Resuming Flight Training, Financial aid?

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Gideon Brillantes

Filing Flight Plan
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May 24, 2016
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Brillantes
As the title says, I would like to resume flight training ASAP.

I currently have logged 45+ hrs of flight time for a private pilot license, but, and I say this pitifully, I haven't been able to solo due to a certain money sapping flight school I attended a few years ago. That being said, I was, and still believe myself to be, fairly adept at flying as it was a skill I've yearned for since childhood.

The last time I had flown was about 2 years ago, at the age of 17, I began flying about 3.5 years ago. As such, my medical may be outdated (I'll have to double check, forgot the coverage of a 3rd class (?) medical). In any case, I'll be reviewing the related materials so I can get back up to speed, and ace the written exam so I can start flying again.

My one concern is financing. It is one of the reasons why I had to put a halt to my training, and right now my current finances are focused on college, currently a mechanical engineering major and Army ROTC minor, for which I have 2 more years before grad. I was wondering if there are any sources I can engage with for help with financing flight school, such as scholarships, financial aid, or loans.

My end goal with this flying career I want to develop is to hopefully get a job in the civilian world as a commercial pilot flying for the airlines on international routes! It's been a dream of mine to fly the jumbo jets! :)

Any help is appreciated!
 
not much help except to say your medical should be good for 5 years. after 40, it drops to 2.
 
Financing flight lessons is a really bad idea. Finish school (with no debt), then worry about flying (with no debt). You can't afford to fly right now
 
Do you mind if I ask why Mechanical Engineering if you're planning to make a career in flying? I would take the money you're spending on that and enroll at a University that specializes in flight training. You would still have a potential military route to pay for things as well, but I'm not very familiar with what options are out there on that front.
Do your best to avoid debt as much as possible because it will haunt you for decades if you're not careful. (don't ask me how I know) o_O
 
Gideon Brillantes said:
My one concern is financing. It is one of the reasons why I had to put a halt to my training, and right now my current finances are focused on college, currently a mechanical engineering major and Army ROTC minor, for which I have 2 more years before grad. I was wondering if there are any sources I can engage with for help with financing flight school, such as scholarships, financial aid, or loans.

My end goal with this flying career I want to develop is to hopefully get a job in the civilian world as a commercial pilot flying for the airlines on international routes! It's been a dream of mine to fly the jumbo jets! :)
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Why Army ROTC if your goal is to fly jets? If you want to make it to one of the big airlines, going the Army route is likely to slow you down considerably.
 
tuwood said:
Do you mind if I ask why Mechanical Engineering if you're planning to make a career in flying? I would take the money you're spending on that and enroll at a University that specializes in flight training. You would still have a potential military route to pay for things as well, but I'm not very familiar with what options are out there on that front.
Do your best to avoid debt as much as possible because it will haunt you for decades if you're not careful. (don't ask me how I know) o_O
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The main reason why I didn't do it is because you can fly on the side and get another degree for a lot less money. I graduated with a BA in Economics with little debt and finishing up airline training next month.
 
You don't need to Ace any exam to resume training. You may have to pass the school's test to solo. You will need to pass the FAA written to take the practical and oral.
 
jordane93 said:
The main reason why I didn't do it is because you can fly on the side and get another degree for a lot less money. I graduated with a BA in Economics with little debt and finishing up airline training next month.
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This was my thought process as well. I figured I'd grab a reasonable degree to secure a plan B in case I had troubles with flying, and engineering was the best option as I can still go into the aerospace field with the degree.

Cooter143 said:
Why Army ROTC if your goal is to fly jets? If you want to make it to one of the big airlines, going the Army route is likely to slow you down considerably.
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I know, I initially was going to go through AFROTC but I had some shortcomings that led to me joining Army ROTC. In any case, there is still the C-130 that I can fly in the Army, if anything :p

tuwood said:
Do you mind if I ask why Mechanical Engineering if you're planning to make a career in flying? I would take the money you're spending on that and enroll at a University that specializes in flight training. You would still have a potential military route to pay for things as well, but I'm not very familiar with what options are out there on that front.
Do your best to avoid debt as much as possible because it will haunt you for decades if you're not careful. (don't ask me how I know) o_O
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I've been paying off school out of pocket the first two years, and just this past year I used loans, scholarships should take care of the rest of my time. Since I'm going in-state, tuition is only ~$4000 compared to the 5-6 figure debts others may be dealing with. Going with either engineering or commercial flying, plus military pay, should easily take care of the college loans. I'm just concerned about what I'd have to do for the flight training.
 
Mason said:
You don't need to Ace any exam to resume training. You may have to pass the school's test to solo. You will need to pass the FAA written to take the practical and oral.
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I was ready for those by the time I started flight training, I just never got to that point where I could take them because the flight school kept telling me, and several friends of mine who were taking it simultaneously, that for whatever reason we could not continue. At this point, only a couple of them were able to get their license, whereas many of them are still are trying to get back into flying.
 
If you want to complete the private certificate in the most efficient way, resume your training only after you have the cash required to do so lined up, whether in the bank or committed and immediately-available financing; then, resume training with high frequency (2-3 lessons/week, minimum). It will save money, because less lost between lessons.
 
You can get C-12s out of flight school in the Army but they don't have C-130s. Of course they'll be getting hand me down A-10s from the AF soon. :DYou'd have to get accepted first though. Only so many commissioned slots available.

Going jets after Army aviation really isn't all that unheard of. They even have their own website (APTAP). As said above, odds would be better in another branch though.
 
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I googled it and there are a bunch of links but I didn't look at any of them. There were a few that had the word scholarship.
 
Almost every one of my friends who graduated this year with Civil or Mechanical Engineering degrees and did Airforce ROTC are going to be pilots in the Airforce...have you checked to see if flying in the Army is a possibility for you after you graduate??
 
Velocity173 said:
You can get C-12s out of flight school in the Army but they don't have C-130s. Of course they'll be getting hand me down A-10s from the AF soon. :DYou'd have to get accepted first though. Only so many commissioned slots available.

Going jets after Army aviation really isn't all that unheard of. They even have their own website (APTAP). As said above, odds would be better in another branch though.
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I agree, odds definitely would be better going into aviation within another branch, but my institution only offers air force and army ROTC programs, and air force ROTC is currently not an option I can consider without risking not being commissioned, and commission with a pilot slot at that. I know there are ways to switch services later while serving, i.e. switch from Army to Air force while retaining rank.

CC268 said:
Almost every one of my friends who graduated this year with Civil or Mechanical Engineering degrees and did Airforce ROTC are going to be pilots in the Airforce...have you checked to see if flying in the Army is a possibility for you after you graduate??
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It's definitely not unheard of for many engineers to go into Air force, and get selected to acquire a rated slot as a pilot. It's pretty much what the Air Force is infamous for. The Army, like any other branch of service, still has some, if not the same, possibility to become a pilot. In the case of the Army, the becoming a pilot generally would mean becoming a helo pilot, since they do not operate many fixed-wing aircraft for warfare purposes.
 
Hell id go be a heli pilot! That would be awesome
 
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Gideon Brillantes said:
Yeah! The CH-47 Chinook is actually a a favorite of mine, so I wouldn't mind flying something like that haha
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Yuck. Take a cylinder, round it at the ends and put two rotors on top. Ugliest thing flying...just don't tell my friends that. ;)

Seriously though their pilots are very passionate about flying them and they're highly sought after in flight school. Just not many offered in each class. They're quick for a helicopter, I can tell you that. Not bad in the lifting category either.
 
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