Police to Pilot
Posted by DackJaniels2267@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 24 comments
Hey fellas,
Had a question. I’m currently 23, a former college athlete who graduated with my Bachelor’s. Always had a dream to do 2 things; become a cop or a pilot. I wasn’t going to be able to afford any flight school on my own, nonetheless college (luckily sports paid my way through college). Currently, I’m about to start my career in law enforcement here in 2 weeks.
Now that I am going to be working and making decent money ($90k<), I’d love to get into flight lessons and school. Looking to finish a PPL and hopefully a CPL. I have 3 days off per week, so I’d try using 2 of those days or so for flight training. Also using most of my PTO towards flying.
My plan is to work in law enforcement for at least 5 years, or until I am able to finish my CPL, then go full time into flying. Is this realistic goal, and how long do you think it’d take me?
Sorry it’s alot, any feedback is appreciated!
saml01@reddit
You’re gonna do police, initially a super hard job, for 5 years and just when you’re about to get a big bump in pay and improvement in QOL, you’re gonna dumb it to go into flying and start all over again?
DackJaniels2267@reddit (OP)
I understand what you’re saying. I’d be working as an officer while pursuing my PPL and CPL, to keep myself financially stable affording these classes.
Growing up in a police family, my father missed a lot of time with my sibling and I, wasn’t there a lot due to work. Us worrying if he’d come home some night. I say 5 years, it’s could be within the range of 5-10 years where I’d assume I have kids with my long time girlfriend. Just would rather be in a field that’s less tolling mentally on my future family and I.
LatestBlackout@reddit
I mean I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you want to make good money as a pilot you’re most likely gonna be gone a lot too. At least as a cop you’re in your home town and you could hypothetically be home quickly if someone had an emergency. But you’re on the other side of the country and someone needs you, you could easily be 12+ hours from getting them.
At my regional we’re guaranteed 12 days off a month and I’d say like 50+ perfect of people are getting that and nothing more. Admittedly, it’s just a regional, but you’d still have to contend with that phase of your career, probably while having young kids if that’s the route you’re going.
Food for thought, best of luck.
DackJaniels2267@reddit (OP)
I appreciate it, that is absolutely true. I think for me, I think of the longevity of the job. While both have their risks of fatality, there’s a lot higher chance I’m not coming home from a shift than there is not coming home from a flight.
That being said, both take their tolls on being away from family. I guess my goal would be to try and knock out a ton of hours early on in my career and save up. So when I do have a family, I’m content with not maxing out my flight hours.
I appreciate the response, would you say regional has more possibility to spend time near home?
LatestBlackout@reddit
It’s all gonna be rather airline specific, and there are hard limits to how much you can fly in a week, month, and year. Seniority is everything, I was really lucky and got hired at the front of a wave of people so I’m currently bidding in the top 30% of my classification meaning I basically get what I want. That said though, the people who got hired 7-8 months ago are gonna be on reserve for a long time.
All of this also depends where you live. If you live in base, you’ll have a much easier time and you can even bid reserve and just get paid and not fly that much. But if you want to grind out hours you’ll definitely be gone a good deal. I usually get 14 days off, and then I can also swing a few overnights at home which helps a ton.
nerferderr@reddit
A lot of departments have an aviation section.
Might be a worthwhile thing to look for in a potential police department if they have that. Might get your commerical paid for.
Sticks111162@reddit
Just to be entirely honest, finding a job with just an IRA and CPL is basically impossible (unless you have strong connections). Once you finish your CPL, you will almost 100% have to get your CFI/I to be able to transition to flying full time. And has a current CFI, I’m not getting close to 90K this year
DackJaniels2267@reddit (OP)
Really? Is there a reason you must get your CFI? I know a lot of training pilots do so for a side income of sorts, but I didn’t realize most employers would consider it.
RaiseTheDed@reddit
It's because all the other jobs are not common, and extremely competitive. Like, hundreds of applications for one job. CFI is the easiest route for most.
Does your department have an aviation unit? If you get your CPL, you would qualify for many police fixed wing flying jobs. Most if not all require time on patrol. You could possibly even do a lateral move to another department with an aviation unit. A lot of the departments I know of were desperate for pilots not too long ago. Not sure if that's changed or not. But being an LEO is a good foot in the door for their aviation units. I've even heard of some departments paying for their officer's flight training....
DackJaniels2267@reddit (OP)
That makes sense. I was just replying to another comment wondering if my department has an aviation sector. Will definitely be something for me to look into, I didn’t realize LEO had such a relation to aviation until now, so that’s relieving.
Thanks again man, you were a huge help!
RaiseTheDed@reddit
You're welcome! I've met many, many ex-LEOs in my fairly short time in airlines.
I think state patrols are more likely to have fixed wing divisions, but I've seen a few city PDs with fixed wing as well. My county sheriff has a couple airplanes too.
You may have a good opportunity to go to the feds too, if that's something you're interested in too. DEA, FBI, etc. You have lots of opportunities
throwaway642246@reddit
Super realistic goal. Keep your current career (and income) while knocking out your certs. Find a local flight school, don’t pay too much in advance, do it part 61 and not 141. Never be afraid to fire an instructor or a school. They are a dime a dozen right now.
2x/week flight training and staying on top of studying to get your writtens done, you are probably looking at ~3 years to knock out PPC, IR, CPC, and CFI/II if you wanted.
Prepare to spend $60,000-$90,000 depending on the planes you train in, how proficient you are, and the instruction rates at the flight school you choose.
DackJaniels2267@reddit (OP)
Gave me some hope, I know it’s not an easy task whatsoever but I’m pretty determined to give it a shot. I think $60-90k was what I was expecting to spend on it over the timeframe.
So you would recommend a local flight school rather than a chain such as ATP?
throwaway642246@reddit
Avoid ATP at all costs. Search the sub for myriad reasons why.
Absolutely go local and small-ish, a place with a handful of decent planes who has been around for a decade or two.
DackJaniels2267@reddit (OP)
Great, there’s been a few local ones I’ve researched around me so I’ll definitely be sure to look more into it, thank you again!
RaiseTheDed@reddit
Yes, definitely a local school. ATP requires pretty much full time commitment.
81Horse@reddit
Realistic, and not a rare pathway. Employers and pilots place a lot of weight on an LEO background, for many reasons. Stick with it until you have your instructor ratings and/or fall into a time-building opportunity. You can reassess how best to make the transition in a few years. The industry will have shifted again by then.
DackJaniels2267@reddit (OP)
Awesome thank you, I’m glad to see it’s not super uncommon for others to take this path. As for my girlfriend, she’s currently on her way to being a CNS, so she herself understands the lack of work life balance which is huge. Appreciate the response!
flyingron@reddit
Many years ago I considered merging several interests when the MD State Police was looking for trained pilots that they could put through the police academy and aviation trauma tech training.
DackJaniels2267@reddit (OP)
Oh wow, so they were looking for pilots to come train their officers? I’m assuming with helicopters though. That’s pretty cool though, would be neat to see if my department has any sort of aviation sector I haven’t heard of yet.
12-7@reddit
Yes, seems quite reasonable. We generally prefer the pay-as-you-go approach without time pressure, as you never know what might come up throughout your training or medical certification.
Review the FAQ and pursue a first-class medical sooner rather than later so you're aware of any conditions that might prevent you from this path.
DackJaniels2267@reddit (OP)
Will check that out, thanks so much!
DackJaniels2267@reddit (OP)
I am not a bot fyi. Not sure why it says that, Reddit was down, so I had to delete the post and repost it.
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
Hey fellas,
Had a question. I’m currently 23, a former college athlete who graduated with my Bachelor’s. Always had a dream to do 2 things; become a cop or a pilot. I wasn’t going to be able to afford any flight school on my own, nonetheless college (luckily sports paid my way through college). Currently, I’m about to start my career in law enforcement here in 2 weeks.
Now that I am going to be working and making decent money ($90k<), I’d love to get into flight lessons and school. Looking to finish a PPL and hopefully a CPL. I have 3 days off per week, so I’d try using 2 of those days or so for flight training. Also using most of my PTO towards flying.
My plan is to work in law enforcement for at least 5 years, or until I am able to finish my CPL, then go full time into flying. Is this realistic goal, and how long do you think it’d take me?
Sorry it’s alot, any feedback is appreciated!
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