Took My Discovery Flight Today!

[wrxpilot]

I think John Travolta said it best: Flying is my profession, but acting is my job. I don't think those were his exact words, but the point is valid. I was so passionate about flying and had so much fun with it that I decided to drop a high paying job working for a rapidly growing (stock wise too) company, took out a huge loan, and moved my life into flight training in hopes of doing it as a career. Welp, today, I'm in a huge debt, I don't have a flying job, can't get into it because I can't afford to (thanks to delays at the CAPT program and their incompentence), and have lost my passion for flying

Ninja,

No offense, but you lost your passion because you got burned immediatly. I think you'd feel different if you had been more patient, kept out of debt, and had a backup plan.

 

[kevdog]

I think John Travolta said it best: Flying is my profession, but acting is my job. I don't think those were his exact words, but the point is valid. I was so passionate about flying and had so much fun with it that I decided to drop a high paying job working for a rapidly growing (stock wise too) company, took out a huge loan, and moved my life into flight training in hopes of doing it as a career. Welp, today, I'm in a huge debt, I don't have a flying job, can't get into it because I can't afford to (thanks to delays at the CAPT program and their incompentence), and have lost my passion for flying.

I'm trying to get that passion back but without the money to support it, there's nothing but despair every time I think about airplanes or hear one (which is to say every 3 minutes thanks to NY Approach). My currency is about to run out and frankly, I don't even know why I want to get it back so that in 6 months I'm back here again trying to figure out how to muster up the money just to keep current. The number of hours logged since I left flight training at the beginning of this year? Zero to-date.

So, I think a lot about what my CFI told me when I told him I wanted to do it as a career these days. Had I listened to him, I'd still be able to fly WHENEVER I wanted and ENJOYED my flights to KACK or KMVY or other destinations on the weekends and still have a bundle of cash. What I've learned from my experience is that flight training outfits is just another money making engine. The people that run it don't care (at least not at CAPT). And most of all, one has to have a TON of cash on hand to sit around to wait for some regional airline to call you so that you can work for $19 an hour for that first year, and then make a morsel more each year while praying that the airline doesn't go out of business or cut your pay scale. Oh, and the time away from friends and family. In my early days of aviation, I gave up everything to do this. Now, I'm broke beyond recognition and the sound of an airplane just pisses me off (every 3 minutes thanks to NY Approach).

So, to answer your question, what should you do? Do something that makes money that affords you the privilege to fly on your terms and enjoy the flying. I used to hate my job, but I also knew that every 2 weeks I got a paycheck that more than allowed me to fly a few hours on the weekends to wash away all that negative energy at the office. And if you read on the forums, there are pilots who have admitted that they lost the passion and that flying is just another job. Well, I rather be making bank doing just another job and enjoy my flying on my terms than to join the misery and enslavement of getting into a regional airline and hope to the Gods (because one just won't cut it) that I might get into flying for a major airline and have a relatively stable career at a good pay.

Why shouldn't you choose something that you enjoy? I enjoy driving but I haven't signed up with the nearest trucking school; although it would have been a lot cheaper to do. Truth is, driving a truck is more attainable and realistic (to me at least) than getting into the airlines. And there are other jobs that are more attainable and still allows you to enjoy aviation. I got friends in certain state jobs that gives them a killer salary and a pension for sleeping on the job or do next to nothing and it cost them very little to get. I guarantee you that you won't find that with aviation far less making a career. I recall watching my King Private DVDs where the opening scene was John King asking what makes airplanes fly. He joked with the answer: money. I just didn't realize how dead serious he was. Money flies airplanes. Your money. And when you're working for the airlines, you're still paying. You're paying with the money they're not giving you. You're paying with your sacrifices away from home.

Any other questions?

To the original poster, FlyingNinja is probably the posterchild for why you should not go to programs such as Comair (Delta Connection or whatever it is called now) or CAPT that offer BS at the end of their extremely expensive program. Any school with airline agreement letters framed all over the walls is probably a scam. Any program that offers you a guaranteed airline interview would also fit into this.

With 1,000 hour total and some multi, you should be able to go to a regional airline. My suggestion would be to fly turboprops. These airlines often require even less time than a RJ airline, and upgrade times are usually much faster. 121 PIC time is they key. Airlines look for good people with good instrument skills and knowledge. Their future training is supposed to take care of everything else. Don't let anyone tell you anything differently.

 

[Flying Ninja]

Ninja,

No offense, but you lost your passion because you got burned immediatly. I think you'd feel different if you had been more patient, kept out of debt, and had a backup plan.

No offense taken. I've already had my fill from CAPT. Patient? Well, when you were proactive about your career placement before you graduated and was promptly ignored and delayed by the program...I think I was plenty patient and plenty active in taking ownership for my placement future. But with the low time you come out of CAPT with, you needed them big time.

Kept out of debt? Yeah, that would have been nice but I also wouldn't have been able to try to do it if I went that route.

Backup plan? It's already in progress. I'm back working so that my pay checks can go directly to my lender. After 5 years, I'll be able to move from lettus washing to the grill...and then assistant manager. That's when the big bucks comes in!

 

[kevdog]

No offense taken. I've already had my fill from CAPT. Patient? Well, when you were proactive about your career placement before you graduated and was promptly ignored and delayed by the program...I think I was plenty patient and plenty active in taking ownership for my placement future. But with the low time you come out of CAPT with, you needed them big time.

Kept out of debt? Yeah, that would have been nice but I also wouldn't have been able to try to do it if I went that route.

Backup plan? It's already in progress. I'm back working so that my pay checks can go directly to my lender. After 5 years, I'll be able to move from lettus washing to the grill...and then assistant manager. That's when the big bucks comes in!

With your time you could get 91 jobs such as instructing, flying skydivers, banners, traffic watch, whatever. if you want to fly, don't let a program like CAPT mess with you. This is a tough industry and consider it a big lesson. There will be many more ahead!

 

[Flying Ninja]

With your time you could get 91 jobs such as instructing, flying skydivers, banners, traffic watch, whatever. if you want to fly, don't let a program like CAPT mess with you. This is a tough industry and consider it a big lesson. There will be many more ahead!

Already explored those options where I'm at. You don't get CFI out of CAPT and I don't have money to dump into getting that certification. I tried contacting a few meat missile outfits but nobody replied back to me. Same with banner towing. As for traffic watch, I haven't been able to find who to contact about that around here.

Yes it was a huge lesson. And there will be more I'm sure.

 

[kevdog]

Already explored those options where I'm at. You don't get CFI out of CAPT and I don't have money to dump into getting that certification. I tried contacting a few meat missile outfits but nobody replied back to me. Same with banner towing. As for traffic watch, I haven't been able to find who to contact about that around here.

Yes it was a huge lesson. And there will be more I'm sure.

There is nothing like being a meat missle! But you have to realize you aren't going to get a job in a turbine without experience at a dropzone. Mins are usually 1,000 hours for insurance. What state do you live in?
There are Cessna dropzones all over the country in mass numbers.
Check out http://uspa.org/dz/index.htm for a listing of all dropzones.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

If I wanted to check out another flight school, would I be able to sign up for a demo flight with them now that I have already had one? Or is it just a matter now of talking to their CFI in order to decide who to pick. I'm thinking that taking a flight with a CFI is a good way to see how I would feel taking lessons from that person. Or os that just wrong? Do you choose a flight school or instructor simply on the basis of a meeting or interview?

Congratulations on taking that big step. There's a lot of folks out there who have this inner yearning to learn to fly and be a part of aviation but allow their inhibitions to prevent them from accomplishing it. I sat on the sidelines for a little while in college before ever taking any lessons.

I myself became immensely interested in aviation but thought it wasn't for me. I feared that it wasn't something I would be able to do both financially and competently. So I read a bunch of books on the flying culture, aerodynamics, rules etc. before ever taking that intro flight. I'll never forget my experience - from that day on I was hooked. It happened on a hot sunny day in the summer. The CFI took me up for 1/2 an hour in a beat up Tomahawk and 1 year later I began taking lessons for my Private pilot. Since then, I obtained all of my ratings through CFI and began to teach. Money was a big factor so I had to stretch all of my training over the course of several years at different part 61 schools.

As far as taking another demo flight, that shouldn't be necessary. The intro flights really serve to get people introduced into the world of flying so that they might continue to fly and take lessons. Sounds like you're already hooked. Another thing is that intro flights aren't real lessons. They bypass a lot of things you'll eventually need to know. The next flight should be an official lesson, beginning with a thorough explanation of the preflight.

It's not uncommon to have a few different instructors over the course of ones training. You'll find that some instructors will put you more at ease and this will ultimately help you learn faster and better. For now, it wouldn't hurt to speak with some of the CFI's to assess their personalities, but you may want to at least start with one and take it from there and see how things go. Also, different instructors offer different perspectives on things and you'll learn more by flying with different pilots.

As far as a career change, I'd say go for it. You're never too old if it's what you want to do which it sounds like, I'm hoping you begin lessons soon. You'll never regret one hour in the air. As you've indicated, flying isn't all that hard and you seem to have grasped some of the basic fundamentals. It just takes some commitment and money. There are plenty of loan options should you require it. You might also want to invest in a PC based flight simulator with a yoke as this will do wonders for your procedural stuff, especially when you move on to the instrument rating. This will all help save money in the long run.

Keep posting questions as they surface.

 

[777-2H4]

Boy...there's no shortage of negative feelings on this board!! FlyingNinja, sorry to hear about your experience. Like the other poster I think if you had a different experience the outcome would have been a bit more positive.

Can MS Flight Sim really help you practice? How well does it simulate real-world flying in a C172? Probably not too well I'd guess because there's no wind to compensate for?

Another thing I worry about is my location. If I went thru the training I might have another strike against me in the job search because I don't live in a big city. We only have 1 airport here and probably not a lot of flight students. one school posts their schedule online, and they have 14 instructors but only 7 of them have any students today, and only 1 of those has 5 bookings while the others have 1 booked. Not hard to see who is the busy instructor there!

 

[Flying Ninja]

MS Flight Sim can help you to a degree. You can use it as a "procedure trainer" to help you with your flows and checklist usage and instrument scanning. As far as comparing the flying "feel" on a computer vs. the real thing, there is none. But if you fly enough Flight Sim, the real deal somehow feels less real. I remember my first real flight with my CFI. It felt like I was still flying Flight Sim out there. That quickly disappeared when the landing phase came into play.

You don't have to live in a big city to be competitive. When you apply to a regional airline, you'll most likely need to move to a domicile (base) where you'll spend most of your time (or commute to it if it's possible from your home town).

 

[777-2H4]

You don't have to live in a big city to be competitive. When you apply to a regional airline, you'll most likely need to move to a domicile (base) where you'll spend most of your time (or commute to it if it's possible from your home town).

But if I don't want to go to a Regional.....there may be fewer options.

 

[kevdog]

But if I don't want to go to a Regional.....there may be fewer options.

What are you goals?

 

[TriStar_drvr]

So today for the first time I actually got to "fly" an airplane! I've always been an aviation nut but its been growing....took an airshow quickie ride a few weeks ago, had a sit-down consultation with a CFI, and signed up for the ride...

Congrats 777. Were you grinning from ear to ear when you first felt the airplane respond to your control inputs? I can't remember that first lesson, but I still remember my first solo 25 years ago. Thank God the internet wasn't around then and I had to read dozens of responses about what a crappy career aviation is now. Instead, I hope you enjoyed the moment, and won't let the naysayers on this board ruin the memories of your first flight.

Find a good instructor and revel in the experience of learning to fly. Read all you can about learning to fly, and for the time being, forget about the future, and any career aspirations that may come later.

Study hard, come to the airport prepared to learn, and soon you too will experience that first solo flight, a moment that you will never forget.

Again, congrats on taking the first step to becoming a pilot. Hopefully, the passion will stay with you for the rest of your life, whether you choose this as a career or not.

 

[wrxpilot]

No offense taken. I've already had my fill from CAPT. Patient? Well, when you were proactive about your career placement before you graduated and was promptly ignored and delayed by the program...I think I was plenty patient and plenty active in taking ownership for my placement future. But with the low time you come out of CAPT with, you needed them big time.

Kept out of debt? Yeah, that would have been nice but I also wouldn't have been able to try to do it if I went that route.

Backup plan? It's already in progress. I'm back working so that my pay checks can go directly to my lender. After 5 years, I'll be able to move from lettus washing to the grill...and then assistant manager. That's when the big bucks comes in!

Flying Ninja,

You sound like a good guy, it's a real shame this happened to you. I bet you'll just be stronger for it though... Good luck!

 

[pilothouston123]

get all the money together you can and get your private. Make sure you can spend the time to get-r-done in about 2-3 months min. Remeber the private is a lifetime certificate.
it's really frustrating at times. but flying is like nothing else. Picking up a pay every two weeks for it is pretty cool

 

[777-2H4]

What are you goals?

Well, I was thinking maybe air charter/air taxi?? Is the job market any better for those than the airlines? Flight instructing wouldn't be bad either, if only the pay was better....