Can a poor person become a professional pilot?

[UA-RESURRECTED]

I live at home, only because that allows enough money to fly and whatnot. My parents don't pay for ANYTHING. I have to work 40 hours a week. I drive a 4-cylinder pickup-truck that is 10 years old.

Can I become a professional pilot without my parents giving me money? Anyone else done it????

 

[timeoff]

How old are you?

 

[FN FAL]

Can a poor person beome a professional pilot?

Becoming a professional pilot can make you poor.


Wouldn't it be cheaper to simply go to the rave and jump into the mosh pit and get the crap kicked out of yourself?

 

[kingsize]

I live at home, only because that allows enough money to fly and whatnot. My parents don't pay for ANYTHING. I have to work 40 hours a week. I drive a 4-cylinder pickup-truck that is 10 years old.

Can I become a professional pilot without my parents giving me money? Anyone else done it????

NO.

Wait, that's what the military is for.

 

[ReportCanoa]

Go to the bank and get a loan. Doctors, lawyers, nurses, computer programmers- all pay for their education. Unfortunately, there are too many pilots on the market right now, and your starting pay will reflect that. You may not even see a return for 10 years. But hey, that's life...

 

[JumpCaptain]

It's a tough call. Of course, it will depend on how much you make and where you're doing your flying.

Starting with no time, I'm guessing you could get a comercial-multi-instrument for 25K-35K. Perhaps one of the current flight instructors or FBO guys on here could verify that for me.

It will make a huge difference if you are flying a $60/hr 150 in the midwest or a $150/hr 172 in Hawaii.

A lot of the big FBO's are offering financing options now, so you could just put the whole thing on lone if you really wanted.

 

[JumpCaptain]

Go to the bank and get a loan. Doctors, lawyers, nurses, computer programmers- all pay for their education. Unfortunately, there are too many pilots on the market right now, and your starting pay will reflect that. You may not even see a return for 10 years. But hey, that's life...

Very true.

In the 90's their were stories of guys at the majors making $400K a year and only flying six days a month. Because of that, a lot of people got into flying thinking that that’s the life they would live.

Now, it's ten years later and with all the concessions their are a lot of guys who are tens of thousand of dollars in debt and they only make $25,000 a year at a regional, flying nineteen days a month. So, now the industry is stocked with pilots who are unhappy and looking to get out.

I guess the lesson learned is if you "enjoy" flying, stick with flying just for fun.
If you're obsessed with flying to the point that you dream about it and you know deep down that you will never be happy doing anything else in life, than you will definitely make it happen.

 

[Draginass]

Do yourself and any future family you might have and forget about aviation as a profession. The "profession" is dead. It's just a "job" now, and a very unstable one at that.

If you simply must do something in aviation, go to air traffic control school. You'll make a heck of a lot more money, live at home, and be treated marginally better.

 

[FL420]

I live at home, only because that allows enough money to fly and whatnot. My parents don't pay for ANYTHING. I have to work 40 hours a week. I drive a 4-cylinder pickup-truck that is 10 years old.

Can I become a professional pilot without my parents giving me money? Anyone else done it????

Just curious:
How old are you?
How far did you go in school?
What is the whatnot you are spending your earnings on?
Who pays the rent or mortgage on the house you are living in?
Who pays the taxes on the house you are living in?
Who pays the insurance on the house you are living in?
Who pays for the gas, electricity, water, sewer and trash pickup on the house you are living in?

You, of course, don't have to answer these admittedly personal questions. I am just hoping you don't fit the stereotype of the young person whining about his lot in life while ungratefully sponging off his parents.

Your quote "My parents don't pay for ANYTHING" was like a red flag in the face of this old dad who has been there before.

 

[mcjohn]

Working as a bellman in a fancy hotel paid for all my rating over a 3 year period. No help from others. You could also wait tables in a fine dining restraunt to pay for training.

If I could go back in time I'd probably do the military thing. If you have a four year degree you can become a warrant officer in the army and fly helicopters and not have much more responsibilty than to just fly.

Also, if you join the military with hopes of flying and don't make the cut you can wait till your time has been served, then civilian flight training can still be on the military's bill.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

I paid for all of my ratings, Pvt, Comm, Milti, inst, CFI (II MEI), ATP, A+P, FE
and 3 Radio Licenses and 3 degrees with NO DEBT, no loans, no help.

How? I worked 2 jobs, sacrificed everything, and worked REALLY hard.

Would I do it all again?

no

CE

(at least I'm not in debt)

 

[banned username 1]

Of course you can. Like anything else, it's a matter of choices that you make. I will admit that the younger you are, the easier it might be. If you have a lot of committments already, you narrow your chances of attaining your goal in a reasonable amount of time.

But the short answer to your question is, yes.

 

[User998]

I was poor when I started flying. I'd venture to guess that the majority of us was poor too. Who has $50-80,000 in spare cash laying around to spend on flight training? I had to finance 100% of my flight training, and I made sure to cut some costs while I was in flight school to (for instance moving in with my parents) to cut down on costs and relieve the need to have a full time job while I was doing it.

Just don't plan on making any good return on your money for a few years on your investment.

If your poor before you start flight training, you'll be poor when you get done with flight training! If your rich when you start flight training, you'll still be poor when you finish flight training. Just the nature of the beast I get.

Bet when you get to do what you love for a living, can you beat that?

 

[DAL737FO]

If I could go back in time I'd probably do the military thing. If you have a four year degree you can become a warrant officer in the army and fly helicopters and not have much more responsibilty than to just fly.

Who sold you that bill of goods? It used to be that a Warrant was just a pilot, or some other specialized field. However now all Warrants are commissioned officers which means they end up being cheap labor. Warrants are Commanders of detachments now.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

hope someone dies and you can collect on insurance and inheritence.......:nuts:

 

[SkyBoy1981]

How old are you?

He's 36.

 

[time builder]

Maybe you should be a truck driver, get used to the traveling man lifestyle. If you're looking for respect as a pilot, it usually lasts about a week, then the UPS driver you're delivering cargo to treats you like a glorified truck driver.
Besides, truck drivers make a lot more money from the beginning.

 

[Lazy8]

I live at home, only because that allows enough money to fly and whatnot. My parents don't pay for ANYTHING. I have to work 40 hours a week. I drive a 4-cylinder pickup-truck that is 10 years old.

Can I become a professional pilot without my parents giving me money? Anyone else done it????

If it's something you really want, then yes. You can do it. Regardless of your age don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.

Keep the truck running, keep working hard, research financial aid options, and start settings goals. I did it

Grove

 

[pilotyip]

No four year degree required for Army WO, join a guard unit, get a aircraft maintenence rating, put in for a flight school slot from your guard unit. Driving helos a will give you a good start on a flying career. This is still a great career. $100K in today's wages is a doable number after 10 years of pursuing your career. Fly because you like to. Good Luck

 

[MTpilot]

Sounds like you have a nice truck!