Any Pilots on here?

[BrunswickStu]

I would love to get my pilots license some day, but don't have it in the budget now. I'm an IT guy who has always been into computers and video games. I have "played" with flight simulators in the past, and have just recently made a shift in thinking to start using those to prepare for future flight training.

Any GA pilots on here that have any advice, or suggestions on how to prepare? It may be a while before I can get any real flight training, i just want to get my "fix", and in doing so, try to become more prepared for the real thing if/when i can afford it.

 

[CMDRShepard]

Im not a pilot but it takes a long time for a civilian to become a pilot. You have to log over a certain amount of hours flight time and it is all out of pocket. It can be very expensive.

 

[BrunswickStu]

Im not a pilot but it takes a long time for a civilian to become a pilot. You have to log over a certain amount of hours flight time and it is all out of pocket. It can be very expensive.

Yeah, I've done a good bit of research on cost and time commitments, hence the reason I know I can't afford it now.. Also not looking to do it as a career. Just single engine fixed gear. Something to do for my personal fulfillment, not that I don't already have enough hobbies...

 

[bowdoc]

I have a commercial license with multi-engine and instrument ratings. I would suggest find a flight school who offers a discovery flight. They are relatively cheap, and will give you a great intro into flying.

 

[EducatedHelp]

I got my Commercial Instrument Rotor Wing rating - but the tax payers paid for it via the Army (thank you).

With your skills you might approach a flight school (or schools) and discuss trading IT expertise for flight lessons. They might give you a straight up trade or free flight time and you just pay the instructor. JUST A THOUGHT.

And - to get just a fixed wing private license is not THAT much time - I think about 50 hours or so.

 

[AirOpsMgr]

I know I'll probably get beat up for this, but, you honestly can learn a lot (if you have no experience at all) by loading up some Microsoft Flight simulator / other similar programs; you will learn a good bit

 

[dougiemac]

I have one in the immediate family, a few in my extended and a large number of friends that are. One thing I know for sure, the life of a commercial pilot isn't as glamorous as it may seem and the pay sucks unless you're a mainliner or cargo pilot for a major carrier (and mainliners and major cargo carriers make great pay). So stick with the IT career as you'll be better off financially in the long run.

 

[Hayata]

Once you get your license you can help serve your community and get extra hours through the Civil Air Patrol.

Not sure if they could get you discounts on training or not but maybe worth pursuing.

 

[AirOpsMgr]

I have one in the immediate family, a few in my extended and a large number of friends that are. One thing I know for sure, the life of a commercial pilot isn't as glamorous as it may seem and the pay sucks unless you're a mainliner or cargo pilot for a major carrier (and mainliners and major cargo carriers make great pay). So stick with the IT career as you'll be better off financially in the long run.

With all due respect to Dougie, I've been a GM for 2 major cargo airlines (one based in the US & one based out of Hong Kong) & this is not the case .... it may have been 7-10 years back, but not currently. On a side note, a buddy of mine went to Embry Riddle in AZ, graduated top of his class, stayed on as an instructer for 4 additional years & he just made left seat with a quazi-major regional a few years back (15 years later). Honestly, it's a roll of the dice

 

[Blskypilot]

Im not a pilot but it takes a long time for a civilian to become a pilot. You have to log over a certain amount of hours flight time and it is all out of pocket. It can be very expensive.

I got my private in 2.5 months at a cost of about 4500 back in 98. From there to commercial multi with instrument took about 7 months and cost about another 13-15 iirc. I'm sure price per hour has gone up since then. So, depending on how much effort and time/money you can devote it doesn't have to take that long. I know guys who went from 0 time to private in about a month flying twice a day.