Suggestions needed for pilot career

texasclouds

texasclouds

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Aug 23, 2018
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Bryan, Texas
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Display name:
Mark
I will be doing my checkride for PPL soon with a little over 40 hrs. I want to start a new career as a pilot.

I started PPL in July thinking I could finish in 3-4 months. Well it is 6 months now. Work, scheduling, wx, instructor cancelled a few times for charter opportunities, and a mechanical issue have slowed me down. Renting a school 172S usually requires 2 weeks and you only can have 6 on the schedule.

No biggie, I am enjoying it but here is the rub. I am miserable at my current job but it pays well. I would like to keep the job while training but I don’t want it to take me 3 years to get to CFI. I need IR and to burn up 250 hrs total time to get commercial then CFI. I have money in the bank to cover training expense.

Any suggestions on getting done quicker? I feel like owning an IFR Cessna 150/172 would make scheduling a lot easier and I could burn hours quicker, especially long summer days I could get a couple hours in after 5pm. Hangars aren’t available near me and expensive, $300-400/mo. A tie down is my only real option, thus needs to be a metal plane.

How many hours per year do you think I realistically could get? The good news is that once I have PPL then i am free to go fly as much as I can.
 
Forgot to mention, wife is very supportive about this path, and our school can provide 1000 hrs+/year for CFIs.
 
It’s a horrible career mate. Stick to your current career. You’ll either end up divorced, dead, or in the slammer
 
CC268 said:
It’s a horrible career mate. Stick to your current career. You’ll either end up divorced, dead, or in the slammer
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tenor.gif

Aviation can be a good career, but it isn't all fun and games. Almost anyone who has flown for a living has seen layoffs when the economy downturns, which it will. The aviation industry is extremely cyclic. It is one of the first industries to suffer in an economic recession, and the last to recover.

Most flying jobs also require a fair amount of time away from home. Nights, holidays, weekends, anniversaries, birthdays, you name it. It can be hard for anyone with a family.

Not trying to burst your bubble, but just trying to be real. If you are able, it is often better to have a good career that pays enough to play in airplanes, versus working in them.
 
texasclouds said:
I will be doing my checkride for PPL soon with a little over 40 hrs. I want to start a new career as a pilot.

I started PPL in July thinking I could finish in 3-4 months. Well it is 6 months now. Work, scheduling, wx, instructor cancelled a few times for charter opportunities, and a mechanical issue have slowed me down. Renting a school 172S usually requires 2 weeks and you only can have 6 on the schedule.

No biggie, I am enjoying it but here is the rub. I am miserable at my current job but it pays well. I would like to keep the job while training but I don’t want it to take me 3 years to get to CFI. I need IR and to burn up 250 hrs total time to get commercial then CFI. I have money in the bank to cover training expense.

Any suggestions on getting done quicker? I feel like owning an IFR Cessna 150/172 would make scheduling a lot easier and I could burn hours quicker, especially long summer days I could get a couple hours in after 5pm. Hangars aren’t available near me and expensive, $300-400/mo. A tie down is my only real option, thus needs to be a metal plane.

How many hours per year do you think I realistically could get? The good news is that once I have PPL then i am free to go fly as much as I can.
Click to expand...

Buying a plane to build hours ain’t a bad idea.
 
Join the military and let Uncle Sam take care of ya
 
texasclouds said:
I will be doing my checkride for PPL soon with a little over 40 hrs. I want to start a new career as a pilot.

I started PPL in July thinking I could finish in 3-4 months. Well it is 6 months now. Work, scheduling, wx, instructor cancelled a few times for charter opportunities, and a mechanical issue have slowed me down. Renting a school 172S usually requires 2 weeks and you only can have 6 on the schedule.

No biggie, I am enjoying it but here is the rub. I am miserable at my current job but it pays well. I would like to keep the job while training but I don’t want it to take me 3 years to get to CFI. I need IR and to burn up 250 hrs total time to get commercial then CFI. I have money in the bank to cover training expense.

Any suggestions on getting done quicker? I feel like owning an IFR Cessna 150/172 would make scheduling a lot easier and I could burn hours quicker, especially long summer days I could get a couple hours in after 5pm. Hangars aren’t available near me and expensive, $300-400/mo. A tie down is my only real option, thus needs to be a metal plane.

How many hours per year do you think I realistically could get? The good news is that once I have PPL then i am free to go fly as much as I can.
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Sounds about where I was when I decided to ditch the IT world. Except, that I had about 150 hours at that time.

I suggest looking for a flying club or a partnership near you. Then getting a freelance CFI. If you join a flying club, I bet there are CFIs that are part of the club looking for work.

Once you get your PPL start, working on your instrument rating, but be sure to do plenty of fun flights between lessons. Split time with another instrument student by being each others safety pilot.

When you finish up the instrument rating, start working on the commercial. You'll be getting pretty close to the required hours if you've been doing the fun flying that I suggested.

During all this time, be sure to network at the airport. Make friends with students that are ahead and behind you. Most first jobs in the industry are a result of who you know. My first job was totally unsolicited. It was 2 days a week every other week. Not enough to live on, but it helped build that time up. I took sick and vacation days to do it.

When it's time for the first full time job, don't be afraid to move. In fact, it's probably what you'll need to do.

texasclouds said:
Forgot to mention, wife is very supportive about this path, and our school can provide 1000 hrs+/year for CFIs.
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Don't believe the "1000+ hours/year" CFI thing. It may be possible, but it's not likely.
 
is there a reason you cannot train for the instrument, SE/ME commercial, CFI, CFII, and MEI at the same time to build your minimums for the commercial and take a bunch of tests at the end?
 
I can't really give you any advice about a pilot career but I'm currently looking for a partner to share a small single engine plane with. I have an ad up in the classified section of this forum but it's not much frequented it seems. PM me if you are open to a 1/2 ownership. I'm about 2 hours from College Station so we could tie down the aircraft halfway between the two of us. I'm primarily looking for a trainer and once I have my PPL continue using the plane as a time builder. I want to avoid the situation of not being able to move at my pace with training, hence I think owning or co-owning probably makes more sense. Talk soon!
 
midwestpa24 said:
View attachment 69906

Aviation can be a good career, but it isn't all fun and games. Almost anyone who has flown for a living has seen layoffs when the economy downturns, which it will. The aviation industry is extremely cyclic. It is one of the first industries to suffer in an economic recession, and the last to recover.

Most flying jobs also require a fair amount of time away from home. Nights, holidays, weekends, anniversaries, birthdays, you name it. It can be hard for anyone with a family.

Not trying to burst your bubble, but just trying to be real. If you are able, it is often better to have a good career that pays enough to play in airplanes, versus working in them.
Click to expand...

If you want job security in aviation go to work for the FAA
 
Chrisgoesflying said:
I can't really give you any advice about a pilot career but I'm currently looking for a partner to share a small single engine plane with. I have an ad up in the classified section of this forum but it's not much frequented it seems. PM me if you are open to a 1/2 ownership. I'm about 2 hours from College Station so we could tie down the aircraft halfway between the two of us. I'm primarily looking for a trainer and once I have my PPL continue using the plane as a time builder. I want to avoid the situation of not being able to move at my pace with training, hence I think owning or co-owning probably makes more sense. Talk soon!
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What direction from BCS?

Coulter Airfield in Bryan does have a flying flub (Texas Flying Club) with several freeland cfis. I need to go get a tour and a peek at their plane schedule. They have older planes than my school BVFS at CLL, but cheaper rates. I talked with one of the guys there (Coulter) he said planes are almost always avail.

As for military suggestion, i am 35 yrs old and from what I gather too old to hire on for a military pilot career.

I will ask again but I believe my instructor started cfi a little over a year ago and went from 300 hrs to 1500+. The school has a ton of students due to TAMU.

The current pilot shortage situation is what makes me believe I can get into the airlines rather quickly. Every cfi around here is getting job offers. My school owner already told me he would like me to cfi for him when I get there.
 
texasclouds said:
What direction from BCS?

Coulter Airfield in Bryan does have a flying flub (Texas Flying Club) with several freeland cfis. I need to go get a tour and a peek at their plane schedule. They have older planes than my school BVFS at CLL, but cheaper rates. I talked with one of the guys there (Coulter) he said planes are almost always avail.

As for military suggestion, i am 35 yrs old and from what I gather too old to hire on for a military pilot career.

I will ask again but I believe my instructor started cfi a little over a year ago and went from 300 hrs to 1500+. The school has a ton of students due to TAMU.

The current pilot shortage situation is what makes me believe I can get into the airlines rather quickly. Every cfi around here is getting job offers. My school owner already told me he would like me to cfi for him when I get there.
Click to expand...

There is no pilot shortage unfortunately.
 
texasclouds said:
I am miserable at my current job but it pays well.
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Not for nothing, but when I worked in professional aviation I encountered far more individuals who were miserable at their job than those who loved what they did. And quite a few of them were not paid well by any stretch. Jobs are work. Even when you work in a field that you like, there's usually a reason they have to pay you money to get you to show up.
 
There really isn't a pilot shortage in a sense... The airlines were in a temporary hole dug by the increased ATP mins, fleet downsizing, and lack of hiring due to substandard pay and QOL. Now that the pay has gone up they have training back logs over 6 months long and for the more desirable regional over a year. UPS, FedEx, and others are gladly plucking pilots from the regional carriers and some majors that are begging to work for them. Recent FO hires are stuck in the FO position, or on call captain positions for 6 months - 2 years or more due to the flood of hiring.

If there is a pilot shortage its in the private and 135 sector. Those jobs were once more appealing for their higher starting pay and QOL over the regional guys where as now the Regionals have better pay with promises of quick upgrades and flow through to the majors. Suddenly you have a part 135 cargo company with ATP level mins only offering 35k a year to be an FO on an ATR hauling cargo at night. Who in their right mind would do that when you can double that pay in a CRJ at PSA with flow to American? So yes, those types of operations are struggling right now, not the airlines.
 
Juliet Hotel said:
Not for nothing, but when I worked in professional aviation I encountered far more individuals who were miserable at their job than those who loved what they did. And quite a few of them were not paid well by any stretch. Jobs are work. Even when you work in a field that you like, there's usually a reason they have to pay you money to get you to show up.
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Oh Juliet...tell him how you really feel. Give him the beat down! :mad:
 
As far as hours go there are so many factors that play into it. I feel like I fly a lot and I am lucky to get 120 hours a year. Between bad weather, work, chores, maintenance and annual down time, and of course budget it's hard to get a lot more than that. This year I am on track to 150 hours I believe but that's mainly because I trained and received my Instrument, commercial, and multi engine ratings this year so I flew a lot more than normal.
 
CC268 said:
There is no pilot shortage unfortunately.
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There is a pay shortage leading to a upswing in the industry for pilots, different cause, same result.
 
CC268 said:
What type of flying did you do?
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Nothing special. Pulled rags for a few years, then dropped jumpers for a while. I worked nights at a large FBO during that time to help make ends meet. Pulling rags is a nice hobby, but not a great way to make a living. Dropping jumpers is great fun when you're 23 but I was 38 at the time so, much less fun when partying all night and trying to get in the pants of the jump bunnies becomes less of a priority for you. I had enough hours to move on to better types of flying which I considered. But I was also about to get married so I wasn't in love with the idea of taking a pay cut to live out of a suit case most of the month being gear ***** in a king air. Bottom line is some guys get into professional flying and just love every minute of it from beginning to end. But lots of others do not love every minute or even most minutes and I was one of them. Flying is definitely something I love doing on my own terms and schedule and hate doing was a way to pay the rent but that's me and only me.

The bigger point I was trying to make is that I think the premise of do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life is a myth. Jobs are work. There are people that love what they do, but there are very few that would do what they do for free no matter how much they love it. I would take that a bit further and say that because all jobs become work, its probably better to do something you like as opposed to trying to do something you love. Save doing what you love for your hobby and do it on your own terms. Don't make it into a job because jobs have a way of sucking.
 
James331 said:
There is a pay shortage leading to a upswing in the industry for pilots, different cause, same result.
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I thought crappy pay led to low levels of new hires + lots of 65 yr old Vietnam Vets retiring = pilot shortage = better pay at regionals right now + sign on bonuses / quicker route to mayors ^ 87 = I need to go get my 1500 HRS.
 
Juliet Hotel said:
Nothing special. Pulled rags for a few years, then dropped jumpers for a while. I worked nights at a large FBO during that time to help make ends meet. Pulling rags is a nice hobby, but not a great way to make a living. Dropping jumpers is great fun when you're 23 but I was 38 at the time so, much less fun when partying all night and trying to get in the pants of the jump bunnies becomes less of a priority for you. I had enough hours to move on to better types of flying which I considered. But I was also about to get married so I wasn't in love with the idea of taking a pay cut to live out of a suit case most of the month being gear ***** in a king air. Bottom line is some guys get into professional flying and just love every minute of it from beginning to end. But lots of others do not love every minute or even most minutes and I was one of them. Flying is definitely something I love doing on my own terms and schedule and hate doing was a way to pay the rent but that's me and only me.

The bigger point I was trying to make is that I think the premise of do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life is a myth. Jobs are work. There are people that love what they do, but there are very few that would do what they do for free no matter how much they love it. I would take that a bit further and say that because all jobs become work, its probably better to do something you like as opposed to trying to do something you love. Save doing what you love for your hobby and do it on your own terms. Don't make it into a job because jobs have a way of sucking.
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Thanks for sharing
 
texasclouds said:
I thought crappy pay led to low levels of new hires + lots of 65 yr old Vietnam Vets retiring = pilot shortage = better pay at regionals right now + sign on bonuses / quicker route to mayors ^ 87 = I need to go get my 1500 HRS.
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I’m not sure about the regionals, but the 135/91 world it’s pretty easy to find a six figure job if you got like 2k tt and a ATP.
 
texasclouds said:
Thanks, not sure if I should go with "come kick me in the nuts", or "come stomp my dreams into a mud hole"...

o_O
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After Christmas and New Years, let's plan for a link up at either KSEP/Hard8, or KCLL and the Dixie Chicken. Then we can compare notes and perhaps provide you some encouragement.
 
texasclouds - if you don't make it, I'm sure James will give you a job washing his float plane for $5.
 
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