Student Pilot Dilemma

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richardywang

Filing Flight Plan
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Jul 13, 2014
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Hey guys I need some advice on what I should do. I started training at a flight school a few months back. I thought I would be able to get my PPL before I head off the college which starts in Fall due to some financial issues that came up, I don't think that will be possible.
As of right now I have around 20 hours of flight time. I don't care how long it takes for me to get my PPL, I just love flying. It could be a possible career choice. So I thought I would just build as much hours as I can with the current instructor I have now (who I absolutely love) and then when I move away for school. I'll finish it up there. However, I will only be able to train once a week or every other week. Would this be a wise plan?
 
Financial is easy to solve. Cut out leisure activities and get busy with additional jobs like pizza delivery, dog cleaning, house walking, lawn mowing, and more.... Should take that long to build up $3000-4000 if you set a survival bare bones expense budget. Then get busy training.
 
So you are saying I should just stop flight training and just focus on building up money?
 
Get the money first, then continue your training. If you keep on starting and stopping with your training, you'll just drag it out and end up paying more
 
I figured paying as you go would have worked out. But, I suppose I got no choice but to stop for now. Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated!
 
Personally, I liked doubling up and doing 2 hour lessons with my CFI. I'd mostly do at least one of those per week, sometimes a few...and once I was checked out to solo I'd try to get out by myself at least once every week or other week for pattern work or head out to the practice area. The 2 hour lessons save you some $$, IMHO. The time you spend on pre-flights, taxi, runups, getting gas, etc... doing multiple 1 hour lessons adds up.

I agree with the other folks - get to work and get some cash reserves and get going. IMHO, you need at least a couple hours a week to keep constant movement forward. You can get by with a week here and there off but a couple hours a month and you are going to drag it out and it's going to end up costing you a lot more in the long run.
 
I agree with the others saying wait until you have the funds to make steady progress. People generally don't progress well doing one flight every two weeks.
 
I have always advised folks to save up 1/2 to 2/3's of the needed money for training. Then the can open the tap at the bottom and start training, why adding the remaining at the top.

Then as we are all saying, the student can eliminate lack of funding as the reason they must stop training, and can hopefully work a twice-a-week schedule as we frequently suggest.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Financial is easy to solve. Cut out leisure activities and get busy with additional jobs like pizza delivery, dog cleaning, house walking, lawn mowing, and more.... Should take that long to build up $3000-4000 if you set a survival bare bones expense budget. Then get busy training.
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All while going to college?

It's not as easy as it was 20 years ago, even at a public university. The days of a few hundred in fees are gone.
 
MAKG1 said:
All while going to college?

It's not as easy as it was 20 years ago, even at a public university. The days of a few hundred in fees are gone.
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The way I read the OP, he has yet to report to campus. So he has time to get busy and make money.

Lawn mowing is easily scalable. The guy I hire for my place asks $60 (front, back, bushes, edging) and is there maybe 30 minutes (smaller place, and he's good and quick). Figure 15 minutes travel to the next job, and it's possible to do 13 jobs in a 10 hour day. That's $780/day. 5 days a week, that's $3900. Even with deducting gasoline for the power equipment and a other expenses, it's totally possible for the OP to earn enough to do flight training.

He just needs to get off of the sofa and get to it. Whether it's mowing lawns, walking houses, or delivering dogs, or cleaning pizza, there is plenty of opportunity for someone with the strong desire and will to make lots of discretionary money.

(Lawn mowing was an example, let's not pick nits and bang heads over details of a fictitious job)
 
The problem with trying to train and go to college at the same time is time and money. You normally don't have either, and that makes for inefficient training. That's just the way it is. It can be done, but it's not easy and usually not fun because of the extra pressure.

If you try to do your training during the summer, or during breaks, you spend a certain number of hours just trying to catch up to the level of proficiency you had when you quit the last time.

And the frustration level can be very high, especially when you approach certain milestones like a solo or checkride. Those milestones seem to correspond with the end of your breaks - "Dang, I'm just about to solo, but I have to head back to school on Wed. What if the weather doesn't hold out?" Or, "Oh, man, I am so close. But the plane is scheduled for its annual on Wed, my DPE can't schedule my checkride until Thursday, and I have to leave for school on Friday. If I can't figure out how to get that checkride on Tuesday, I have to wait until Christmas break and then I have to do a lot of hours of training again for checkride preparation."
 
AggieMike88 said:
The way I read the OP, he has yet to report to campus. So he has time to get busy and make money.

Lawn mowing is easily scalable. The guy I hire for my place asks $60 (front, back, bushes, edging) and is there maybe 30 minutes (smaller place, and he's good and quick). Figure 15 minutes travel to the next job, and it's possible to do 13 jobs in a 10 hour day. That's $780/day. 5 days a week, that's $3900. Even with deducting gasoline for the power equipment and a other expenses, it's totally possible for the OP to earn enough to do flight training.

He just needs to get off of the sofa and get to it. Whether it's mowing lawns, walking houses, or delivering dogs, or cleaning pizza, there is plenty of opportunity for someone with the strong desire and will to make lots of discretionary money.

(Lawn mowing was an example, let's not pick nits and bang heads over details of a fictitious job)
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I think you're on the right track, but I can't imagine most people live in an area where you can get someone to pay $60 for a lawn and find 13 people a day willing to pay up. For starters, most of the population lives in the city where you're less likely to have yards that need upkeep, and even in the burbs I'd be shocked -- maybe 13 clients that you can do once a week. There's just too many other people walking around asking if they can mow your lawn for a few bucks to make it sustainable IMO.

I dunno, maybe it's possible and I'll believe you if you say it is, but job opportunities for teens right now are about as bleak as they've ever been.
 
Doesn't have to be only lawns. And my illustration wasn't meant to be taken 100% literally. Just shows that if you get off your azz, find the right thing, it's not difficult to scale upwards and make the amount of cash you need to meet any desired goal.

The teenager in question just needs the right entrepreneurial drive and a good idea or three.

During his pre-junior year summer (25 yrs ago), my brother developed his own biz going door to door selling coupons for dry cleaning. He created the deal with the cleaner, made up the coupon books, and when school started, he had made nearly $2500.00. And for a teen in 1989, that's some pretty good coin.

And Mark Cuban got his start at an early age selling trash bags
 
Those 25 hours I have gotten so far are from me working. I feel so stupid for not saving my money. That's a mistake I don't plan on making again. I feel like $3000-4000 wouldn't be enough, if you guys can give me a ballpark average of how much I should save, it would be greatly
appreciated?
 
richardywang said:
Those 25 hours I have gotten so far are from me working. I feel so stupid for not saving my money. That's a mistake I don't plan on making again. I feel like $3000-4000 wouldn't be enough, if you guys can give me a ballpark average of how much I should save, it would be greatly
appreciated?
Click to expand...
Your should pay anywhere from 8-10K for a PPL and that's from zero hours. Since you already have some hours, you might only need 6-8K for the rest of your license
 
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