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New pilot eager for advice!!!!

  • Thread starter dream2fly2007
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  • Watchers 23

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dream2fly2007

HI Everyone!I'm an eager new student pilot, well, soon to be full time student pilot in Florida. I'm in high school, graduating in 2007, and have recently started taking flight lessons out of KHWO. I've realized that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life and can't wait to get started in it career wise!!

Can anyone give me any pointers into how I can make my dreams to obtain the world's best job a reality, in the shortest time? I've looked at some posts and found some useful information, but can't find anything that would give a good breakdown of the route it takes to get to a commercial airline job.
 
Words of advice:

1. Get a college degree. You may not need it for your flying career (although you probably will), but you definitely need it for life. College "rounds you out." Knowledge is power. I think it is totally up to you what kind of college degree you get. Personally, aviation was the only thing that I could maintain enough interest in put in the time to study, so I ended up getting an aviation degree, and I really enjoyed my time doing it. I'm also going to be starting an MBA here in about a week, and I think this combo will work out well.

note: I'm not doing the MBA with any career goal in mind. It is free for me and I wish to broaden my horizons and learn more about the world. I'll also continue to flight instruct full time. I could be interested in the management aspect of aviation sometime down the road. We'll see what happens.

2. If you do decide to get an aviation degree, make sure you go to a state school with their own flight department. I spent about 1/8 of the total amount that the students I currently instruct will spend by doing this.

3. Don't be in a hurry. I've been accused of being a killjoy for saying things like this, but flying is something that will take however amount of time it will take. By putting yourself under time pressure, you'll be doing yourself a disservice and shortchanging the learning process. Take the time you need to learn it right, and that time is different for everyone.

4. Don't focus on one type of flying job. There are other options if only you will open your eyes to them. Tunnel vision is the enemy of rational decision making.

I'll post more if I can think of them...

Good luck,
Goose
 
If you want to be a pilot skip college and start flying airplanes, you will be logging TJ PIC long before the guy who goes to college and be in the front of the line when looking for a career job. Do college degree on the side if a degree is really important to you, you can fly full time and do college on the side. You can not build meaningful flight time while going to college full time. 10 yrs after your first 135/121 job you will be making close to $100K/yr
 
Right

Goose Egg said:
3. Don't be in a hurry.

Exactly. There are no shortcuts.

If you see someone take a shortcut they usually end up paying for it somewhere along the line. Sometimes with their (and others) lives.

Be methodical and complete every step. They're there for a reason.

Good luck.
 
I agree 100% about the college route with their own flight department.Get the degree, learn how to fly, and for goodness sake meet as many chicks as possible.
 
Get a degree "just in case". Get your ratings. Get a job. Not necessarily in that order. Oh, by the way, take most of what you hear on these forums with a very large grain of salt.

'Sled
 
Go to a college with a good aviation program (i.e. Auburn, Western Michigan, etc.). Don't buy into the "academy mentality."

If you don't get your aviation certificates in college, go to work for an FBO that has a charter department, get your ratings, and then work for them. You'll save a ton and learn a lot more real-world aviation knowledge.
 
I went to flight school with a bunch of guys that had never been to college. They never really knew when to have a good time and when to study. After all flight school isn't for partying. It cost way too much money to be foggy during a class or a flight.

College is a time to figure out how to study. You'll ace your flight school classes if you know how to focus. Also its a time to learn about being a person that people want to spend time with. Living in dorms and hanging out with lots of different people is going to help. I got a great job because I'm the kind of person that people dont mind spending time with. Flying an airplane is flying an airplane but you have to be able to get along with the people your sharing a very small space with for long periods of time, day after day.

College is a time to party. I dont know how you feel about drugs and everyone seems super conservative on this board but its best to experiment with drugs when your not in flight school. Lots of flight schools test. So that harmless bowl you smoked during the 3 day weekend you were at home visiting your buddys might get you in big trouble. In college it would be no big deal.
 
Go Air Traffic Control. Then you can buy a plane and fly for the fun of it, you can buy a house, and eat things other than beans and ramen.

Some things, like flying and sex, can be more fun when you are doing it on your own terms instead of trying to pay the bills by doing it.
 

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