Stuck - need advice/guidance

[204pilot]

Hi everyone, I have been reading these forums for a number of years now but this my first post.

I am looking for some advice or any help on what I should do next in regards to my training and career.

My situation is as follows,
I am currently employed as an underpaid dingleberry with the non-guaranteed possibility of becoming an underpaid FO after 1+ Year of loyal dedication.
I am only a private pilot and still a long shot away from completing my training.

The problem is that I cannot afford to finish my training. Not to make any excuses here, I could have made better decisions in the past, and I'm afraid I may have f**ked myself. The fact that I am where I am employment wise is a miracle. If I don't start making tangible progress soon, my job may be jeoprodized.

The way I see it I have two options,
-rob a bank sell drugs, or any other illegal income
-cut my losses, learn a trade, start my own business and fly recreationally.
-continue on saving minimal money for the next two years untill I can finish my mifr, and hope I don't get canned for not flying.

Any advice, tips or insight as to what I should do here?

[JungianJugular]

You're asking for someone to give feedback on where your life will be headed. Only you can make that decision, my friend. It is a major one too! If you love this enough to make it work, you'll find a way to make it work. But I think you'll need to give more details re: your current employment for some of the experienced guys here to give you some solid advice in that area.

It's not a tough situation to get out of/remedy and it seems you have made the mistake of not planning this venture. People make mistakes, learn from this experience.

Ask yourself - do you love this enough to make it work? If you do, that's where you need to be headed with a solid plan in place. If not, that's okay too. Life is about the choices you make. Either road is not wrong or right.

Based on your post, I am going to assume you're young and single - if I were in your shoes, I'd make it work based on passion alone with a plan.

You'll be alright!

[dirtysidedown]

Dont worry man, I am a govt worker looking to change careers at 30 y/o. My biggest mistake was taking the leap to get my license because i soon learned that I love the activity of flying and really want to become a career pilot. Being up in the air and enjoying the view, words cannot describe it.

I purchased a house with my gf in the summer of 2012, got married this summer, and now we are just scraping by. My only problem now is that I dont have the cash to continue moving onwards with my CPL, night rating, or anything else. I know i need to keep flying because i think this is a true case where you dont use it, you lose it. So i will fly once a month to keep current on my A/C and then hopefully claw ourselves out of the debt we've quickly encountered.

I think my next step would be to purchase a C150 or something similar with a group of students and fly the p!ss out of it with a couple of freelance instructors. This way the costs will be kept low and the A/C will almost always be available.

Just Keep Calm and Chive On, good things come to those who wait and work hard!

[iflyforpie]

My situation is as follows,
I am currently employed as an underpaid dingleberry with the non-guaranteed possibility of becoming an underpaid FO after 1+ Year of loyal dedication.
I am only a private pilot and still a long shot away from completing my training.

It's not only non-guaranteed, it is completely impossible. You cannot work as an F/O with a PPL, and you cannot complete your training without money. It's win-win for them and lose-lose for you... the less they pay you, the less likely you will get your licence call them on their offer. Because you are there for the aviation experience, they know that they've pretty much got a cheap labourer for as long as they need.

The problem is that I cannot afford to finish my training. Not to make any excuses here, I could have made better decisions in the past, and I'm afraid I may have f**ked myself.

The fact that I am where I am employment wise is a miracle. If I don't start making tangible progress soon, my job may be jeoprodized.

If you jeopardized your job, that would be the best thing that ever happened to you. It is not a miracle where you are employment wise.. you are getting paid nothing and not getting anywhere closer to flying airplane. It's like those aspiring actors who move to Hollywood to be close to big stars and production companies... but really aren't any closer to making their big break into the movie industry than if they were in Hay River slinging bags--heck, those guys are at least on TV!

You are basically in the friendzone of aviation... close to what you want but further away than someone who walks in the door at the right time with a CPL/Group 1 IFR and 500 hours TT. What you have to realize is that there are plenty of other operators out there and that first and foremost you need the proper licences and ratings.

The way I see it I have two options,
-rob a bank sell drugs, or any other illegal income
-cut my losses, learn a trade, start my own business and fly recreationally.
-continue on saving minimal money for the next two years untill I can finish my mifr, and hope I don't get canned for not flying.

Hey, I counted three options there.

First one of course isn't good. Second is probably the best of the ones you provided. Third one is impossible.

If you pick away at it piecemeal, you will spend way more money and take much longer. You need to have all of the money at once so you can go hard and get it done in the least amount of time... but that means having a year or two of no flying.

Your other option is to get a better paying job that has nothing to do with aviation and save the funds so you can complete your training. It seems like a step backwards, but going into a new career with everything required and hopefully minimal debt will give you an advantage over others. Read the thread about saying no to debt and aviation diplomas.

[5400AirportRdSouth]

I don't know, I think there is a fourth option that you might want to consider.

If you've got a bona-fide ramp-to-flight line job, you're a third of the way there( one of the ways there anyway ). The other two thirds being; the money to complete flight training and the employer following through on the offer.

Not much to offer you on the employer credibility end, that is something you have to judge for yourself.

You're not the first to find themselves short of funds to get a career because, well, they don't have a career yet to acquire the funds. The banks and government recognize this. So far, it seems the legend of the six figure sky god lives on in the halls of the bank loan officers.

My advice, and is highly dependent on your level of commitment to this path, is to borrow the funds, get it done.

By the time the license is in hand, I would think your year would be up and you'd find out if they are serious about putting you in an airplane. If they aren't, well, you'd find yourself in the shoes of probably a good 30-50% of all CPL graduates ( from my own anecdotal experience ), you'd have a license, crippling debt and desperately looking for a job, even a ramp-to-flight line job.

Get a student line of credit, see if you qualify for a student loan, borrow the money from mom and dad, sell your car, whatever you have to do. Just because you have a skanky 500 dollar limit credit card, does not mean the bank cant be convinced to hand over 10-20K with the right co-signor ( hi mom ) or collateral.

But again, back to commitment. Borrowing 20K to go from PPL to CPL, with bleak job prospects, and then trying to service that debt if and when you get a job, is going to be a 5 year plus struggle, imho. If this is the path you want for the rest of your life, 5-10 years of struggle may be worth it.

Wasting 5-10 years being places you don't want to be, doing jobs you don't want to do, is a complete waste of time. Life is too short for that garbage.

But, its hard to give practical advice as I don't really know your situation. If you are 18, then to hell with debt, work towards a trade, complete the license part-time while working/apprenticing. Now you're mid 20's, back-up plan in place, license in hand, you're off to a good start. However, if you're 35, clocks ticking.

It can be hard to take advice from the internet too, for all you know, I'm a dog.

PS - re-read your original post and you mentioned saving for your CPL/MIFR over a 2-year time span at your present situation. If you have the means to sock away 10-20K in two years, the loan should be a breeze. Both getting it, and paying it back, just saying.


Woof.