Expert: David A. NewMyer - 6/11/2004

Question
Hello,
 I am writing to ask for information on what to do in aviation.  I am currently a student at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA and was flying at VA Aviation.  I am an Aviation major in college and just completed my freshman year.  I have been online researching flight schools and have found that flight schools in Florida are considerably cheaper than the school I am flying at now.  I am flying for around 165 a hour including instruction and down there is was around 105 an hour.  I can also get on an accelerated program there and get all of my licenses in around 6 months.  Private-MEI.  Then come back here and fly as an instructor and build flight time while in college.  If it all went well I would graduate college with around 1300 flight hours and that has me prepared for a regional airline.  I am just trying to get some outside insight on my little 'plan' and see if it is realistic and if there is anything that I should consider that I have forgotten about.  I also wanted to know if there is any other route to go besides Commercial and Military.  You mentioned Government but I'm assuming that means Military...Let me know what you think and what alternatives I should consider.

Brian Campbell
blcampbell@liberty.edu

Answer
Hi, Brian:

Nice to hear from you.  I will try to assist!

As for going to another school and getting all the flight ratings there, make sure that you have ALL of the costs that this other school might charge.  Sometimes there are costs that are not always built into the prices that are quoted to you for the cost of flight instruction that you need to account for in your decisions.  So, ask about each of them.....  These include:

1.  Time over charges (these are applied when you reach the end of a particular stage in your training but you are not quite ready for a check ride and need more time to get ready...there is a cost involved);

2.  Residential costs (housing);

3.  Board (food and other costs of living near the flight school);

4.  Books/instructional materials; and,

5.  Transport to and from the airport where you fly (if you do not bring your own car).

Also, with regard to the six month estimate, pin down the flight school you are going to as to the most recent average time of completion by the students who are in the same package of classes as you.  In addition, ask them about any weather-related, maintenance-related and aircraft scheduling-related (demand for aircraft) and instructor-related (staffing levels) delays in training.  This way you are not going into the situation blind in terms of what the school's capabilities are in terms of providing you the training.

As far as your "plan" is concerned, make sure that VA Aviation has no problem with hiring you back with a CFI from another flight school.  Some flight schools prefer to hire only their own CFIs (one's that are trained there and not elsewhere).

As far as other paths, there IS flying done by government agencies other than by the military....for example, federal, state and local government agencies have all sorts of aircraft for specific executive transportation, law enforcement, inspection, customs, immigration and forestry-related reasons.  However, I did not mean to imply that these are entry-level jobs:  These types of jobs will typically be open to you later in your career, once you have more experience.  Therefore, the military and civilian paths are two most common generic paths followed into aviation careers.  The military path requires a minimum commitment of some length so that the military gets back a return on their training investment in you as a pilot...six to ten years depending on the branch and type of aircraft/rotorcraft flown.  The civilian side does not have such commitments in most cases but the pay levels at entry level are much lower than the military and the job security is not as good....the military will generally try to keep you as long as possible but a civilian aviation job is normally pretry transitory, with some entry level companies going out of business or changing hands often (particularly flight training companies and fixed base operators).

One other thought is that the flight school that you attend (I assume in Florida) will likely have a placement program with a regional airline (or more than one) and other general aviation employers.  So, that may be an option for you as well in terms of a job.  I would think that the selection of a flight school with good flight training, a good cost level AND a good placement program would be the best choice.

I hope that this is of assistance to you.

Best wishes to you in your aviation career choices.  Let me know if I can be of further help.

Sincerely,

David A. NewMyer, Ph.D., Professor and Chair
Aviation Management and Flight
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
http://www.aviation.siu.edu