Where to fly?

[roundout]

It makes more sense to me to make them optional

me too. i wish they were optional. the cost of training CFI part 141 is way too high. for commercial/multi/instrument training the part 141 was really beneficial because the total time requirement is 198 hours (where to apply for commercial part 61 you need 250TT). but for CFI it starts to get really expensive and drawn out. i know there are places where you get your CFI/II in 30 days for like 5 grand. i'm going to end up spending 5 grand over the course of an entire semester, wasting some time, just for the CFI. then in the fall it'll be another semester and another 5 grand to learn the ins and outs of the garmin 430 (could just read the manual, you know). hell, i'd rather teach IFR in airplanes with 2 navs and no GPS, but that's not the way we do it here. i know sure as sh*t i'll be doing me MEI elsewhere, in the hopes that if i train MEI somewhere i want to teach, perhaps i'll be able to salvage a CFI-ing job out of it.

 

[mudkow60]

Look into Airzona State University (ASU)... they have a pilot program, the city is loads of fun, and the chicks... nowhere finer!

 

[JJGMADDOG]

UND has got a great aviation program. But take this advice for what its worth.....screw the aviation degree....Get a degree in Business or something concrete to fall back on.....and get your ratings there or at an FBO . Why?? Because this career is filled with uncertainity, unstablity and setbacks.

How do I know?....Because I'm furloughed from the Majors wondering what the hell I"m going to do with an aviation degree.



UND class of 91'

 

[Dutch]

Look into Airzona State University (ASU)... they have a pilot program, the city is loads of fun, and the chicks... nowhere finer!

MMMMMMMM, ASU girls. Spent every weekend of my junior year in Tempe.

Dutch

 

[Lazy8]

Regarding UND and ERAU. I went to ERAU's Daytona Campus for two years before transferring out. I thought the classes were great, but the cost of the school isn't justified. I was riding mainly on student loans and if I had graduated from there I would have had $110,000 worth of debt for classes, housing, and flight training. I wish I had taken the time to figure that out before I started at ERAU, but as they say "live and learn". Anyway, my point is don't get caught up in the big name "aviation" schools. If I could have done it all over again I would have stayed at a in-state public University and got a degree in something else. You don't have to pay oodles of cash for your education to network yourself into the industry. Also, as far as finding a college with serious minded students who don't drink and party... good luck! All the Aerospace Science majors received a letter while I was attended ERAU stating 90% of alcohol related problems on campus were being caused by the pilot majors. What else do you do when you go to a school where there's about 12 guys for every girl....

Anyway, that's just my experience.

Grove

 

[pilotman2105]

Aren't 90% of the students at ERAU pilot majors? If not, I would think that a substantial portion of them are.

 

[pilotman2105]

I stand corrected.

According to here 1540 students are in the Aeronautical Science program. Same page also says that 4,518 are enrolled. That is only 34.08%.

For those people who are dying to know, this site says that there are 4657 men and 918 women. That is a men:women ratio of 5.07:1.

Still pretty sh*ty.

PM

 

[Lazy8]

When I attended ERAU there were roughly 1,000 pilot majors out of about 4,000 students. The rest are Aeronautical Engineering, Engineering Physics, Computer Science, Human Factors, Business, etc....

Looks like the guy/girl ratio has gotten better. Although there's quite a lot of room for improvement

G

 

[JB74]

Pilots I know are surprised when I tell them how many non aero sci guys there are at Riddle.

When I left DAB in '99, there were more engineering/business students than there were flight students. I always got the "why are you here if you don't fly", but you would be surprised how many Riddlites are out there in the non aviaton world.

Landed my first post college job (accounting) because of Riddle. Interviewer turned out to be a Riddlite...sweet..talk about easy interview.

Guess I am taking the backwards approach...
...big aviaton college....experience in backup career (accounting)...flight training....????

And yes, the girl/guy ratio definitely sucked then too.

 

[UND84]

Thank you everyone for your responses. If one got a degree at a state college in something other than aviation, what is the best method to obtain your ratings? FBO? a program like ATP? Thanks for all the info!

 

[labbats]

I was just talking to a student about this today.

Knowing what I know now, I'd go to AllATPs and get every rating there. Multi is everything and they only hire from within.

 

[Lazy8]

UND84,

It's all dependant upon the person and situation. The best thing I could have done was start and finish at a state college and then get my ratings after or during school. Unfortunately, the only thing I knew about flight training was the huge ads I saw in different flying magazines. Flying at a FBO that has freelance instructing is getting to be a iffy thing these days as far as record keeping and airplane condition go. If you do go that route try and find a place that keeps new planes and employs their flight instructors. It's fine to fly in older airplanes, but once you've gone new you won't go back. Trust me it's worth the extra cash to train in new up-to-date equipment. I'm not bashing freelance guys by any means, I'm just saying it's nicer to learn in a more structured environment. I've had friends go through AllATPs and they really enjoyed it. Another one I would suggest checking out is Flight Safety International. While Flight Safety is probably more expensive you'll get tons of multi-engine time if you stick it out and instruct there.

That's another question you should ask yourself when looking at potentional flight training locations/FBO's. Ask yourself would YOU want to instruct there when you're at that point. Talk to the people, see how they operate, do they have standard operating procedures, do they keep neat organized maintainence records, is the environment friendly, are they financially sound, can you live off of the pay, do the current students enjoy it, etc... There are flight schools out there I like to call "pilot factories" that pay their instructors $10/hour as a CFI and then there are the diamond in the roughs that have better equipment and facilities that pay CFI's $24/hour + benefits.

G

 

[labbats]

See if they pay your insurance for you and factor in cost of living.

$15 an hour in the midwest with insurance paid is actually pretty decent. You'd be foolish to compare that to $30 an hour in San Francisco and having to pay your own insurance. A quick analogy I tell my students is how I applied to one place that offered $350 salary a week regardless of hours, and I thought I couldn't live off of that. Then I took a job somewhere local and wound up making half of that. I'm glad I chose the route I did, but it was certainly a surprise. I'd guess the average instructor makes about $10,000-12,000 a year right off the bat. Don't fool yourself into thinking you'll make more than that. You won't.

Also see how many flight hours a year the instructors are getting. Ask them all and listen to the ones you trust on first sight. Asking the school is asking for exaggeration.

 

[Lazy8]

Average annual income out of 25 flight instructors where I work is $23,000/year per instructor. The company insures them.

G

 

[labbats]

I stand corrected.

What's the cost of living and the minimum time required to instruct there?

 

[Lazy8]

No minimum time to be hired. Most of all the instructors did their training with us though. One bedroom apartments in decent areas here cost about $600/month plus utilities.

G

 

[BoilerUP]

Holy crap, thats pretty nice!

Where are you at, and are they hiring?