Whats up?
Im interested in beginning a career as a pilot. I have a few questions though...
1.) Is Hortman Aviation a good school and price for ratings?
2.) Is $60,000 for Private pilots license, Instrument and Commercial Pilots license, Certified Flight Instructor license, Certified Instrument Instructor license, MEI license, and ATP license too much money or is it average?
3.) Do I need ALL the licenses listed above?
4.) Can I take out student loans for the courses and training and how?
5.) What can I expect career wise and is it worth it???
Thank you...
What's up? Probably not even the birds around here tonight, considering the weather.
1. Never heard of them. I'll let you decide.
2. $60K if you were really getting a new 1500 hour ATP would be a steal. Basic math shows that would be $40/hr. Since I doubt that's really what you're getting and you're probably getting 250-300 hours for that money, $60K turns out to be $240/hr for 250 hours or $200/hr for 300 hours. That number wasn't exactly hard to come up with, and now you can compare to other places that charge by the hour for the aircraft and the instructor, often separately. (Why am I doing your homework for you? Do some simple division next time.)
3. Probably. You build flight time by teaching (someone younger/less experienced than you is paying you to teach them and you get to log the flight time) or by buying it, in the commercial pilot biz. At least until you finally get a paid job and someone pays you to fly.
4. Colleges with degree programs often pair up with or have their own FAA part 141 schools, which is a special training setup that qualifies for student NEED. This doesn't mean you'll necessarily qualify for student LOANS to meet the full need. How much of your education have you already saved up for, or are your folks helping, and have you talked to them about how much they were planning on spending on you if anything? How much debt were you planning on carrying after school into adulthood and how long will it take to pay off at typical pilot salaries for pilots in their first five to ten years of their career? What's your planned budget look like? As far as your question goes, you apply for student aid every semester or year just like any other student, but you have a higher number listed as your NEED if you're doing a Part 141 school in conjunction with an aviation degree program. If you're doing your training under Part 61, the Feds will give you no additional student loan NEED in your annual number. But Part 61 can be significantly cheaper if you find the right aircraft and instructor. Many people recommend not getting an aviation specific degree so you have other knowledge to fall back on for a "regular" job. Kinda depends on you and what you feel comfortable with.
5. Can't answer what you can expect for a career. I'll let the pros here answer that. There's message boards full of happy people making very little money but doing what that like for a living, and there's horror stories of 20 person crash pads in lovely places like Newark. Heh. It's mostly up to you and what you want for a life. The one thing that's a given is your company and your seniority number is your life if you go to the airlines. It doesn't matter if you're freakin' Sean Tucker and can fly anything with wings in your sleep, if you hold a low seniority number, you'll be sitting reserve in some really crappy places for a while. Conversely if you make it 20 years without your airline furloughing you, and have a nice high number, you can bid routes you like and fly with people you like. It's all relative. Either you like flying enough that all the silliness doesn't bother you, or your don't and you're miserable.
Other life things: Starting a family while you're young and on the road all the time is also typically known to be very difficult. Takes a special spouse to survive the constant travel. Some pilots get lucky and have one. Lots are on divorce number three and paying big child support and alimony checks. Heh.
You rolls the dice, you takes your chances. Welcome to life.
Most pro pilots I've met who "made it" were ruthless about their finances all the way from starting until decades into their careers. Not a penny wasted. Cheap doesn't begin to describe them, but they're not unhappy about it. They actually seem to enjoy it.
Not very many fat flight instructors out there either... They don't seem to eat much. Plus they know they lose chubby students when they can't both get in a cheap small trainer and be within weight and balance limits.
Nothing stopping you from having a normal job and flying like mad... A really good regular job that pays really well, you can buy an airplane yourself and afford to feed it fuel and maintenance indefinitely and go flying every weekend. Many young people miss this option. The guy picking up the trash on the trash truck every week at your house probably makes more money annually than most pilots make for the first five to ten years of their careers. The pilot will eventually surpass the trash truck guy, but the trash truck guy can probably afford to co-own an airplane with a few buddies and go flying whenever he wants.
Plenty of ways to skin the cat, when it comes to flying.
I'd say, go spend some bucks on the Private rating, NEVER pay anyone up-front for flight time, and go see if you like it. If that place wants their $60K up front, tell them to pound sand. Lots of schools have taken people's money and then they show up one day and the school is bankrupt and the doors are locked. Don't fall for that trap.
Good luck with it. Let us know how you're doing.
