Community College??

[DaveSims]

University of North Dakota claims to have to most aircraft out of any university....

Anybody check out Middle Tennessee State University? Discovered there flight program and seems to look really nice. They say the average cost for flying at a university is about $37k but they only have you fly for about $26k...and they recently bought 20 new airplanes...looks like they have a pretty big fleet, and a 727 donated by FedEx (not sure if they fly it or not) but also they said once you graduate and have 500 hours and 100 or 200 of those hours are multi you are guaranteed a interview with American Eagle.

Just thought I'd share since noone has brought up MTSU.

http://www.mtsu.edu/aerospace/index.shtml

Two things. 

1.  Just because they have a large fleet does not mean they are available.  They could also have a larger number of students, or have maintenance issues that could keep half grounded at any given time.  That is what happened at Tech, the airport only had one mechanic that was responsible for all of Tech's aircraft, plus the others based on the field.  It was not uncommon to have 4 or 5 planes parked just waiting on an oil change.

2.  Better check again on that American Eagle thing.  Congress recently passed a law that all airline pilots must now have a minimum 1500 hours total time (a result of the Colgan Air crash, which ironically both pilots had thousands of hours).  A lot of schools used to brag about if you have 500 hours we will get you an interview (Tech did it too), but that was not always the case, plus the new law will stop that cold.

[Jeff.Guo]

I'd rather be in debt and have a degree then to be debt free without a degree.

If I were you, I'd take cost more into consideration, especially at ASU. Tuition/expenses there is now about 33k a year for out of state, plus another 60k or so for their aviation program. On average, Mesa pays their first year right seats about 25k a year. At these rates, you'd be borrowing about eight times more than you should, so expect to still be paying for that with your social security retirement benefits.

[tcco94]

I did remember that law but I wasnt sure if it was in effect for regional airlines...if so how do the pilots now rack up there 1500 hours?

Also I keep hearing about the pay and such and I know its a very expensive career but I'm not sure how else it will get paid because I pretty much took the military out of perspective when I knew my eyesight was to bad to fly, and I'd rather fly commercial/regional than military. Like said above, don't let the money kill your dreams. If I'm poor for a long time, then so be it..ill be poor as long as I can fly....I've heard it about 100 times that you will be getting cheap cheap pay and having to head crappy food in an apartment but I don't see the big deal if your living your dream as a pilot?

Seems to me lots of people wish to just be a pilot and get paid the big bucks and not sacrifice anything...I mean its not like all those commercial pilots out there had it easy on them.

[DaveSims]

I did remember that law but I wasnt sure if it was in effect for regional airlines...if so how do the pilots now rack up there 1500 hours?

The intent of the law was aimed directly at regional airlines.  It was part of a knee jerk reaction by Congress because of the Colgan Air crash in Buffalo, pushed for by families of the victims.  Everybody ignored that the crash was not caused by low time pilots, both had thousands of hours, but it made the families feel like they had made a difference. 

That leaves the problem of getting pilots that 1500 hours.  There are three choices, military, getting paid to fly, and paying for it yourself.  In the getting paid for it category there is always corporate, crop dusting, banner towing, instructing, even flying boxes.  Some of the side effects will be a shortage of qualified pilots for the airlines, which could cause an increase in pay. 

[tcco94]

Well ive heard most pilots that graduate from these university's sometimes stay to instruct? They get paid and work up there hours...which would seem like a better route. As for military, I would love for them to pay and such but my eyes are horrid as they get 2x worse every year. I would be afraid to join then find out I cant fly and waste all my time there. Plus im pretty sure I read that after you get surgery you have to wait a year and make sure your eyes are still 20/20? Which would again be wasting time that I could be flying somewhere else.....

It would defiantly be an easier route for the money wise but for me, I'm looking straight at flying regional and commercial so it doesn't make sense to take a risk at military...

Hence, the advisory panel has proposed to the FAA to allow airlines to hire university-trained first officers with as few as 500 hours of flying experience while prospective pilots trained by non-university flight training schools would have to have more than 500 hours of flying experience, but less than 1,500 hours, depending upon the type of school.

Explain what they are saying there..because as I read it, the FAA does allow airlines to hire university graduates with as few as 500 hours....

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/72064/2 ... pilots.htm

[DaveSims]

tcco,

I took a look at that article, and I will try to help make sense of it all.

To fly aircraft for hire, you must have a commercial pilot's license, which you can do with a minimum of 250 hours.

[tcco94]

So from my quote above, pretty much the FAA is trying or tried to have an exemption from pilots graduating from a university to only have 500 hours to get hired by a airline but the Congress still wont let it happen either way. I do remember this crash (the buffalo one from the frost on the wings I believe), and I do remember HEARING about this changed law. Last time I heard though was a while ago and seeing it was put in effect a few months ago was a bummer, as I was hoping it wouldn't.

[DaveSims]

So from my quote above, pretty much the FAA is trying or tried to have an exemption from pilots graduating from a university to only have 500 hours to get hired by a airline but the Congress still wont let it happen either way. I do remember this crash (the buffalo one from the frost on the wings I believe), and I do remember HEARING about this changed law. Last time I heard though was a while ago and seeing it was put in effect a few months ago was a bummer, as I was hoping it wouldn't.

Actually the crash had more to do with pilot situational awareness and airspeed control.  They simply got too slow on the approach and failed to recognize the problem and react accordingly.  It is a total bummer about the new rules, and maybe they will get repealed at some point.  It is just one more hurdle to clear for anyone to be an airline pilot.  On the bright side, maybe more people will get deterred from becoming a commercial pilot and that will help you.

[tcco94]

True you can always think of it on the bright side. I think the only thing that might be a bump in the road is the cost. There are so many ways to pay for it and such but in the end it will still cost a whole lot of money, I just have to figure out how ill pay for it and how ill pay it back. It sort of all depends on which college I attend or which ones ill at least get accepted into...

I've read throughout the internet from Alumni though that you shouldn't let the starting salary of a pilot get to you and don't let the money end your dream from being a pilot, if that is your dream. As Ive told my parents, I don't mind being poor and paying back a student loan if I can fly...in the end I think ill be able to say it was worth it.

[Jeff.Guo]

I don't mind being poor and paying back a student loan if I can fly...in the end I think ill be able to say it was worth it.

You wouldn't say that in 10 years, when you're collecting food stamps just to feed your family.

I'd look a whole lot into public, instate universities and file the sh*t out of your FAFSA and scholarships.

Yes military aviation is extremely competitive, but if you get surgery now and be graduated with a 4.0 and commercial license, I'd think you'd be relatively competitive for flight school (given that the surgery holds).

Even if you don't end up as a pilot candidate, ROTC w/scholarship only has a 4 year active duty service commitment. While you're in college, they'll pay for either your tuition or living expenses (whichever is greater) with allowances for books and whatnots. If you budget yourself well, you might be able to come out with only 50-70k worth of debt. Which is not too bad, since if you send yourself into third-world poverty, you might be able to pay that off by the time you complete your service commitment.

[tcco94]

I'm only a mediocre student...I dont get the best of grades so im not even sure if I would get a full ride ROTC scholarship if I applied or not. I wouldn't mind taking a scholarship like you listed above that would help me out a bit.

And im sure my first few years of flying I wont have a family to provide food for, otherwise I'd probably have to stop all my flying to pay for them and as Ive heard from many many pilots...do not get into relationships while your doing your flying...

[Jeff.Guo]

The military will take your entire academic record into consideration. So if you have some time left before you have to apply, get your grades up (way up) and show them that you're committed.

Even if you don't receive a scholarship, you can still join ROTC. If you're not on scholarship, you are not obligated to sign any service commitments until your third year. So, if you do well in college, they will give you a scholarship later. If they don't, you can dis-enroll without penalty.

But again, ROTC is not a full ride. It will cover the larger portion of your costs, but not every last penny. If you don't get their scholarship sorted out before you enroll in college, do keep in mind that they may still reject you later (while in college) unless you can prove that your chosen field of study is worth their money and you're able to payoff whatever debts you accumulate with an O1's base pay. ROTC will help quite a bit, but you'll still have to minimize your costs.