying activities and most pilots hate an empty right seat. Most will turn the plane over to a passenger once in the air. Learn as much as you can this way even though you can't get any hours signed off. It will help you keep the required hours to a minimum.

 

[Dwight B. Van Zanen]

This place will get you through the FAA written test for $50:

http://www.americanflyers.net/faaknowledgetest/ipass.htm

Then, if you can invest in a C-150 or C-152 for about $15,000, or better buy a share of a plane for a lot less, you can do all your training in your own plane. Your cost is fuel at about 5 gal/hour, monthly share costs, and the instructor. If you are in a partnership the owner insurance will be higher for you than a PPL so expect the other owners to ask you to pay a little more for that until you get through training; but still less than buying renter insurance on your own so you save on that expense. Instead of renting for $130/instruction hour you can fly for about $30/hour, and another $30+/hour for the instructor - less than half price. And if you buy a C-150 for your training and decide not to keep it, you can get most of your money back selling it. Just be sure you buy one that has some life left in the engine. Get it looked at first by a qualified mechanic you trust. Just like buying a used car. The engine goes and your equity goes with it. An engine OH would also cost about $15,000, but then a C-150 with a 0 SMOH engine would be worth more.

 

[Dwight B. Van Zanen]

Just noticed this is an old thread. Hope he is well along in training by now. Perhaps it will help someone else looking at training options.

 

[bqmassey]

Thank you for your continuing interest and suggestions! I really appreciate it.

Unfortunately, I'm not yet in a position to start my lessons, but do what I can to spend my free time trying to learn. I have Rod Machdo's Private Pilot Handbook and have almost finished it. I'm also reading through the material at [SIZE=-1]http://www.av8n.com/how/. I've been doing a lot of flight simming with X-Plane while talking to air traffic control over VATSIM. I spend a lot of time reading the forums here and over at AOPA, and the AOPA Flight Training magazine. I listen to The Finer Points and Pilotcast. I'm trying to learn everything I can while I'm confined to Earth. As long as I've wanted to do this, and as important to me as it is, there is no excuse for me to not be prepared when I do get to start flying.

I joined Civil Air Patrol, so I've been up in our 182 twice. I got a full-time job at an FBO (Silverhawk Aviation at KLNK) so I get to be around airplanes. All good fun.

One option I am looking at is to finish my four-year college degree through Utah Valley State College. They offer an aviation degree that allows you to do the classes online while flying at a flight school of your choosing. The great part is that the cost for classes per semester at full-time status is less than $2000. That's about $5,000 less than I was spending previously. That $5000 (Financial Aid I get minus two grand for classes) can then be spent on flight training.

The other option I'm looking at is to eventually earn my PPL--paying in cash-and then move to attend the four-year aviation program at the University of Nebraska--Kearney.

If all goes well, I'll be pursuing one of these options by summer or fall semester.

Right now, I'm pretty immersed in aviation (working on the flight line, studying and flight simming with all my free time) and I'm loving it.. it's just really getting depressing being around so many pilots (student pilots, LifeFlight pilots, charter pilots, airline pilots, etc) and not getting to do it myself. My time will come though!

I've seriously been considering starting a website for student pilots. I have a dedicated server already, it'd just cost me $10/yr or so for the domain. I'd like to provide a central location for all of the great information and advice I've collected through message boards and other online resources. I have many, many links bookmared that are incredibly helpful for pre-student/student pilots and quite often even for licensed pilots. A book list would be great, too. I'd like to create a place to post these kinds of things. In doing this, I'm sure I would learn even more and continue being exposed to new resources. If I create this site it'd most certainly be free to anyone, but I might be able to make a little bit of cash with Google ads or something like that... something that wouldn't bother people too much.

That's my update! I'm definitely still taking suggestions for ways to reduce the cost of flight training!

Happy Flying!
Brandon
[/SIZE]

 

[AuntPeggy]

Thank you for your continuing interest and suggestions! I really appreciate it.
...snip...
[SIZE=-1]I've seriously been considering starting a website for student pilots. I have a dedicated server already, it'd just cost me $10/yr or so for the domain. I'd like to provide a central location for all of the great information and advice I've collected through message boards and other online resources. I have many, many links bookmared that are incredibly helpful for pre-student/student pilots and quite often even for licensed pilots. A book list would be great, too. I'd like to create a place to post these kinds of things. In doing this, I'm sure I would learn even more and continue being exposed to new resources. If I create this site it'd most certainly be free to anyone, but I might be able to make a little bit of cash with Google ads or something like that... something that wouldn't bother people too much.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]That's my update! I'm definitely still taking suggestions for ways to reduce the cost of flight training![/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]Happy Flying![/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Brandon[/SIZE]

Please feel free to update http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/School:Aviation. You can't advertise there, but you can hone your work.

 

[bqmassey]

Please feel free to update http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/School:Aviation. You can't advertise there, but you can hone your work.

Great link! Thanks! Looks like you are partly responsible for the content there. Thanks for the work you do on it! I'd love to contribute to it, but at this point I'm in no real position to do so. I haven't even had a flight lesson yet. Once I'm a pilot, I'll be much more qualified to contribute.

The site I'd like to build wouldn't really have it's own content. It'd basically be a collection of references to helpful resources.. some place to show others the great things I find online for pilots.

 

[Dwight B. Van Zanen]

Please feel free to update http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/School:Aviation. You can't advertise there, but you can hone your work.

This is interesting. FREE onlne groundschool for Private Pilot. What I did not see is how this would get someone the instructor endorsement that is required to take the FAA test. Is that also free? Or is that the hook to get someone enrolled?

 

[KennyFlys]

Here is another free source put together by Russ Still, an LZU local gold seal flight instructor. He updates it regularly.

http://www.goldsealflight.com/

As far as an endorsement, I don't think any reasonable CFI is going to sign you off without first being certain you can do well. That means three to five hours of ground time with that CFI.