Aviation Colleges

[TurboJake]

Lol that what my parents keep telling me... Is it really that bad?

You truly have no idea what the meaning of cold is. He and I both know allllll about it. Last time I went there, it was -34 without wind chill. The E30 was NOT a happy camper. Let's see if I can find something here quick...

Edit: Nope, Thought I had a picture of the OBC saying -34. Can't find it.

[Steven]

local: http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/avtech/

Trying to get away from my parents haha

[gkurey]

Daytona!

[Steven]

Daytona!

Haha but I can fly myself home from Arizona....

[brent5631]

I went to a school that has a good flight program so I have many friends that went through it. If you decide to not go the military route is is very expensive. Several people I know with easily over 100k in loans.
Then you graduate with all your certs but only 150-200 flight hrs. Not many will hire you at that level. So CFI is a good way to rack up hours but its not easy and you dont make much. All the while your loans are coming due.

Just something to think about.

[thearkitekt]

riddle is stupid expensive. i know most kids leave there ~$220,000 in debt. very very much not worth it.

Find a smaller school, Purdue, BGSU, OU are the local ones in my area. I went to BGSU and would recommend it. I'm sure there are plenty of ones out in your area as well.

[flyboyx]

ok, this is a subject that i know a thing or two about. i will give it a stab as my son is 19 and trying to follow in my footsteps. i need you to be more specific about your career goals? are you looking to become an airline pilot starting with the regionals? this is what we will assume to be the case.

i studied at western michigan university with a 4 year degree in aviation science. it was a good program and is better now than it was then. to be honest, no airline gives a fucking shit how good the school was that you went to. all they care about is that you have a 4 year degree. by that standard, if you are set on studying aviation science, do some research and find the cheapest one. there are probably 40 schools out there that offer this program.

as a side note, embry riddle daytona beach was mentioned above. i have to say that i have flown with lots of guys from that particular school. generally speaking they are arrogant douche bags. seriously. it is generally known that pilots entering the industry from that school seem to have a general tendency to suffer from this affliction. i don't know what the hell is the problem down there, but i swear this is true. you can bet that the people that do the hiring at airlines know this too. you can draw your own conclusions from that statement.

now....with that said, the rules for hiring requirements have changed drastically over the last recent period of time. it used to be that a guy could get hired at a regional with 4 or 500 hours of flight time. those days are long gone for now. you can thank those bozo's at colgan airlines that crashed a dash 8 flying into buffalo a few years ago. now the requirements are that pilots must have an atp which normally means that an employment candidate needs to have 1500 hours to get a job. there is some relief available fortunately. i don't remember the details, but i seem to remember that if a pilot goes to a 4 year aviation program, the minimums are reduced to 1000 hours. i think i also remember reading that if a pilot goes to a certified 141 training program, the minimums are reduced to 1200 hours.

before all these changes, the suggestion i would have made to you is that it is really stupid to waste your money getting a degree in aviation because of the cost and also if you were to lose your medical, you will have nothing to fall back on. now that you can potentially get a job 500 hours earlier, it levels the playing field a little, but in reality, not that much.

if your goal is indeed to be employed by a regional after college, i still don't recommend getting a degree in aviation. if i had it to do over again, i would not.

i suggest ponying up the bucks and enroll in AllATP's while you are taking online classes at your local community college. (airlines don't give a rat fuck what your degree is in as long as it comes from an accredited school. basket weaving is perfect. liberal arts would be too.) however, the smart thing would be to get a degree in something that you would enjoy doing if aviation falls through for you. back on topic, get all your ratings at all atp's and also get your instructors ratings. flight instruct your ass off until you get your flight hours required to get a job with a regional and you will likely get hired while you are working on your bachelor's degree. regionals would like you to have but do not require you to have a degree. as long as they see you are actively working on it, that is good enough for them. try to pick the regional that has the quickest upgrade time. all this time, keep working on your degree by taking as many on line classes as you can. you can work on them on your overnights. seriously. this is the quickest way in an industry where your seniority number is everything.

as far as the military route is concerned, i don't have insight. back in the late 80's/early 90's when i was interested in the airforce, it was pretty much impossible to get a slot because of military cutbacks, etc. if you want to talk about this some more, send me a pm with your phone number. i will be happy to give you a call.


brian

[Holland]

Having lived in Prescott my whole life, I can say that Riddle is a pricey place and most of the people there are on the douchey side. Prescott is beautiful but Boring as shit if you want to do something other than drink, hike, or bike.

[318kid]

To add to flyboyx's post, I believe his times are correct for the new ATP ratings, but in addition you have to be 23 as well. There are a few lower cost alternatives to a flying university such as a 141 school, the military, or possibly finding a pilot who instructs on the side, but it all depends on how fast you want to get your ratings and the support that you have for your career. The quicker you can get to a CFI the quicker you can build time without spending much more money, however you will need at least 250 hours for a Commercial Pilots license in a part 61 training scenario and 190 for your commercial license in a part 141 school.
I'm currently pursuing my aviation career, but I am working for my ratings on the side while attending college full time as a finance major. I know a friend who graduated from KState with a professional pilots degree, and he seemed to like it, but for me I like having an unrelated major just in case. Seniority is everything in Airlines however, so stay clean and the quicker you can get the time needed the more marketable you are.

As a side note, you don't necessarily have to become a CFI to build time for your ATP mins, however I feel it is the best option since you would be a teacher, and all the things you learned would be reinforced everyday. There are other jobs such as banner tow, crop dusting, ferrying, or carrying sky divers but these jobs are all very hard to come by as opposed to a flight instructor (in most instances).

Regionals will want to see at least 200 hours of multi-time for hiring included with ATP minimums but I've heard some pilots being hired with 50-100. Majors will want 1000 hours turbine time (preferably PIC). Those seem to be the competitive minimums for now.

[Steven]

Well I'm flying out to embry riddle october the 4th, so I can pass my own judgement on it then... I can get my licenses trough my current instructor, but I also like the idea of being in a school where everyone around you wants the same thing and is pushing you to be better than each other.

However yes, the prepuce is unbearably high, and I will be in a lot of debt at the end of it. But I also think that I would have more connections through them and possibilities of internships through embry...

UND is still in the running as is San Jose state and my current flight instructor. I want to get a degree in some kind of business, and I can also get that through embry.

The real problem is everyone has a different opinion on what is the best way to go about this.

[FLYNAVY]

FWIW, everyone that completes ROTC also ends up with a 4 year degree. It is something you do in conjunction with being in normal college......you will have ROTC specific classes, extra curricular activities related to ROTC, but otherwise you are a college student. Just thought that was worth clearing up. It is completely separate and unrelated to JROTC, which is basically just a high school level extracurricular activity that doesn't have anything to do with the actual military.

After getting my commercial/IR after high school through a local 2 year part 141 school, I shopped around a bit like you are, and visited ERAU as well. In the end, I decided to go to a regular university, do engineering, and do NROTC. Got my BS, got my commission, and got orders to Navy flight training. Now 11 years after that decision, I'd say it all worked out for the best. Rather than being 100 billion dollars in debt and working as a CFI or maybe a regional FO or something for pennies on the dollar, I get a really good paycheck, have no debt from school or anything else, get to do cool stuff, and get to fly God's Chariot. Obviously there are downsides to military service, and flying for the military (long hours, years of training and a career of studying, lots of time away from home, etc).....it isn't for everyone......but if you feel inclined, I'd highly recommend it.

You won't make as many hours as quickly in the military (unless you fly AF heavies or something) as you would being a commercial pilot, but that is also understood and accounted for in the aviation business in terms of follow on civilian flying opportunities. For reference, I've been flying for the Navy for a little under 6 years, and I will hit the 1000 hr mark probably sometime in the next 30 days. That is probably significantly less than guys flying civilian jobs for the same amount of time. That said, that also puts me above the mins for a restricted ATP, and close to the 1500 hr mark for a normal ATP probably relatively soon, and well before I have the opportunity to go fly in a civilian job. If you end up liking flying for the military (which I do), I'd venture as far as to say that it is a much less painful (financially and otherwise) way to get your foot in the door for an aviation career. If you do it purely as a means to get ahead, I would say that it would be equally if not more painful than working your way up as a civilian pilot.

[bimmerboy08]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this yet, but have you thought of the Air Force Academy? That is my alma mater; I graduated in 2008. I wasn't medically qualified for pilot so I became a navigator.

On the way to our graduation ceremony, they were announcing that they still had pilot slots left, and that if anyone wanted them to come to the registrar's office after graduation and get one. If you get in, survive the place without getting in too much trouble, and are medically qualified, there is a high chance you will get a pilot slot.

As far as hours goes, it all depends on what you fly. As a nav I got over 1,000 hours within the first two years of being mission qualified. I fly on a heavy reconnaissance aircraft. Shoot me a PM if you have any other questions.

Edit: I forgot to mention, it's free to go there. You actually get paid too.

[Steven]

Yeah there's a lot to think about. Like I've said I'm heading over to embry in two weeks to check out the campus. Also looking into ATP flight school, and I'll look into the Air Force academy tonight. I should have my private license done before college so that should help a lot with many of the program's I'm looking into... But for me if anyone has anything else to input it'd be greatly appreciated. Everything is still a possibility.

[Eric]

My biggest regret in my AF career was jacking off in my 20's and not getting school done to become a officer/pilot. If I could rewind 10 years, I'd try to get into the academy, and do ROTC as a backup.

To me, it is ludicrous to fork over that kind of cash to riddle to then fly for peanuts on the regionals. My brother-in-law is finally making decent money after surviving on his wifes teachers salary for 7-8 years as he built up hours flying for air winsconsin... now he just has to pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars of student loan debt.

I recently heard that when a cadet graduates the academy, his education is worth nearly $500,000. The cadet pays none of that and only has to serve a time requirement in the service.





In your young life, have you ever walked into a bad decision almost knowing before hand that it will end badly? I'd foreshadow that your trip to ERAU will get you hyped up, and sucked in. In 6 years you'll be wishing you hadn't.

[Steven]

My biggest regret in my AF career was jacking off in my 20's and not getting school done to become a officer/pilot. If I could rewind 10 years, I'd try to get into the academy, and do ROTC as a backup.

To me, it is ludicrous to fork over that kind of cash to riddle to then fly for peanuts on the regionals. My brother-in-law is finally making decent money after surviving on his wifes teachers salary for 7-8 years as he built up hours flying for air winsconsin... now he just has to pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars of student loan debt.

I recently heard that when a cadet graduates the academy, his education is worth nearly $500,000. The cadet pays none of that and only has to serve a time requirement in the service.





In your young life, have you ever walked into a bad decision almost knowing before hand that it will end badly? I'd foreshadow that your trip to ERAU will get you hyped up, and sucked in. In 6 years you'll be wishing you hadn't.

This is good input... But I'm not sure what you're getting at....what is your advice?