Aviation Colleges

[phreshkid]

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

North Shore reference?

[thearkitekt]

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.

Dear fucking god is this true, I'll expand on that and add that they feel entitled to the left seat in 3, maybe 4 days on the job. Also, related

if your goal is indeed to be employed by a regional after college, i still don't recommend getting a degree in aviation.

Now, if you want to get into the private side of the industry (private/corporate jets) the path is pretty much the same. a 4 year degree isnt as important here, but by the time you work your way up to these positions, my guess is it will be. The only thing that will change is you will need the full 1500 hour ATP, as of right now I think the ATP-e only works in the airlines. Again, this can, and probably will change. Still a 141 school is the best way to go, saves you ~50 flight hours on getting a commercial rating, and with flight time averaging $175/hr, the math comes to about $8700 cheaper then getting a commercial certificate with a local CFI part 91.

Now real basic career advice...

-you better be ok with being away from home for long periods of time, having a gf/wife thats ok with this is vital. mine is, and it helps a lot!

-patience is key, if youre impatient, this may not be the career path for you. the industry has lots of changes, sometimes not always for the best, you have to ride through it.

-its a job that involves a lot of waiting (charter/private). if you dont like waiting on people, youll hate this side of the industry. ive had passengers be 3-4 hours late before, annoying, but it happens.

-MATH. i cant stress this enough.

-mechanical skill. while not vital, it helps a lot. assuming youre on this board, youve probably turned a wrench before, understand basic mechanical systems, etc. this will help a lot from training through retirement.

good luck, its a fun industry to be involved in! youre also entering at a decent time, as there is a fairly large pilot shortage forecasted for the next several years, you should be catching things on a hiring "upswing"

[Steven]

good luck, its a fun industry to be involved in! youre also entering at a decent time, as there is a fairly large pilot shortage forecasted for the next several years, you should be catching things on a hiring "upswing"

I absolutely love flying. I don't mind at all the bad things that come with it and I am a very patient person. I'm very excited to have opportunity to peruse this career and do something go absolutely love.

[tttoon]

If meet the medical requirements, I would definitely do Military. I did it the civilian way because of my eyes (Air Force in my country requires perfect uncorrected vision), and it cost me a bunch. Plus you never really learn to fly. You'll be thinking what if I tried every time you see a fast jet for the rest of your life.

I'd say an aviation degree is probably not the best, since it doesn't give you many more options. I would do something in engineering if I had to do it all over again.

To summarise, for the civilian track, count on:

-finishing training with $100-200k debt
-flying as a CFI for 2 years to get 1500 hours (may include working 7/7 for next to nothing, risking your life with students with minimal ability)
-flying for a regional making less than that
-maybe, 10 years down the road, make it into the majors.

For the military, you do a lot less hours, but if those are fast jet hours, you'll be golden for most companies. Especially corporate aviation loves to pay big bucks for ex-mil jocks.

Plus, dude, aerial refuelling? Carrier landings? Goddamn afterburners? Compare that to the average airliner: AP on at 300 feet, off at 300 feet before landing. Bitching from the back. Ever reducing terms.

[Steven]

I'm looking into ATP fight school.... Wow.... I could be flying with a regional airline in 18 months...

[tttoon]

Always remember, flight schools are there to make money. Read the small print! Make sure you can pay off your debt with what you make at that regional.

[flyboyx]

I'm looking into ATP fight school.... Wow.... I could be flying with a regional airline in 18 months...

yes, this is what i was saying about what i was saying when i was saying it. they feed it to you like it is coming out of a fire hose. however, if you bear down and blast through, it is by far the quickest way. as i mentioned, if it were me, i would throw my money here before i would at riddle. remember that the new atp rules may prohibit you from getting a regional job until you are old enough to qualify for an atp. however, you can still work in the industry and make money flying until you reach that age. sure beats the hell out of working at mcdonnalds.

while you are in flight training at a pilot mill like all atp's, you will have time for pretty much nothing else. however, just don't forget about college. take classes as you can and keep working toward your goal.



there have been several posts about military flying/ air force academy in this thread. i think that would be a fantastic opportunity, however, it has been somewhat made to sound like those type of jobs are flying out of obama's butt to all that might be interested. i know that things have changed a lot since i was of that age, but i really doubt this to be the case. not to say that you aren't qualified steven, but military flying opportunities are probably very competitive and difficult to come by. i am pretty confident that they still don't give those out to every little snot nose that drops by the recruiter's office after watching "top gun". this being said, those of you that are flying in the military, my hat is off to you. thank you for serving no matter what your motives for doing so. i can't say i know what it takes because i have never been through it. however, i know it isn't easy. good for you guys for having what it takes to make it through successfully.

there is a guy on this forum that actually only lives a couple miles from me who flew hariers in the marines. i can't even tell you how difficult it is to have such an achievement under your belt. that is perhaps the most difficult flying job to attain other than maybe air force 1 or shuttle pilot. only the best of the best of the best get to fly that airplane. it is probably easier to be a blue angel.

[Steven]

Old thread, but I thought I'd update as college apps are coming up.

I went and visited riddle and all I have to say is wow. Also, the counsellor informed me that financial aid is big and I should be able to graduate riddle with minimal debt. But I'll find out how much aid I can get if I get accepted.

Needless to say I was very impressed with riddle. But I still need to visit ATP to see where that stands in comparison. Meanwhile, I've applied to San Jose state as a backup,because they have a flight program there too.
The other thing that is very nice about riddle is Ivan experience the ROTC program for two years with no commitment. And they also have a very good flying club which would give me a good amount of hours along with the flight training I can do though them.

Overall I still don't fully know which path is right for me, but I should be soloing Friday so that's pretty exciting.