Wanting to Change Career

[Texas JD]

I am 37 and I am really interested in changing careers. I have always wanted to be a pilot but never took the plunge. I am currently a Sales Account Manager for a Major Computer Company - I have been in the industry for 15 years, ever since college. Is is feasible to become a commercial helicoptor pilot (preffered) or comercial airplane pilot as a career at 37? It would be hard for me to leave a pretty good size salary because of my expenses unless I dipped into my 401K....To be happy and have a successful career then it is worth it to me....any thoughts or suggestions? I have been on helicoptor tours and on smaller plane trips and can not think of anything else I would rather do, but I have absolutely zero experience and would have to start from the ground up. Should I quit my job and go full throttle or should i try to get my private license while working, then quit when getting my commercial license?

[67november]

see the FAQ section pinned at the top of the training forum for most of your answers.

Edited September 5, 2006 by 67november

[FauxZ]

I'm currently 29 and have been in IT for about 10 years now. I was going to go the fixed wing route years ago, right out of school actually, but the career options didn't suit me and the IT industry was booming at the time. About 8 months ago I decided that I had enough of cube life and not flying and decided to go chopper. I'm still working full time and doing my training in an attempt to pay off some bills and build up a cushion for my tour as a CFI.

 

I'm pretty sure that no one here can answer your question for you. Expect a substantial pay cut, at least initially if not perpetually, and the strain of having to travel/move for work. Realize your career as a pilot can end as soon as you can't pass a medical. Be aware that any moment of inattention can take your life and the lives of any passengers you may have.

 

Address those issues personally, and with your family, and weigh them against the issues you have with your current job/situation and you'll have your answer. It's very easy to get disillutioned by the joy and adventure of a flying job, but it is still a job.

 

Personally, I'd rather spend the rest of my working life being in charge of my decisions and actions instead of getting buried in an increasingly deep pit by managers and documentation that prohibit me from taking action (maybe i'm a bit bitter ). Reading back, this does come off as a bit gloomy and that's not intentional. Flying always has been one of the great joys in my life and no matter how often I fly, I am always sad when I leave the airport. For me, it's a no brainer.

[Pogue]

Should I quit my job and go full throttle or should i try to get my private license while working, then quit when getting my commercial license?

 

I would recommend continuing to work while doing your flight training if you possibly can. It will give you about a years worth of immersion to decide whether you really want to jump or not. You might want to keep your 401k intact - you'll need it later.

[danter]

I am 37 and I am really interested in changing careers. I have always wanted to be a pilot but never took the plunge. I am currently a Sales Account Manager for a Major Computer Company - I have been in the industry for 15 years, ever since college. Is is feasible to become a commercial helicoptor pilot (preffered) or comercial airplane pilot as a career at 37? It would be hard for me to leave a pretty good size salary because of my expenses unless I dipped into my 401K....To be happy and have a successful career then it is worth it to me....any thoughts or suggestions? I have been on helicoptor tours and on smaller plane trips and can not think of anything else I would rather do, but I have absolutely zero experience and would have to start from the ground up. Should I quit my job and go full throttle or should i try to get my private license while working, then quit when getting my commercial license?

 

 

I was in your shoes a couple years ago. l went full throttle in to helicopter training. It is what I regret most in life. The school I attended led the students and I on, took our money and kicked us out if we weren't able to come up with more. Numerous letters to authorities have been of no help. The school has many connections so it is difficult to get anyone to listen. When students complain to authorities about this school, the school has their instructors write untrue letters to the authorities.

[Grant B]

Find a flight school with a good reputation.

 

Go for a few seperate flights in a 300. (Hands on)

 

Then follow your heart from there.

[Texas JD]

Wow - thanks for all of the great advice, I think that I will probably go for the private license and then make a decision on going all out for commercial although I am pretty sure this is what I want to do... luckily there are a couple of places within a few miles of my house that I can look into. I'm sure that flying as a job takes some of the joy out of it, but I'll bet anything that it is more rewarding than selling computers for a living no matter what the pay cut.

[GottaFly]

Im in almost the exact same position as you and I did some serious research on this topic during my last few months while I was between jobs. You've already gotten what I believe to be some really good advice here. "Read as many of the threads in the FAQ in the Flight Training section created by Rookie101 as you can stand, watch out for fly-by-night schools, flying for a lving is still going to be a job, do the soul searching", etc., etc., etc. In my experience thus far, everyone in this forum has been honest and willing to help.

 

Personally, I've sold my soul back to corporate America and their cubicles for now. Here's two links to articles on JH that led me to make that decision. Fair warning, they're kinda, well..... discouraging, for lack of a better term.

 

http://www.justhelicopters.com/Topics/deta...nChannel=Topics

http://www.justhelicopters.com/Articles/de...hannel=Articles

 

Don't get me wrong, if I find myself single again without a morgtage for some odd reason, I'm jumping all in. So I'm still thinking about it. But for now, I just figured if I can make the same salary as the average mid time experienceed helicopter pilot (call it $60k) doing what Im doing - even though I believe I woud be an excellent pilot and truly love to fly - why should I risk my marriage/stability/money/future/life if its a real possibility that I would find myself unemployable immediately after training because of low hours or unemployed earlier in life because of loss of certificate? To pursue a dream, because nothing can be gained if nothing is risked? The world is full of cliches. In the end, the choice is unquestionably an individual one. You're approach is probably a good one.

[fry]

...no matter what the pay cut.

 

Annual income from flying:

 

Years 1 & 2 training (200 flight hours), negative $60k total (twice that over the life of the loan if you finance the training costs.

 

Years 3 & 4 and maybe 5 (600 to 800 flight hours as a CFI or tours) $18k a year plus tips, living in Las Vegas

 

Year 5 or 6, low $50s (w/ IFR) a year to start with another $12k for working 14 hour days, living in Louisiana.

 

Years after, 1% to 2% increases...priceless

[HH60Pilot]

Annual income from flying:

 

Years 1 & 2 training (200 flight hours), negative $60k total (twice that over the life of the loan if you finance the training costs.

 

Years 3 & 4 and maybe 5 (600 to 800 flight hours as a CFI or tours) $18k a year plus tips, living in Las Vegas

 

Year 5 or 6, low $50s (w/ IFR) a year to start with another $12k for working 14 hour days, living in Louisiana.

 

Years after, 1% to 2% increases...priceless

 

Fry,

 

If you think that the pay is so bad, then why do you want to be a helicopter pilot? Sometimes people would prefer to make less and be happy with their life than make more money and be miserable. Plus, I'm not sure where you are quoting the $18k per year working at, because I know plenty of CFI's that make a considerable amount more than that per year. If you get on with the right flight school, you can get decent pay and get to the 1,000 hour point in 12-18 months, not 2-3 years.

 

Just my two-cents.

 

Doug

[Witch]

Where's that school??? I wanna work there!!!

 

Really, I'm starting at 44. I'll have to keep working and fly on the weekends, but I'm quite a bit happier-'cept for those danged autos.

 

Later

[HH60Pilot]

Where's that school??? I wanna work there!!!

 

I have a CFII working for me that is flying 80+ hours a month and is salaried at quite a substantial amount more than what Fry was mentioning.

 

Doug

[fry]

I have a CFII working for me that is flying 80+ hours a month and is salaried at quite a substantial amount more than what Fry was mentioning.

 

So, would that make it one CFI per flight training company making that kind of a living? There y'all go...you just have to be THE one. But then most training operations only pay the CFI when he/she is instructing...no students today, no pay today.

[bossman]

So, would that make it one CFI per flight training company making that kind of a living? There y'all go...you just have to be THE one. But then most training operations only pay the CFI when he/she is instructing...no students today, no pay today.

 

My CFI's are on salary + flight hours. If we are not flying we service or clean.

[HH60Pilot]

So, would that make it one CFI per flight training company making that kind of a living? There y'all go...you just have to be THE one. But then most training operations only pay the CFI when he/she is instructing...no students today, no pay today.

 

Fry,

 

I can't speak for how all the other companies pay thier CFI's, but by keeping the instructor to student ratio within reason, the instructor will be getting plenty of flying time and get a decent paycheck on payday. The reason that I only have one CFI in that category is that the school is small and I only have one CFI working for me.

 

 

BTW, you still didn't answer my question about why do you want to be a helicopter pilot if you think that the pay is so abysmal...inquiring minds want to know.

 

Doug

[Witch]

My CFI's are on salary + flight hours. If we are not flying we service or clean.

Might you anticipate any openings after next winter? I should have a CFII by then. I like being around turbines also.

 

Later.

[fry]

So, would that make it one CFI per flight training company making that kind of a living? There y'all go...you just have to be THE one. But then most training operations only pay the CFI when he/she is instructing...no students today, no pay today.

 

How much salary?

[Superman]

Wow - thanks for all of the great advice, I think that I will probably go for the private license and then make a decision on going all out for commercial although I am pretty sure this is what I want to do... luckily there are a couple of places within a few miles of my house that I can look into. I'm sure that flying as a job takes some of the joy out of it, but I'll bet anything that it is more rewarding than selling computers for a living no matter what the pay cut.

 

That is the route I chose. Kept the day job, paid as I trained, no big loans to repay, no second mortgage on the house. It takes a little longer but you do have to realize that this isn't a career that you will move into overnight. Even after obtaining your CFI, you're still just starting and have a long road ahead of you to obtain the hours needed to be "employable" You will get to a point that you have to make some choices.

Will it work out?........Who knows.....one thing for sure though, you won't know unless you give it a shot.

 

I say, go for it....

 

 

Fly Safe

Clark

[fry]

The reason that I only have one CFI in that category is that the school is small and I only have one CFI working for me.

 

That was kinda the point...there are more CFIs than there are customers and therefore the pay is low. If there were more customers you'd employ more than one CFI wouldn't you?

[Gerhardt]

My CFI seems to do pretty well. He's $30/hr and you schedule online. If you want to fly during peak hours (evenings or weekends) you need to book a couple of weeks in advance. Even most of his daytime hours are filled. You schedule online and pay for the time you have scheduled. There is no free time, trying to garner information before or after your scheduled time, because he has another student scheduled during that time.

 

It's important to keep in mind that 1) he does both airplane and helicopter training and 2) he owns the R22s he trains in, so there's even more income for him. (at $250/hr after tax)

 

On another note, I'm amazed at how many of us come from IT backgrounds.

 

Now, back to the original theme of the thread. I'm 41 and am paying my way as I go, which takes an extra job to do it. I also have a 5 year old and 8 year old and a 40 year old (combo wife/child) that take priority over everything. So this doesn't leave a lot of time for flying, but I'm getting there. Working on my CPL now, then am anxious to start on CFI and IR. The important thing to me is that I'm having a helluva time every time I fly and the training is keeping my mind off my day job.

 

Ultimately I'd love to fly in the GoM. By the time I'm ready the kids will be a couple of years older. Exciting times.

[fry]

My CFI seems to do pretty well. It's important to keep in mind that 1) he does both airplane and helicopter training and 2) he owns the R22s he trains in, so there's even more income for him. (at $250/hr after tax)

 

So can one make a living at CFIing? Run some numbers:

 

Say the revenue is $220/hr aircraft rental and $30/hr instructor rental. Two hour blocks...one hour flight and one hour ground...is revenue of $280/hr per flight hour.

 

Figure the costs at $88/hr operating and overhaul reserve for an R-22 (Robinson's numbers from their sales literature); about $10.5k per year for insurance, taxes and tie-down; and, $19.5k annually for loan payments to finance 90% of the aircraft cost.

 

Flight hours per year needed to breakeven is about 156. At four hours a day, that's 39 days of flying just to cover the costs.

 

To earn $60k (pre-tax, payroll & income) would require another 78 days.

 

One hundred-seventeen days of confirmed student bookings, good weather and no maintenance issues to earn what an office employee makes at $28/hour. Keeping in mind that an area that is likely to have the population capable of that kind student volume is not going to have an inexpensive cost of living so $60k may not go all that far.

[Whirlwind]

One hundred-seventeen days of confirmed student bookings, good weather and no maintenance issues to earn what an office employee makes at $28/hour.

That's fine if you don't mind looking at cubicle walls for the rest of your life. The view is a lot better from a thousand feet up.

There's a lot of office jobs out there. If you find it that appealing, you can have mine!

[67november]

That's fine if you don't mind looking at cubicle walls for the rest of your life. The view is a lot better from a thousand feet up.

There's a lot of office jobs out there. If you find it that appealing, you can have mine!

 

 

same here, you can have my cubical.

[GoodGrief]

I will change carreer as well....

After 10 years of flying helicopters I quit.

 

Pay is crap, can't feed the family, I make more money working only 40 hour weeks as a salesperson in a supermarket. Isn't that sweet ?!?

 

My advice to all career changers: Keep your jobs and stay out of helicopters.

[67november]

time to put the wife to work