What should I do im 17

[LeadSolo]

I agree with you pilotyip. There are many options for a new pilot out there on the military side. I know from the Marine Corps' perspective this is an exciting time to be in aviation. V-22 is on line and will deploy early next year if not sooner. By the time a 17 year old gets to the fleet, we'll be looking at squadrons of JSFs as well.

 

[Kaudbron]

There is a good reason to go to an aviation school, and that would be......

If you don't give two craps about any other degree subject other then an aviation based degree.

 

[silver02ex]

I think there's many different opinion on this subject, but I wanted to go the cheapest way. I got my private and instrument in high school. After graduation I went to a 141 school / community college, and got the rest of my certifcates and ratings. After that i was a CFI for 2 years. I'm in my 7th month of flying freight now (single pilot IFR in the NW) I don't regret anything that I did.

 

[galaxy5]

Nick,
You're doing something here that a bunch of your peers in high school don't do, think about what they're going to do after college. This industry is in flux but will come back in some form or another. You need to be prepared for anything. Couple of things to think about.

Military option. A very good choice IF you ready to take on a long committment and are prepared to be an officer first. Look at Academies, ROTC, OTS and the Guard and Reserves (is Florida one of those states that pays your tuition if you are in the guard while you're in school?).

Just fly option. If you think that being in the air in any way, shape, or form is all you care about then the part time college, while flying, option might work. You might be a bit young to jump in with both feet on that option. While to the novice it may seem that flying is the beat-all end-all of existance (it's pretty close) there are other things that will shape your decisions as you get older.

ERAU or another school. I had to make the same decision in high school. After the military academy option didn't work out I narrowed my choices down to ERAU and a Florida public university. I chose the public university for the better education (IMO), cheaper education, more degree options, and I didn't like the idea of eating, drinking, and sleeping aviation for 4 years.

Good luck!

 

[galaxy5]

.....

 

[NJAPLT]

Wow, a lot of opinions on this topic, I'll add my two cents.

I went to an aviation college on the east coast of Florida, FIT. Here is their web site for the university and the flight line.
http://www.fit.edu/
http://www.fitaviation.com/

I would highly recommend getting college, even if not an aviation one. My last job was with a commuter airline, and most of the pilots already had degrees. Our chief pilot did not have one, and he could not get interview with even low cost or startup carriers such as Frontier Airlines, while his line pilots with much less time and connections were getting them. A few of the pilots were doing the 4 year correspondence degrees; needless to say it was a huge strain on them, especially after being out of school several years prior. Also, most were taking several years doing the online degrees. Basically, having a college degree might not be stated on the minimums with an airline, but it is always part of the competitive minimums. (Remember, the military services also have colleges too, called academies, where you will get a degree, aloing with your comission.) Without a four year degree in something, even underwater BB stacking, you realistically will not advance past the commuter airline level.

I loved the aviation college experience for the most part. I chose a degree in Aviation Management Flight Technology, which is a combination of Business Management, Airway Science, and Pilot School. The reason I chose this degree is that not only did it have flight school, but also had a fallback business degree in case of loss of medical, etc.

A lot of people have mentioned how the cost is high, and I will confirm that to some extent. But be aware that not only student loans (which you have to pay back), but also tuition wavers are part of a financial aid package. I had over $20,000 given to me by FIT during the four years of college, which worked out to about 25% off of the cost of my college degree. Also, being a college course, government student loans are available, while I doubt that you can get with a mom and pop flight school. I think only private loans are available at mom and pop flight schools.

Another positive of the college flying experience is that you are a known quantity, similar to military pilot. Employers don't like to take risk, so if they have had several great pilots from a particular college they will tend to rank another applicant from that same college higher, as they know if they graduated that program the know their stuff. In addition many of the college flight programs have made deals to get interviews with commuter airlines after graduation. Of course the specifics very by program to program, but some of them will put the top percentage of the class into the right seat of an RJ after graduation. Of course, I would research any of those programs carefully for specifics.

The downside of the go to school and take flight on the side program is that life tends to get in the way of actually flying. Exams, part time work, the girlfriend who wants to go away for a weekend, etc. all contribute to people putting off flying lessons, or having them spaced out. Eventually, when college classes become harder, they may take a semester off from flying, which tends to lead to more long breaks from flying and never finishing getting their certificates.

Other good aviation colleges besides FIT that I can think of off of the top of my head are Embry-Riddle (apply to both campuses individually), University of North Dakota, St. Louis University (they are a religious school), and Daniel Webster University.

Feel Free to PM me about FIT, or other questions, if you care to.

 

[pilotyip]

NJAPLT here is list of places I know have hired pilots in the last seven years without a degree. SWA, JB, NWA, UAL, AirTran, according to Air Inc SWA hires 15% non-colege grads, JB 22% non grads, etc. Yes you can progress beyond the regional without a degree. I have seen it happen too many times. Remember only 4 airlines out of 172 persently hiring make the degree a shop stopper. Do not waste your time in college getting a useless degree in basketweaving. Flight time gets jobs.

 

[NJAPLT]

Add Frontier to that list of places that have hired without degrees, the chief pilot I knew got on with them, but it took him a while longer (several years, in my opinion, that is) than if he was able to check the degree box. I wonder what the percentage of nonmilitary, no college degree applicants get hired? Further, I wonder how many didn't have college degrees that were not part of preferential hiring (i.e. white male pilots)? It would make an interesting statistcal analysis.

By the way, did those statistics come from EEOC, Air Inc., FAA or somewhere else? EDIT: (Nevermind, I reread it and saw that you credited Air Inc.) 15% to 22% sounds high to me. I think Air Inc gets their statistics from people sending them data once they are hired, so they don't count every sucessful hire, just the people that bothered to fill out and send in a form. I don't know how scientific that really is.

I've always been told that once you reach competitive flight times, more time really doesn't really help much. At least, that's the advice I had been given through the years. (My favorite advice was from a retired Western Airlines pilot who told me to fake a logbook and go to the airlines; I decided not to take that advice.)

I've based my advice on what I have personally scene in this industry (been working full time about 10 years as a pilot or flight instructor.) I'm sure with your ratings you have been in this industry longer than me though. Still, I'm just giving my opinion based on my experiences.

Last January, I had an a freak accident where I broke up my leg and knee pretty well. For a while they wern't sure if I would be reable to regain my medical again. I was fortunate to have a good doctor and some brand new medical tech they put in my knee, so I only have a very slight limp after all the rehab, and have no problems with my medical. If the worst had happened, I would have been unable to be a pilot, but I still had a degree to fall back on. Without the degree I would not be competive in nonaviation jobs (except asking if the customer wanted fries with that.)

Food for thought for the young man/woman to think about while they are deciding what to do after high school.

 

[NJAPLT]

I just looked up some statistics on college education for the general population. For the year 2003, 27 percent of the US population has college degrees. Yet, using Air Inc's statistics, those 27 percent obtained over 75 percent of the jobs (worse case.) Leaving the other 73 percent of people to the other 25 percent of the jobs.

Of course, I don't know the actual number of applicants who had degrees vs the general US population. Still, it hints at having a college degree will be a great benefit vs not having one.

If anyone cares to read further, here is the reference I used:
http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p20-550.pdf

 

[UndauntedFlyer]

Previously posted on another thread:

High School to the Airlines – Simplified Roadmap to success!

How does a 16-year old high school student get from there to the airlines?

First, everyone’s situation is somewhat different. But in general, aiming to somehow have a job as a CFI while in college is the first good idea. If a person can figure out how to get the money in order to get their Commercial-Instrument and Multiengine ratings while in high school they’ll have the battle half won before that first day of college. Students who enter college with all the ratings are light-years ahead of everyone else. While in high school, a 250-hour “controlled” part 61 program is probably the best approach. Such a program needs to be custom designed with the flight school to include 50 to 100 hours of multiengine time within the 250-hours. .

Choose a college with an aviation program and one where you’ll be sure to get a CFI job either at the college or at the FBO. This is a must in order to have spending money in your pocket and to have a feeling of being on the faculty team. In order to get the CFI job it’s probably be necessary to use one semester at that school to train for your CFI certificate. That way the school will get to know you and you’ll be on an inside track for the CFI job.

It’s good to go to an aviation college or university because such schools usually have several aviation clubs. Join these clubs. The students that you’ll meet in the clubs will be your fiends for a life, plus they’ll also provide networking opportunities for later employment. Camaraderie with the other students of similar interest is a very big plus for choosing the aviation colleges.

It is not necessary to major in an aviation degree program unless you’re a total prop-head. For all the reason shown in the “Biggest lie in Aviation” thread, it’s probably better to major in something of your special interest besides Aviation. This will provide a back-up degree.

After graduation you’ll have probably 800-hours and maybe you’ll have picked up some more multiengine time along the way. These qualifications will probably be enough for a regional airline job.

After a few years you’ll be a CRJ or whatever captain. After about 2-years in the captain position you will be qualified for any major airline or corporate job in the world.

Words or caution, don’t commute to a regional job or your life will be a living hell. Most such people come to hate their work so much that they burn out and change careers. Living local is the only way to do the job. Even with the majors, commuting is hell. No time at home leads to failed marriages and other personal problems.

Good luck.

Questions/comments are welcome.