Expert: David Bidwell - 6/22/2003

Question
im 55, just retired police dept after 27 yrs.  is it too late to get a commercial license?  i would be starting from the ground up (no pun intended) i dont have a private yet. i have $ 16000.00 available to me for training. i have controlled type 2 diabetes, and controlled high b.p. i take oral medication for both.  i can take the the hard truth if it is so....

             thank you sir..  

Answer
Hi Ron,
You can work on your commercial at any age.  However, if your goal is to fly for the airlines, the mandatory retirement age by regulation is 60!  It will take you at least 3-4 years to get all of the qualifications.  On the bright side, there are many other avenues that you can take with the commercial.  Here are some examples: banner towing, flight instructor, jump plane pilot, traffic reporter, and in many cases corporate flying.

I'm sorry to say that your 16,000 probably will not cover all.  Remember, you need flight experience as well as the license and that is costly.  Think closer to 25,000.
I hoped this helped with the info you needed.
Good Luck,
Dave Bidwell