Any Pilots Here?

I'll be done l University next semester, but I want to do something else. I really want to be a pilot.

So my question to pilots here and people that are in route to being pilots are:

1) How is the job market?
2) How long before one can start flying long haul routes commercially?
3) What are some of the pros and cons of the job?

and anything else you guys would like to share.

Thanks!

Watch the border...lol.

Go ask k2pilot.

Ive been considering this alot since I entered college. For the time being I want to be a pilot in the Air Force

Originally Posted by bimmerfan08

Ive been considering this alot since I entered college. For the time being I want to be a pilot in the Air Force

they're the best bet really. None of their planes are at the end of their life airframe wise, and have a long life ahead(B52=>2050+years) and the job market is so-so depending on who you fly for. United at the moment is in the sh!ts piloting wise. Just join the armed forces, they'll tell you if you can fly or not

Originally Posted by firefirefire90

they're the best bet really. None of their planes are at the end of their life airframe wise, and have a long life ahead(B52=>2050+years) and the job market is so-so depending on who you fly for. United at the moment is in the sh!ts piloting wise. Just join the armed forces, they'll tell you if you can fly or not

you trying to be a pilot too?

Originally Posted by bimmerfan08

you trying to be a pilot too?

yeah, but that's a story for another night.


Night broskies


OORAH(errruh )

Originally Posted by 4mused

Go ask k2pilot.

Hi Ian

btw he doesnt use his plane for his job; its more of a hobby

Your best bet if you want to fly commercial is to fly cargo planes in the military.

My buddy spent thousands and a ton of hours working on his cessna license... I can't imagine its worth while to try to do this on your own without a ton of $$ and time on your hands, which if you have both, why are you becoming a pilot? I would think the military is the only way to get into this field.

Originally Posted by 4mused

Go ask k2pilot.

thanks, i think this means I talk about planes too much.

Originally Posted by DinanEX

Hi Ian

btw he doesnt use his plane for his job; its more of a hobby

Yeah you're right, I don't fly planes for a living because it's damn near impossible, and building is way cooler(and yes I get paid to do it

It really depends on how much you want out of it, if you just want to experience it for a while and had fun going places, you should be able to land some commercial jobs around 1000hrs. I know a guy who got hired to fly cessna caravans out in Hawaii between the islands with only 1000 hours in 172's. And there's only two realistic ways to get that many hours initially without a ton of money.
Either A: get your CFI rating at ~250 hrs and instruct for a while
Or B: join airforce/coast guard/whatever government flying job you can get...

Considering a cheap aircraft rental is $110 an hour(east coast is waaaaay cheaper though) then you'd be looking at spending $110,000.00 to do it without having a job that pays you to do it... And when you're dealing with that large of a figure it honestly makes more sense to just buy your own plane for $20-50000 and spend the remaining on fuel and maintenance(the cost of operating most planes is about 40-60$/HR).
And here's the thing, assume you do get all your time in GA non turbine multi engine aircraft(aka single engine land) most employers would have pick the ex military guy who's got 2-3000hrs flying fancy awesome military equipment...

the job market, it's pretty Meh on the airline front. Every captain I know struggles to keep a reasonable amount of income. If you plan on having a nice house in the suburbs with your wife and two kids, you pretty much won't have enough money... And that's at senior captains income. However if you're just gonna be a single bachelor guy (*cough* quagmire!) then it should be acceptable. Probably the only reasonable consistent flying jobs you could get would be flying freight for UPS or fedex, they make around $300k a year as opposed to the most senior captains in regular airlines who do 150k. Keep in mind those are all senior pay levels, if you started flying for an airline at 27 or so it'd take you till 35-40 to get to that status...

As far as getting there? Like I said there's many different routes, you can go corporate(I always liked that route) but that's a very variable job and the hours can suck... Or you can start to get jobs with regional airlines around 1-3000hrs. from either one of those points you build time fast.

<---- Rc pilot lol

go to www.ATPflightschool.com
You are not going to get hire by any airliners with less then 2500hours PIC on turboprop/jet. You need load of money to get urself there.
Therefore, i'm studing in Aviation Maintenance.

If you want to be a military aviator in this economy, you better be a sh*t hot applicant when you apply.

Here are some average scores of recent applicants getting accepted into naval aviation:

-GPA - 3.5+
-high ASTB scores (aviation selection test battery, similar to the SAT with aviation aptitude tests)
-high fitness scores
-great letters of recommendations (ex. high ranking military officers, representatives in congress, professors, deans, etc)
-a lot of extracurricular activities (volunteering, collegiate/club sports, cadet military programs, student body positions)

Not trying to knock you folks down who are thinking about applying, but I wanted you guys to know that you need to work your ass off to be competitive. due to the decling enconomy, applicants are flooding through the doors for aviation.

Originally Posted by k2pilot

thanks, i think this means I talk about planes too much.

Nah I meant you are probably more informed about this specific topic than most other forum members on here .