Should I become a pilot (quarter life crisis)

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Dry-Engineering1776@reddit

CFI, Canadian… don’t, it’s so much money for training and no one is hiring. You’re going to spend the next 7-8 years before you even come close to breaking 80k. I work 6 days a week and made 800 bucks… for the entire month. Think about that….

Also for women who might want to have a family… unless you have a husband who’s able to cover for your kids weeks at a time (rotations in the survey world) having kids is a hard no go. I’ve flown with so many people who gave up because it was too hard on their children to have mom gone. You moms are the life blood of families.

Looking back at it now. I love flying, but Canada is toxic compared to the US in terms of pay. This career is for kids in their early 20’s who can just leave the world, go up north and kick fuel barrels for years in hopes of getting some right seat time.

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Rush_1_1@reddit

I'm a 36yr old Canadian finishing my PPL. Best decision I ever made.

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DubiousSandwhich@reddit

But like flight training is the fun part. You don't know you've made the right career move yet right?

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Rush_1_1@reddit

Well I have a career already, I'm switching out of it and I believe it'll be great.

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SamArch0347@reddit

When I was in High School, I remember a student asking one of the young teachers about career progression in education. And she replied "No in the future I intend to be an Airline Pilot" Some of the other students low key laughed at her......... Today, 25 years later she is a Captain at United. Always follow your dreams!

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Corona21@reddit

No. Not as a career.

Jobs are few and far between compared to teaching. Use the money to invest in a house. As much as teachers are not treated as well as they should, they are wanted the world over. Pilots are not.

Yes if, just for fun? PPL? Sure.

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LucidHams@reddit

Who are you to tell someone not to chase their dreams? lol your bad experience doesn’t translate to everyone, boomer.

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DubiousSandwhich@reddit

It's literally a post asking for opinions, positive or negative.

You think flying is all pros and no cons? I know so many pilots that have left aviation...it's not for everyone

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Molehilldocmgmt@reddit

"invest in a house" Ok, boomer.

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TrowelProperly@reddit

Take the plunge. Its worth it.

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LonelyTriangle@reddit

Not Canadian but started at 28. I’m a CFI now at 31 and have never been poorer or happier!

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Queasy_Platypus6333@reddit

Not Canadian, 31, & CFI as well. Can agree!

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Time_Performance_688@reddit

American, CFI, poor, we are brothers

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Time_Performance_688@reddit

I always recommend flying to everyone ever, however there are some things to be aware of:

1) flying is an awesome hobby or career path but it is very, very, very expensive to get into. Most places require a minimum of 300-500 hours to even apply at entry level and to get to that threshold requires a significant money investment that entry level jobs simply will never make up.

2) not everybody is capable of flying professionally. I don’t even mean that in like a “you just don’t have what it takes” way, but at least in the states (not sure about Canada) regulations are extremely archaic when it comes to things like medication and mental health. If the FAA finds out you’ve ever been to therapy for being sad, whoop, there goes your medical. Diagnosed with ADHD at any point? Enjoy your psych eval. Taken something stronger than Tylenol? Good luck getting the FAA to think you’re not an opiate addict. Get a first class medical BEFORE you begin training. If you can’t get the medical you just saved yourself tens of thousands of dollars potentially.

3) make sure you really do have the passion for it. It’s often said that every pilot you talk to is super psyched about flying, and while that is partly because being a pilot is fucking awesome, you only ever make it past the boring ass FAR study and hours of hood time if you’re really passionate. Flying can get super monotonous sometimes and if you’re not in 100% it’ll chew you up and spit you out.

4) it’s important to know your goal before you start. If you’re aiming for flying as a hobby then your training will look a lot different than if you want to do it as a profession. Make sure you and your instructor are on the same page.

Do some reading, the FAA has a ton of free materials on their website like the airplane flying manual (AFM) and the pilot’s handbook of aeronautical knowledge (PHAK), and if you skim through those and don’t want to gouge your eyes out from boredom then I’d recommend giving it a go!

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DetoxRoss@reddit

Send it

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bottomfeeder52@reddit

do it pussy no ballz

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Correct_Cap_6087@reddit

Try getting a private pilot certificate and see if you even like it.

I was asking myself these same questions two and a half years ago, so I explored it. After 2+ years of flying, multiple instructors, 100 hours in a plane, and probably $25,000 USD, oh and also a failed check ride, I have basically fully satisfied my curiosity on the topic of becoming a pilot. I am determined to finish private pilot because it's something I started and I want to see it through to completion, but beyond that I have no interest in going any further with aviation.

Try it. You may love it and find your calling, or you may find it isn't for you (as I have). If you don't try you'll never know.

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Harry73127@reddit

Appreciate the real talk. Commercial flying seems like it takes considerable desire, more than what most people have for most jobs. It’s nice to see that represented here vs. the standard, just keep grinding advice you usually see, regardless of the reality of the person’s circumstances.

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Horror-River-3861@reddit

Commercial flying takes roughly the same amount and time and money as a masters, with a significantly higher average lifetime earnings potential. Comparing it against "most jobs" isn't really accurate

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Harry73127@reddit

Sure but that doesn’t make it less difficult to grind towards. Sometimes that’s just not worth it depending on the person. That’s all I’m saying

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cocomajojo@reddit

Moncton flight college has a 12 month program where you go from nothing to CPL. It’s intense and $$$ but I’ve only heard good things.

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CH1C171@reddit

You are young. Go for it. Maybe you will like it. Maybe you will love it. Maybe you won’t and will have the experience and move I. To something else. Good luck.

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wrray@reddit

I took the plunge at 27. In Canada as well. Best decision I've ever made.

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Careless_Deer_6036@reddit

Exactly in the same boat. Best decision

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next-concert99@reddit

I was in in school working towards becoming a teacher and stopped and am currently working towards my cpl. I love it

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vishnoo@reddit

this isn't quarter life crisis.
you've been an adult outside university for what? 5 years?

this is the beginning

---
note that it is hard to find open spots now for students. but go for it.

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Cool-Acanthaceae8968@reddit

The only person who can answer this is you.

What attracted you to teaching in the first place? Because if it’s the M-F, daytime only, holidays and breaks off, home every night, job security, light duty, not performance-based, indoors, safe, in a southern Canadian town with full amenities…. then realize that flying is absolutely none of these—at least to start.

Also realize that any job is a job no matter what it is. People say “do what you love and you’ll never have to work again” when really it should be “do what you love and you’ll learn to hate it”.

Now don’t get me wrong.. I like flying and I definitely could never do a job that saw me going to the same building and doing the same thing every day… but even flying gets repetitive and for the few joyous things there’s often very unpleasant ones.

Personally unless you plan on possibly flying as a hobby (an expensive one), I’d take the whole plunge to become a commercial pilot with multi IFR.

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SympathyZestyclose13@reddit

Coming from a US airline pilot no. living out of a bag gets old quick and missing every major life event at home. If you like to travel just set money aside and go on a trip every 2-3 months. This lifestyle and the fun wears off after about a year in at the airlines

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Awkward_Algae_9631@reddit

Do it. At 26 you have so much time.

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kyotobunny@reddit

I’m 26F Canadian too. Getting my cat 1 medical this month and then starting online ground school. I say just do it. I find it’s better to make a decision when I’m conflicted even if it’s the wrong one I can always correct it.

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theoriginalturk@reddit

If you want to find some confirmation bias you’ve definitely come to the right spot

There’s not a whole lot of detail in your post, how much do you make now? Does your job offer a pension? Do you want a family? Why not finish your PPL while working then go from there?

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Cool-Acanthaceae8968@reddit

Meh.. not really. I like flying but there’s lots of reasons I don’t like it and will say it straight up.

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Molehilldocmgmt@reddit

It's a lot of fun and really enjoyable, but aviation is a very, very hard career path.

You're going to spend $50,000 (Canadian dollars, convert as needed) on your CPL, which will give you 200ish hours and leave you unemployable.

Then you're going to flight instruct and have students try to kill you every day for 2-5 years.

Then you'll hopefully get your first regional job between 1000 and 1500 hours where you'll work long days at odd hours and you'll make between $60,000 and $80,000 per year (this is 6-7 years from now; again, $CAD).

You can shoot for FO jobs in major airlines around 1500-2000 hours and Captain jobs at 2500+ hours. Unless a recession, US civil war, pandemic, or something else catastrophic happens in the time between here and there and the resulting layoffs mean that all the pilot jobs dry up.

Flying is the best part of my life and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but it is a hard road.

Edit: you can substantially reduce your costs in getting a CPL if you buy a little plane, just pay for fuel, maintenance, tie downs, and insurance, and sell it afterwards. I've seen people do a CPL in under $20,000 CAD net expenses that way.

Edit 2: this is maybe a cynical view of how hard this is, but I think it's useful to go in eyes open.

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T-1A_pilot@reddit

Ah, yes, pilot or bartender, the eternal question... 😄

As others have said, if you want to aim for a big career, there's a long road in front of you. Maybe look into initial training while doing the bartender gig, just to see if ypu really like it as much as you think you will.

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Both_Hunter1343@reddit

Not if you want to get married and have children.

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oioioifuckingoi@reddit

Start with medical and PPL. Do it!!!

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yvery@reddit

Get medical first before spending a penny on flight training!

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AdmirableBoat7273@reddit

At least get your license.

Flying is a competitive career where half the promotions often equal a pay cut.

But, for those who love it. There's little else that compares.

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Impossible-Bad-2291@reddit

Common (good) advice is to do your PPL while working, then do the other ratings after you're sure you like it.

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EliteEthos@reddit

Do you have $80k to drop on training? What if you don’t like that when you’re done?

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HSydness@reddit

Go do it. It'll be a bit if a road, but it's worth it!

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rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

Tell me why or why I shouldn't become a pilot

Canadian, 26, female. I have been a teacher for a few years now, don't like it and have finally decided that I won't be doing it again next year.

I have done 2 discovery flights in my life and have really enjoyed them and the thought of becoming a pilot has always came back to me. I have a good chunk of change saved up.

Should I just take the plunge and go for it?

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