by "bob and john" (bobandjohn)
Published 12/01/2017 at 21:40
by "bob and john" (bobandjohn)
Published 12/01/2017 at 21:40
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STARS: 5
I’ll go become a pilot.
some of you
might remember this
Had a few bad days. didnt know what to do. All I wanted was my bike and freedom.
Go for a nice long ride, GTFO from everything...be in my happy place.
I think I figured out how to do that. Become a pilot
pay is good. get to travel. play with lots of toys.
would be able to justify having a house in the states in NC for riding. just ask to go back there a lot.
or, keep a house up in canada, but I can afford to have it further out in the boonies. only need to drive every few days.
Time to start calling around and seeing what I need to do.
"Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever" (rustanddust)
12/01/2017 at 22:08, STARS: 5
Went looking for the Top Gun gif, and this came up pretty early in the search. I’m drunk, thus this is much funnier than the Top Gun gif, so this is what you get.
"jminer" (jminer)
12/01/2017 at 22:10, STARS: 0
In the states that’s a rather long-term and expensive avenue. I know several people who have their sport pilots license (non-commercial, single engine) and I have taken ground school and a few hours instruction.
Most people in the US spend between 4-10K to get their private license. It requires a minimum of 40 hours flight instruction with some more specifics in there as well. Then each other cert (size, engine, speed, etc) is more training and hours and costs.
The Commercial Pilots I know went to school for it, took a couple years and cost a boatload. While money is pretty good, there is a fair bit of grind in the job too and the schedule is hell.
If you’re looking for a change, I’d give IT a look. Pretty easy to get into the field without a degree still and you can end up making a good deal of money.
"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
12/01/2017 at 22:15, STARS: 0
not real interested in sitting in front of a computer for 8 hours a day. Some work yes. but CONSTANTLY? I’ll have to give it a hard pass.
also, while easy to get into it (HA) without a degree....thats only if you know ppl. and I dont.
"nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul" (nfamouscj)
12/01/2017 at 22:28, STARS: 3
Should you take the pilot route, remember this is one of the perks.
"jminer" (jminer)
12/01/2017 at 22:36, STARS: 0
Commercial pilots spend all of their time in front of instruments that are mostly screens now. The vast majority of careers require either very repetitive actions (think factory) or screen time.
Some can find satisfaction in factory work, I personally worked sheet metal at a refrigerator factory for a week and a half and simply could not take it and I quit and mowed lawns, trimmed trees and plowed snow for the next year.
I do love puns about IT! But there are a lot of intro programs that are free online and turn into entry level jobs and internships. For example my employer (quasi-governmental organization) hires people from Launch Code.
"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
12/01/2017 at 22:39, STARS: 0
also fair, but a pilot has WAY more switches to play with then an IT guy does.
I tried to do some programming when I was in HS and uni. I was okay at it...not great, but far from the worst in the class.
"jminer" (jminer)
12/01/2017 at 23:01, STARS: 0
Oh I’m not attempting to discourage you from being a pilot, it is an awesome job that I wish my life had gone towards. It’s just not a job that can be easily gotten into.
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
12/01/2017 at 23:34, STARS: 0
My advice: go corporate, not commercial. You get to fly cooler, more cutting edge stuff, the pay can be better sooner, and you see a lot more variety of airports. A neighbor friend of mine flies for a small hedge fund and it’s great. Only downside is 12 hours’ notice to be gone for up to 2 weeks. He has five kids...
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
12/01/2017 at 23:37, STARS: 0
Or you could join the military and get pilot training that way. Hell of an out of the way to save a few bucks, but more than a few have done it.
"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
12/01/2017 at 23:49, STARS: 1
military rejected me for engineering school, and they need you to have a diploma for fliying with them. I think it might be easier to get into a local flight school then with them
"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
12/02/2017 at 00:34, STARS: 0
I have several friends who are pilots, both private and commercial. One took the long way to becoming a commercial pilot. He started with his private license, became an instructor, then started doing cargo flights and worked his way up. He paid his own way with jobs at the airport and with UPS. He’s now a co-pilot with a major carrier, but it took him over 20 years to get there. It was a hard road that cost him a lot, including his first marriage. He said he will remain a co-pilot for the rest of his career. Schedules are determined by seniority and he has lots of seniority as a co-pilot. If he moved up to captain, he would be at the bottom of the scheduling ladder again.
Another of my friends was trained in the military. After leaving the military, he took a position with a large corporation flying a shuttle route five days a week. It didn’t pay as much, but he wasn’t working ridiculous schedules and only had to work during the week.
One of my private pilot friends has a son who is going the school route. He has an advantage because he is already a private pilot like his dad and it saves him several months of training. Upper classmen can also work at the school as instructors training the incoming freshmen. It gives them more flight hours, more experience, a little money in their pockets, and a discount on their tuition. The best part of the school is that they are ready for hire after just two years of training.
As others have said, you should really consider whether or not the lifestyle is something you really want. Remember, one of my friends lost his marriage due to the demands and this isn’t unusual. Wired did an article on it a few years ago. That’s probably a good place to start. https://www.wired.com/2009/05/a-pilots-life-is-hardly-glamorous/
"Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
12/02/2017 at 00:46, STARS: 0
Or, you could ask an Oppositelock Airlines pilot (me) questions and get some good info as well.... So whatcha wanna know?
"just-a-scratch" (just-a-scratch)
12/02/2017 at 01:03, STARS: 0
Motorcycles and planes both sound good to me.
I was thinking about the EXACT SAME THING.
"Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!!" (eurylokhos)
12/02/2017 at 07:57, STARS: 1
If it’s really what you want to do, go for it. It’s a good job. Just realize that the road to actually making good money is long. I’m flying for a major airline now and it took me 16yrs to get here. My path was derailed by 9/11 and bankruptcies but it isn’t that unusual.
Started flight school a couple weeks after getting my 4yr degree at 23, getting all the ratings took a year or so. Then flight instructing making hardly anything, airplane deliveries, Cargo, small charter planes. Onward to a tiny regional flying 34 seat turboprops that got bought out merged, bankrupted, moving up to 50 and 76 seat jets for years until 7 years applying to the airlines I wanted to work for paid of.
It’s not a short process nor a cheap one. But it’s worth it. If I want to work 3 days a month and get paid for 75(airline pilots aren’t like normal people we only get paid for 75-100+ hr a month not 40 a week) I can. If I want to work a lot and get 120hrs or pay I can do that too. I get great views at the office, it’s fun, challenging and constantly changing.
Your path starting today can be a lot quicker but you’re going to spend a LOT of money to get there. I had plenty of first officers that had just been hired at my regional at 24 or 25. Some were military but most went to flight schools that pushed them through and then employed them as flight instructors until they had the required time and they quickly moved to an airline job starting st $60k a year. There is a lack of people qualified for these jobs at the low end so if you have the time and ratings you can get a job at an airline and skip the years of pounding away that those of us who got into it years ago had to do.
"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
12/02/2017 at 17:21, STARS: 0
What am I looking at in terms of schooling, flight hours, job market and other basics...
"Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
12/04/2017 at 19:10, STARS: 0
Big qestions really.
Im typing this from a waiting area at the gate before starting work.
For schools, its cheaper to learn to fly first in the military, and then if that doesnt work, in the US. If you want to fly airline, the goal is to get your ATP rating as cheaply as possible. Then youre eligible to get hired on a regional airline.
The US market has a shortage on the regional level thats driving big signing bonuses and good year 1 pay. The real trick is to get there and honestly right now theyll hire you if you can fog a mirror...with an ATP rating in your pocket.
Majors will see that shortage in about another 5 years so they can be quite picky for now in what “best person” they can hire. For example, Delta is quite happy hiring new pilots with great GPAs masters degrees and zero captain time. (But with a good bunch of second in command time)
So ideally, get the ratings at a dedicated school and then start teaching people to fly and also work angles to other hour building work so you have the minimum time to get the ATP rating.
As far as schools, US side, im hearing decent things about All ATP’s. Good company.
"Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
12/04/2017 at 19:46, STARS: 0
But! Its not a 4 year accredited school. It does however offer financing and for the money its good learning. Points for airline jobs are gained with degrees and accrefited schools, etc.
Feel free to ask more questions any time
"Spanfeller is a twat" (theaspiringengineer)
12/05/2017 at 11:10, STARS: 0
I don’t know how young you are man, but if you go to commercial piloting , you’re going to a field that will be shrinking from the bottom to the top (captains with thousands of hours stay, F/O and rookies go out)
