Will Fly For Food Pilot Forums: cospilot - Viewing Profile

Dear Rolls:

How do you tell someone to not go for their dream? When you have the flying bug, you have the bug. No matter what someone tells you, it is up to you to decide and then live with your decision. Only after you have been in it for a couple years will you know whether you made the right decision.

Back when I was 35, I took a similar path except I wasn't married with children...yet! You can read about it at http://www.flycrj.com/ about.

Would I do it again knowing what I know now? Probably not.

Am I glad I left my cushy programmer job and became a pilot. You beat!

Do I wish I was still programming or working in another career that is a bit more secure? Yeah, sometimes!

So what would I have done differently? I would have worked harder, when I was younger, at having multiple sources of income coming in so that I didn't rely on just one source---but no one ever told me that. I would have taken all that money I was making a long time ago programming and invested it into property and into starting a home-based business. Something that brought in residual income and from which I didn't have to rely on someone else to pay me. Then when flying called, I wouldn't have to rely on my flying to pay the bills. Basically, I would have more options.

From a financial stand point I was fortunate because I had saved up enough money through investments and my GI Bill to pay for all my flight training. I never went into debt for flying and for that I am truly thankful. I now fly with 20-something year old now that are $100K in debt due to school and their flying costs. It is going to be YEARS before they are debt-free and I empathize with them. It's a bad situation to be in.

So, consider this. Flying is awesome and most the time I like it and I'm glad I did it. If I could roll-back the clocks though, I would focus on making money that provided a continuous source of income even when I wasn't there but then I would have gone to flying anyways. Find a way to make money and find a way to fly too, professionally!

Hope this helps!

To Your Flying Success...

Jeffrey
www.flycrj.com

Pilots are a little different in their commuting from the typical office desk jockey because their ride to work can be on an airplane instead of a car.

I live in Colorado Springs but I am based at Chicago O'Hare. Simply put, all my trips typically start in ORD and end their as well. Every couple days I head to the airport, go through security, and ask the gate agent for the jumpseat. Then based several mitigating circumstances like seniority, airline flying on, and first-come-first-serve bases, I may get the jumpseat. If the plane isn't full then I get a seat in the back, sometimes first class too. If the flight is full, or almost full, and there are non-revs (non-paying passengers usually somehow associated with the airlines) that are trying to get somewhere or a flight attendant trying to get to work, I do the right thing and take the jumpseat so they can get on.

Then on the last day of a trip, I reverse the whole process and do it in the opposite direction.

Basically, it is a way of life. You can see an article I wrote about commuting here: http://tinyurl.com/bokuof

As for a commuting clause, that depends on the airline you work for. SkyWest does not have a commuting clause per se, but if we are having trouble getting to work, crew support will usually, but not always, allow us to take vacation time instead of getting written-up for missing work. United and Delta have different policies so I can't really speak for them.

Part 121 are the regulations that outline the operating requirments domestic, flag, and supplemental airline operators, like Delta, American, etc. Go to the FAA website (faa.gov) for more information.

Harrison:

Ari Ben Aviator (www.aribenaviator) in Fort Pierce, Florida is where you want to go!

Fast, lots of multi-engine time, a chance to be an instructor once you finish (but definitely not guaranteed, of course)! But, if you do become an instructor there, you will fly a ton and eventually have more multi-engine time that single-engine time! I did!

You aren't going to get as much multi-engine time anywhere else as you would here, guaranteed!

Talk to Mike, Pierre, or TJ. Then go for a visit!

Roy,

I trained at FlightSafety Academy in Vero Beach, FL. Very, VERY expensive but they do a good job. You get your ratings fast. They are very well established.

However, I ended up at AriBen Aviator where I did my MEI and eventually to flight instruct.

If you do their Professional Program, you will get the multi-engine time that you need to get hired by a regional and if you train there, most likely you will instruct there, which will build you multi-engine time F-A-S-T.

My best advice though is check out the cost and visit the schools you are interested in. That is the only real way to find out what fits for you!

Regards,

Jeff

My Blog: Almost the Speed of Sound
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ cospilot

I fly for SkyWest, I live in Colorado Springs, and commute to Chicago (KORD).

I pay federal and Colorado state taxes ONLY. I don't have to pay any Utah taxes or Illinois taxes. I am not even sure that they have taxes, but nonetheless, I don't pay them.

Your tax preparer would be able to clarify that further for you. Or you can use EZCrewTax.com. It is a tax service for pilots.

They also have another website called EZPerDiem.com that I use to get back more money on my tax returns. Their calculator figures out the difference between what your company pays out in Per Diem and what the government says you are authorized.

It is f.r.e.e. to try it out but costs $29.95 for the basic package and $49.99 for the premium package.

If you use the promo code "C1Q4L" when registering, you will get 10% off.

Trust me, it is worth it. You will recover the cost on just one city-pair overnight...usually.

Hope that helps!

Jeff