Jobs and Payments

[Daki08]

I am New to this flight training for helicopters and I find it very hard to make it through the process. I picked a small school located near where I work and live. I did not have many schools to choose from here in Portland, OR and I always thought small schools were better than larger schools. The school that I did choose seem to have a problems with communication with there students and instructors. After choosing another school that is ready to fly 24/7, the only problem with the school is choosing ways to finance the school. I choose Sallie Mae for the last school but the interest rate was the worst I was ever given since when I had my first credit card at 18. My credit score is very high and flawless, but I am not sure where to turn to be able to finance my school. Its not exactly easy to walk into a bank and ask for 50,000 unless you have a house to back it. Also I was trying to search for jobs that are with helicopter companies that do not involve flying that will pay enough to live without adding more debt. I was hoping I could get some input from other students as well as current pilots the best way to make it in the flight world.

[67november]

welcome to helicopter aviation, there is no easy way out. continue to read thru this site and you'll find many of your answers.

[Witch]

Look into Wells Fargo. I plan to do that. From what I have heard, they have an education loan that may work for my situation. That is of course after consolidating the first loan into the mortgage and a possible re-finance.

 

Best thing to do at this point is look into UVSC (soon to be UVU), and get student financial aid through them. It's cheaper in the long run, and you also get a degree.

 

Later

Edited March 30, 2008 by Witch

[Goldy]

I am New to this flight training for helicopters and I find it very hard to make it through the process.

 

Work hard, save all your money, eat macaroni and cheese, fly when you can...and after several years you will get to PPL ! Guaranteed.

 

OR date a really rich chick and let her pay for it all.

 

I chose option 1, thinking back, I should have gone for option 2.

 

Goldy

[rick1128]

There are actually more schools in your area than are in my current area. There are two in Hillsboro. Hillsboro Aero and Applebee. A school in Aurora called Sunset Helicopters. Another in Corvallis. Plus Precision in Newberg. I did my commercial and CFI with Precision and was very happy with them. I did have some small school issues, mostly availability due to maintenance. The problems you had with your first school sounds like my experience with Applebee. Hard to get them to return calls. Seems they were always busy doing utility work and students seemed to come second. The impression I got from Hillsboro was that the full time international students came first. Plus their fuel surcharge turned me off also.

[Daki08]

There are actually more schools in your area than are in my current area. There are two in Hillsboro. Hillsboro Aero and Applebee. A school in Aurora called Sunset Helicopters. Another in Corvallis. Plus Precision in Newberg. I did my commercial and CFI with Precision and was very happy with them. I did have some small school issues, mostly availability due to maintenance. The problems you had with your first school sounds like my experience with Applebee. Hard to get them to return calls. Seems they were always busy doing utility work and students seemed to come second. The impression I got from Hillsboro was that the full time international students came first. Plus their fuel surcharge turned me off also. Ya I am with Applebee right now and currently switching to Sunset. Good to know I am not the only one with problems with lack of communication at Applebee.

[Daki08]

Work hard, save all your money, eat macaroni and cheese, fly when you can...and after several years you will get to PPL ! Guaranteed.

 

OR date a really rich chick and let her pay for it all.

 

I chose option 1, thinking back, I should have gone for option 2.

 

Goldy

 

 

Option 2 is always good

[Helo_Rookie]

There are actually more schools in your area than are in my current area. There are two in Hillsboro. Hillsboro Aero and Applebee. A school in Aurora called Sunset Helicopters. Another in Corvallis. Plus Precision in Newberg. I did my commercial and CFI with Precision and was very happy with them. I did have some small school issues, mostly availability due to maintenance. The problems you had with your first school sounds like my experience with Applebee. Hard to get them to return calls. Seems they were always busy doing utility work and students seemed to come second. The impression I got from Hillsboro was that the full time international students came first. Plus their fuel surcharge turned me off also.

 

 

 

I made a trip out there from the East Coast in January, for starters you are lucky to be in Portland/Oregon, thats a great place to fly. as Rick mentioned Precision is the way to go, I visited them along with Hillsboro and Applebee and by far I was more impressed with Precision, and of course their rates are much better too. Hillsboro in my opinion is about the almighty $$$ they have a nice set up, (the plasma in the waiting area etc) so you can see where your money is going... I'd suggest taking a trip out to Newberg and speak with Natalie or any of the instructors out there... sadly, there is no easy way to finance your education (unless you go work overseas for a while, I've done that too) you may have to start with your PPL and in a few years work up to your CFII. The only reason I havent relocated out there yet, I'm looking to go the National Guard route but if I wasn't, I'd be in Precisions classroom. Just my .02

[Copterpilot213]

The best job for flight training is no job. Second to that I'd say it's simply a job that pays enough for you to get by and also gives you the most amount of free time to study and fly that's possible.

 

It's very difficult but worthwhile in my opinion, if you want it bad enough you can get through it (just be prepared to sacrifice a lot for it).

[ohman]

As far as holding a job and studying/training at the same time goes, I went back to my old high school job as a janitor. I worked evenings till 2230, then went home, studied up for whatever lesson I was on, slept, dreamt of flying helicopters, woke up went to the hangar for a mid-morning flight before the wind picked up too much, and after the fog had drifted on (northwest weather is kinda moody).

 

My schedule works really well. I've gotten creative with studying too. I have flash cards I carry with me at work and quiz myself while vaccuming hallways and stuff. And working nights, people aren't around to bug you.

 

Custodial jobs don't pay too bad either $10-15 hrly, considering those of us studying to be pilots are probably still going to take a pay cut when we finally become CFI's.

 

happy flying.

[heligirl03]

I went back to the old college standby...restaurants/bars. It does the trick. I make plenty to pay bills in 3 or 4 nights a week, work 5pm-12am, leaves days always free to fly. I will take a pay cut to teach, will prob still keep a restaurant shift or two to get by even then. Good luck!

[Eggbeater]

Back when I was working on my Commercial/CFI, I started working at a machine shop. Hours were 0430 - 1530 which left a little bit of time for a two hour slot. As soon as I started my CFI, my hours went to 1530-0215. I would make it home just in time to write a flight and ground lesson for the next day, and get up at 7 for the CFI course. It was pretty exhausting, and I quit a week before my check ride to leave time for studying. The great thing about that job was I would load parts to be machined into a tray, then I would usually have 20 minutes till the next tray had to be unloaded. This left plenty of time to study the material. Point is, you do what you have to.

[Daki08]

Well right now I work full time and make decent money but it was a pay cut from my diesel mechanic job. Thanks for the information everyone and keep it coming good to know no one else had it easy in school.

[Kelly N.]

I work in telecomm/data networking currently and I can see how having more free time would make it easier to progress faster. However, for me, the day job is now financing my next career. It's going to be a bit slower than I might like, but I'm putting myself on a schedule of transitioning to being a full-time helo pilot in 5 years (that's with debts paid).

 

For me, the challenge is preparing to downsize, finding time for my family in between work and studying, and finding time to fly (I'm, regrettably only flying once a week right now, but I'm committed to make this career change regardless of the challenges and how long it takes). It would be logical and only common sense for me to stay in my current industry and blow off my dream as some sort of mid-life crisis. I daresay, it would be harder for most to leave a well-paying job for one in an industry that's:

 

1. Difficult to get into (cost/training)

2. Doesn't really pay that well compared to the risk and level of expertise required.

 

The point I'm trying to make is that even if you have a really good job, it's still a sacrifice. Figure out if you want it bad enough to deal with the challenges you'll face getting there and then figure out a plan that'll work for you and follow it.

 

You could always follow the path I have: spend 18+ years in other industries in order to make enough to put yourself through flight school I suspect that if you want to fly for a living, the shorter route, despite the scrimping, might be more appealing. And if you're saying, "why leave a good job for all that hassle?", then maybe reconsider if you really want to fly helicopters for a living (here's a hint, studying for CCNA/CCNP is much cheaper and pays better much quicker - plus router or switch crashes are rarely risky).

 

Kelly

[Daki08]

Keep the inspiration coming

[mrjibbs]

I am a real estate broker, (struggling to the say the least) but its pretty much perfect. Have all the time i need to fly and study and do whatever. Just sell a house here and there and scrape by to finish with trainnig. I would advise a self employed gig like real estate, mortgages or the restaraunt/bar industry to get by. Or UPS/Fed/Ex/DHL have lots of night/swing shifts and stuff so you can have the days free.

[aviatr]

I negotiated with my job and the school. I fly the same schedule 3 times a week - 2 weekdays early in the morning and 1 day on the weekend.

 

I start work later on the 2 days that I fly and then work later those 2 days to get my hours in.

 

It's a lot of work to maintain a full time job and fly/study, but soooo worth it.