Aviation Insights

If you’re still reading this bog, you must be waiting for information on learning to fly the heavy metal. Well, here is my attempt at providing you some tips and information about the
civilian path for learning to fly. Remember, I am a military trained aviator. As a result, what follows comes from research and discussion with pilots who learned to fly outside the military and became pilots for major airline, not my personal experience. So, here we go. I’ve broken it into 3 basic paths. You may be thinking “ok, here we go again with the lists – a. b. c., 1, 2, 3″. But, I try to break things down into easily understood steps, terms, etc. to keep it simple. To quote a close friend and person who’s ability to clearly understand and solve problems I greatly admire ” you have to be able to properly frame the problem. If you can’t do that, I’ll guarantee you arrive at the wrong answer and waste a lot of time and effort getting there to boot”. Sorry, I digressed a little there. You want to learn to fly and get to a major airline or corporate job. You’ll need certain ratings and kinds of flying time to qualify which you’ll have to continually think about as you progress through your training. A few important ones are; multi-engine, turbine, instrument, and pilot-in-command (PIC). We’ll start the list of 3 paths that we can use to accomplish this goal with the most basic one. Go to your nearest local airport with a flight school, find and instructor you like and begin the process by earning your private pilots license. If you go to www.pilotjourney.com and follow the instructions it will provide you with a list of flight schools in your area. The next step will be up to you, and most likely will include  guidance from your flight instructor. And that is, whether or not to earn a certified flight instructor (CFI) rating or a commercial pilot rating. Either one will provide the means for you to build flying time while earning money. What follows is either a certified flight instrument instructor (CFII) or some type of multi-engine rating. Both of those can open further job and flying time opportunities. Once you reach this point, you’ll know and understand what “turbine time” is and why it’s important to have it in your log book sooner than later. Turbine time refers very simply to a turbine engine, as opposed to a piston engine, which is basically a jet engine. The details of the engine topic is plenty for another blog, so watch for it in the future. This turbine time will again open more doors for job and flying time opportunities. So, as I’m sure you’re beginning to see, it’s a stepping stone process. There will be many forks in the road requiring you to choose which direction to go next. Some job opportunities you can expect to find or should seek out for this path are; single engine charter – requires a commercial license, will build flying time as PIC while being paid, flight instructor – requires flight instructor rating, builds flying time as PIC while being paid, local freight forwarding companies – PIC flying time, paid. The underlying theme with the above information is to find a way to build the right kind of flying time not only without having to pay for it, but to get paid for doing it. I’ve talked with people who’ve done all of these and more. I’ve talked to people who literally hung around airport FBO’s and spoke to everyone who approached an airplane on the field asking if they needed some one to ride along (for free of course) or fly their plane. I’ve talked to people who pumped gas and cleaned airplanes for several years before getting their break. I’ve talked to people who bagged groceries in between giving flying lessons. I’ve talked to people who loaded boxes all night then hung around the airport all day hoping to scrounge some flying time. Last but not least, and my personal favorite, I talked to a captain while flying a trip for my airline who told me how he actually lived out of the family station wagon his father had given him. He did this for 3 months, that’s right, 3 months. But as he said, you have to look at the bright side. The “family wagon” wasn’t a great place to hang out so he spent most of the day at the airport. It was during this time that he landed the job that eventually positioned him to be qualified for a major airline job.
The second of the list of 3 is to attend a flight school academy. There are many all over the country from New Hampshire to Washington state to California to Florida and just about every where in between. These are different from you local flying school in that they are a training facility equipped with several different types of airplanes, the ground school with full time classroom instructors, simulators of some type and FAA approved courses. In most cases they can provide training for a private pilot’s license to an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) and everything in between. Some examples are: Delta Connection Academy,  http://www.panamacademy.com, or for a list www.aviationschoolsonline.com. The difference between this and your local airport flight school is you will attend on a full time basis until the course you’ve chosen and paid for is complete. Most, if not all, have some type of job placement program. What job you qualifyfor will depend on the license you earn while there. These academy’s are not cheap but have
some benefits. You are immersed in you course full time, no distractions. They have updated equipment for both the ground school and flying portions of your training and as I said have job placement programs. However, you’ll have to think this approach through carefully. Have a plan and set some limits. Otherwise you could find yourself spending a lot of money quickly.
The last on the list of 3 is to attend a college or university with a flying program. A few of the more popular ones are Embry Riddle, Purdue, and Farmingdale State College.  These programs generally follow along these lines; 1st semester – private pilot’s license, 2nd semester – commercial license, 3rd semester – Flight Instructor, 4th semester -multi-engine rating. In a lot of cases, the students can roll back into the program as flight instructors for their last 2 years while finishing a degree program. So, you could end up with 300 – 400 hrs flying time, a couple licenses and ratings, and an associate’s degree in professional piloting. Putting these things to work, gaining experience and some cash during your last two years seems to be a common theme with this path. Remember, a four year degree may or may not be a requirement by major corporations and or airlines. The question you should ask yourself is do you want to risk being the only person in the interview line without a degree? This path simultaneously accomplishes some licensing, ratings, experience and a 4 yr degree. All sounds good, right?! Got your mind made up? It’s also the most expensive way. The reason is you are paying for normal college stuff, tuition – room – board – some spending money, and on top of that you are paying for flying training.
When looking into one of these colleges or universities, be specific when asking about tuition and flying time. A captain I flew with recently (last week) took this path and had an interesting story I’d like to share. I’ll simply refer to him as “Choo-Choo”. For the record, Choo-Choo in my opinion, is a great captain. How do I quantify, rate or rank a great captain? Actually, it’s fairly simple. They are an expert and very professional with the work of piloting, can effectively manage the crew, passengers and the flight from start to finish, and finally have the ability to make the experience fun for everyone. Sound like someone you want to work with? Not only yes, but every trip. Unfortunately, that’s impossible because although a great captain is not necessarily rare in the world, they are not abundant either. Now, for his story. He attended a 4 yr degree program and chose not to become an instructor for the flying school. Instead, he focused on single engine charter as a way to build flying time and get paid at the same time. He new his market though! He lived on Long Island New York which is only a short airplane ride to Atlantic City. Apparently, there is no shortage of people wanting to fly back and forth. It was a small niche market perfect for building PIC flying time. He went where the work was and you’ll likely have to do the same. Move that is, and probably more than once. Pay attention to where the flying opportunities may be hiding while considering a move.
There are your 3 basic paths for civilian flying training. Things to consider for any one of them are how long it is going to take, how much is it going to cost and what will my plan B consist of. Plan B is important to consider. A popular one used to be joining the military. I’ve spoken to many pilots who either tired of struggling to gain flying time or ran out of money. I prefaced that statement with “used to”. Now that the commitment after military pilot training is 10 years, I don’t know how commonly it is used as a plan B. The point is you cannot predict what the state of the airline industry will be when you become hirable. So, be prepared either way.
In summary, like the military path the civilian path seems fairly simple in its basic elements. However, you must realize it’s not quite that simple. There will be ups and down, or bumps in the road, or whatever cliché you prefer to use. These events will certainly test your character and commitment toward your goal of becoming a pilot. During it all, keep your eyes and ears open at all times. You never know when an opportunity will present  itself (many times in disguise) or you may be  unknowingly interviewed during what  seemed  to  be just a casual conversation. As always, good luck at whatever you choose. Now that we’ve discussed learning to fly, in the next blog we’ll discuss flying time and interview tips.