I want to fly.

[adk]

If you do the military route it should be because you want to serve, not because you want to fly. Most of the branches won't guarantee you a pilot slot before you enlist, and even if you do get one there's the possibility of washing out. If you enlist and don't end up flying, will you still be happy? If not, don't do it.

The best thing you can do is to go to your local airport and ask questions - almost every airport has a flight school. The most common route to starting a career in flight is becoming a flight instructor. Other options are towing banners or dropping skydivers. These are all jobs with low pay and tough hours. There is a larger supply of low-time pilots than there is demand.

Flying for a living is the best job in the world, but it's a career full of hurdles and frustrations.

 

[Huntn]

Just talking to the recruiter keeps me obligation free right?

Actually once you step in the door by virtue of Secret Directive 47762, they now own you. A tiny robotic flea plants a burrowing sensor that causes you to become infatuated with that branch of the service. 😉

Naw, talk all you want, but as someone pointed out, get a second opinion before signing anything. 🙂 You'll need a college degree, possibly a particular degree. The Military if you can get in and get a slot is a cheap way to get a million dollars of flying experience. Hopefully you don't mind the pretty long commitments. Last time I heard, the USAF was like 10 years. I was in the U.S. Navy. Had fun but it was tough on family life. Most people I know got divorced. (I persevered and stayed married.) I guarantee with perpetual war going on that stat is on the rise.

Good luck in what ever you decide.

If you do the military route it should be because you want to serve, not because you want to fly. Most of the branches won't guarantee you a pilot slot before you enlist, and even if you do get one there's the possibility of washing out. If you enlist and don't end up flying, will you still be happy? If not, don't do it.

Just a technicality, Officers don't enlist but they do sign a commitment paper very similar to enlisting. The only service that allows a rank below officer to fly (Warrant Officers) is the Army. My information is only about 20 years old, so maybe it has changed, but you used to be able to get flying slots in both the Navy and Air Force before committing, depending on the entry program. Most people I know who wanted to fly, joined first and foremost to fly. Yes they were giving something to their country, but they were getting something (flying) in return. Your right if you joined to fly and you don't get to fly, you are going to be one pissed off person just like those pilots in the Air Force who ended up flying drones from a desk.

 

[quagmire]

Flight training is expensive, at least if you go to Embry-Riddle. A hobbs time of 1.7 hours in the Diamond DA42L Twin Star costs $500 per flight. A friend did a cross country down to Marathon and that cost $1500 in the Diamond. I am personally doing the multi-engine track which is more expensive, but I am building up valuable multi-engine PIC time. The single-engine track is cheaper in flying the Cessna C172S( similar 1.7 hobbs time would be around $300), but you won't have as much PIC time in a multi-engine aircraft.

Prepare though to be burned out through out your training. You will get the feeling of hating flying just because of how stressful training can be. What saves me is renting a C172S occasionally and climb up to 7000 ft and just fly around and enjoy the view. It refreshes me and reminds me why I want to become a pilot.

 

[TheShinyMac]

If you do the military route it should be because you want to serve, not because you want to fly. Most of the branches won't guarantee you a pilot slot before you enlist, and even if you do get one there's the possibility of washing out. If you enlist and don't end up flying, will you still be happy? If not, don't do it.--- If I serve America and fly at the same time, its almost the best of both worlds. If I was so be it. I can say I tried.

The best thing you can do is to go to your local airport and ask questions - almost every airport has a flight school. The most common route to starting a career in flight is becoming a flight instructor. Other options are towing banners or dropping skydivers. These are all jobs with low pay and tough hours. There is a larger supply of low-time pilots than there is demand.--Do you mean small 2 runway ones or the larger ones. Logan international for example?

Flying for a living is the best job in the world, but it's a career full of hurdles and frustrations. I feel confident in handling those.

Actually once you step in the door by virtue of Secret Directive 47762, they now own you. A tiny robotic flea plants a burrowing sensor that causes you to become infatuated with that branch of the service. 😉

Naw, talk all you want, but as someone pointed out, get a second opinion before signing anything. 🙂 You'll need a college degree, possibly a particular degree. The Military if you can get in and get a slot is a cheap way to get a million dollars of flying experience. Hopefully you don't mind the pretty long commitments. Last time I heard, the USAF was like 8 years. I was in the U.S. Navy. Had fun but it was tough on family life. Most people I know got divorced. (I persevered and stayed married.) I guarantee with perpetual war going on that stat is on the rise.

Good luck in what ever you decide.



Just a technicality, Officers don't enlist but they do sign a commitment paper very similar to enlisting. The only service that allows a rank below officer to fly (Warrant Officers) is the Army. My information is only about 20 years old, so maybe it has changed, but you used to be able to get flying slots in both the Navy and Air Force before committing, depending on the entry program. Most people I know who wanted to fly, joined first and foremost to fly. Yes they were giving something to their country, but they were getting something (flying) in return. Your right if you joined to fly and you don't get to fly, you are going to be one pissed off person just like those pilots in the Air Force who ended up flying drones from a desk.

Did the Drone flyers get actual flying experience?

Flight training is expensive, at least if you go to Embry-Riddle. A hobbs time of 1.7 hours in the Diamond DA42L Twin Star costs $500 per flight. A friend did a cross country down to Marathon and that cost $1500 in the Diamond. I am personally doing the multi-engine track which is more expensive, but I am building up valuable multi-engine PIC time. The single-engine track is cheaper in flying the Cessna C172S( similar 1.7 hobbs time would be around $300), but you won't have as much PIC time in a multi-engine aircraft.

Prepare though to be burned out through out your training. You will get the feeling of hating flying just because of how stressful training can be. What saves me is renting a C172S occasionally and climb up to 7000 ft and just fly around and enjoy the view. It refreshes me and reminds me why I want to become a pilot.

 

[aethelbert]

I'm always happy to find new youngsters seeking to cart me around, but remember: I don't tip. 😉

 

[Huntn]

Did the Drone flyers get actual flying experience?

I don't know. I assume eventually they did, but it would be a bitter pill to go through pilot training (in real airplanes), no matter how fun it might sound to become a drone pilot. If you have hopes of getting out and becoming an airline pilot, the relative lack of experience would be a bad thing from a hiring perspective. In civilian flying, airline feeders, if you can get hired, there they will run you ragged and you'll get lots of hours. In the military it used to be that coming out with 3000 hrs was a good figure.

 

[codymac]

Just a technicality, Officers don't enlist but they do sign a commitment paper very similar to enlisting. The only service that allows a rank below officer to fly (Warrant Officers) is the Army. My information is only about 20 years old, so maybe it has changed, but you used to be able to get flying slots in both the Navy and Air Force before committing, depending on the entry program. Most people I know who wanted to fly, joined first and foremost to fly. Yes they were giving something to their country, but they were getting something (flying) in return. Your right if you joined to fly and you don't get to fly, you are going to be one pissed off person just like those pilots in the Air Force who ended up flying drones from a desk.

My info is ~15 years old, but at that time, the Army wouldn't allow me to come in as a Warrant because I was going to come in with a four year degree. They also wouldn't let an officer enter flight training. Goofy.

 

[eljanitor]

Just a technicality, Officers don't enlist but they do sign a commitment paper very similar to enlisting. The only service that allows a rank below officer to fly (Warrant Officers) is the Army. My information is only about 20 years old, so maybe it has changed, but you used to be able to get flying slots in both the Navy and Air Force before committing, depending on the entry program. Most people I know who wanted to fly, joined first and foremost to fly. Yes they were giving something to their country, but they were getting something (flying) in return. Your right if you joined to fly and you don't get to fly, you are going to be one pissed off person just like those pilots in the Air Force who ended up flying drones from a desk.

This is why you need to get lots of information before signing up for any branch of service. Recruiters will tell you whatever you want to hear to get you in the door within limits. Regardless of what you hear this is what they do, but nobody can force you to sign anything.

I completely agree that joining the Air Force, Navy, Marines, etc etc should be because you want to serve your country and not to get a pilots license. It's certainly not an easy normal life, and it's definitely not for everyone.

However there are many pilots that earned their pilots license in a branch of the armed forces and continued on to fly for commercial airlines or become private pilots. There have also been several military aviators who have gone on to become Astronauts as well.

I have known people who enlisted in the military, particularly the Air Force, who joined groups like the Aero Club ,and worked hard to get a private pilots license at no or low cost compared to paying for lessons at full price privately. They weren't military aviators but they still found a way to get their pilots license. I also knew people who were promised whatever they were promised, and ended up hating their time in service and felt cheated or washed out of a career for whatever reasons and got out as soon as they possibly could.

If, if you decide to join a branch of the armed forces for whatever reason the facts are that:

* They have programs for anyone to get a college education.

* They offer programs for most people to become officers and will help you get the college education needed. See this link: http://www.military.com/Recruiting/Content/0,13898,rec_step04_questions_usaf,,00.html#how_officer

* You might and probably will serve during some sort of conflict or war.( Especially now)

* Military life is different and can be difficult at times.

* You are subject to different laws then civilians.

* You might just have a good time and do things and experience things that you wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

There's nothing wrong with spending the money on a private pilots license. You can still end up flying small planes, and eventually over time you can work your way up to larger more complicated multi-engine aircraft. Some airlines will pay for training as well depending on the airline. I hope that you achieve the dream of becoming a pilot, and I wish you the best in your decisions on your future.

 

[dmr727]

That's what I tried to say after that bit. Simply, decide for yourself then set out to accomplish your goal the best way you know how.

Yeah sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I was contradicting you. I agree with what you said. I just wanted to put my own little 'be careful' addendum on it too. The aviation boards drive me nuts sometimes.

 

[adk]

Some airlines will pay for training as well depending on the airline.

Air China will hire you and pay for your training if you're Chinese. Air India will hire you and pay for your training if you're Indian. Qatar Airways will hire you and pay for your training if you're Qatari. In the US there is a (seemingly endless) supply of pilots willing to pay for their own training. There are no ab-initio flight training programs provided by airlines in the United States.

 

[eljanitor]

Air China will hire you and pay for your training if you're Chinese. Air India will hire you and pay for your training if you're Indian. Qatar Airways will hire you and pay for your training if you're Qatari. In the US there is a (seemingly endless) supply of pilots willing to pay for their own training. There are no ab-initio flight training programs provided by airlines in the United States.

From what I've heard some airlines will help their pilots (already employed with a pilots license) to advance their skills so that they can get rated for different aircraft. Since most private pilots I've met said they start out having to get a single engine prop rating and then keep going (and paying) from there on to advance their skills.

 

[Huntn]

My info is ~15 years old, but at that time, the Army wouldn't allow me to come in as a Warrant because I was going to come in with a four year degree. They also wouldn't let an officer enter flight training. Goofy.

There is/was a delineation in their force structure. Yes strange, maybe in the Army having Officers on the ground making the decisions is more important than having them flying around.

From what I've heard some airlines will help their pilots (already employed with a pilots license) to advance their skills so that they can get rated for different aircraft. Since most private pilots I've met said they start out having to get a single engine prop rating and then keep going (and paying) from there on to advance their skills.

The civilian route to flying is long and it's expensive. Odds are you can get hired in a commuter at low pay. Then you have up to 10 years (maybe less) of paying your dues, before you can get hired at a major airline. But some people never get out of the commuters. It's much harder today to get on with a major airline, not impossible, just harder due to lots of pilots competing for a relatively small number of jobs, than it was 20-30 years ago. In contrast the Armed Forces is free, but they may want 10 years out of your hide, not to mention being shot at. 😉

 

[ehoui]

Also, hit the books and keep your grades high.

Btw, great goal -- you are well on your way if you are trying to plan for it now! Good luck!