Can’t Afford Your Pilot’s License?
Don’t have eight thousand dollars to fork out for your Private Pilot’s License? That’s how much it can cost, or more depending on your location, to get started in your flying career. And once you get your Private Pilot’s License you can’t fly for compensation so if your dream is a career in aviation, you’ll have to move on from there.
Some young pilots take out a loan much like a medical student would in order to get their education and licenses through an aviation school but they graduate in huge debt and they still have yet to get a job and many are still faced with the need to get more flight hours under their belt.
With the economy looming over our shoulders everywhere we turn, it would be so easy to give up on your flying dreams before you even try. Don’t let this be you. If you are truly set on becoming a pilot – get creative. Develop some bargainaing power and do what it takes.
Tim knew he wanted to fly more than anything else in the world but like you, he couldn’t afford the flight school in the tourist beach town in which he lived. Instead, he struck up a deal with a man at the local airport who ran helicopter tours and planes for aerial photography and banner ads on the beach. Tim agreed to work for the man in any way he could and in return the man gave him flight lessons. Tim paid for his FAA examination and materials himself. Then he continued working for the man, as one of his pilots while adding flight hours to his log book.
Bryan, a young graduate from flight school, had his Commercial Pilot’s License and ratings but also all the debt that came with it from attending one of the most expenseive aviation colleges in the country. He had his Pilot Instructor’s Certification and he took a job at a local airport teaching other young pilot’s to fly in order to build up his flight hours to take the next step – getting a job at a regional airline.
Today, Tim is a helicopter Instructor Pilot for the US Army and Bryan is a Captain at a regional airline.
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