Aviation Colleges

[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.

[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

[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.

[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.

[Steven]

Daytona!

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

[gkurey]

Daytona!

[Steven]

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

Trying to get away from my parents haha

[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.

[z31maniac]

There is also a commercial aviation program at OSU (Oklahoma State University).

http://education.okstate.edu/index.p...e-and-aviation

[CabbE30]

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

[Steven]

YES a 20 below zero day with 30-40mph winds is what is called tuesday, not emergency shut it all down and not do anything because its too cold . I love cold weather and snow winter is my favorite season and work in the oil/gas industry, I have turned more work down in ND than I can remember, because its just brutal there. It gets cold where I live but we dont get the wind like they do out on the plains

Well that sucks. I googled ND winters and CA winters.... Lets say there's a bit of a difference

[mrsleeve]

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

YES a 20 below zero day with 30-40mph winds is called tuesday, not emergency shut it all down and not do anything because its too cold . I love cold weather and snow winter is my favorite season and work in the oil/gas industry, I have turned more work down in ND than I can remember, because its just brutal there. It gets cold where I live but we dont get the wind like they do out on the plains, and why I have spent the last 6 winters or so working in PA and NY state

[Steven]

I've been looking into this in the DFW area. Getting full certifications would cost me 65k. How do people do it??

Yeah I was looking at ths. It costs 45k for tuition, board and books plus another 15k a year for your certificates....

[threlevenguy]

I've been looking into this in the DFW area. Getting full certifications would cost me 65k. How do people do it??

[gkurey]

AFAIK there is a Embry Riddle campus in Daytona Beach, FL...that might be mo' betta!