How much people spending to become a pilot? (Debt??)
Posted by Londup@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 40 comments
Not going to talk about what route I went down or anything in specific, I know there are many routes you can take to become a commercial/cfi pilot such as 141 fast track, college, mom and pop 61 or buying an old plane and getting hours in that. I know some people end with 200k in debt and some come out with none at all but I would like to get a better perspective on where most people stand. So how much did u spend and the people around you spend what way did you do it and would you recommend it. Personally I’m working on my commercial right now.
minimumxxxx@reddit
I spent around 80k with 20k debt. Time building financed partially by others because I did tourist flights (they didn’t pay for the full flight, so it is legal in Europe). This month I paid off my whole debts.
Specialist-Fix6612@reddit
Can you explain more about tourist flights in Europe please, was it in Spain by any chance ?
minimumxxxx@reddit
Nope not spain. What I did was basically sharing flights on wingly.io Tourists booked my flights and I got some hours. According to easa legal if you are not earning any money. So basically chip in 1€ and you are ok
Outside_Abies4161@reddit
You can't just chip in 1 euro.. at a absolute minimum you have to chip in a fair share - eg if theres 4 people on board (incl. you) and it costs 400 euros then 100 euros minimum
minimumxxxx@reddit
Not clearly stated by easa
Outside_Abies4161@reddit
Your insurance would for sure be voided in an accident, thats a 100% certain.
Also, the rule for sharing only applies for direct costs - so in the event of an investigation unless you can somehow explain to the EASA how your maintenance, insurance, and hangarage somehow only equal to less than 1 euro per flight, youre done for.
Also, like you said, its not clearly stated by the EASA - so in the event that this is clarified in the future or this is ever brought into court (for example if someone sues you eg prior mentioned insurance company) the judge would most likely rule against you, as it's obvious that you are profiting from this by getting essentially free hour building for a further goal.
It's a big, big risk to take. Just split the cost, its cheap enough.
SavingsPirate4495@reddit
A Captain friend of mine said his neighbor’s son graduated Embry-Riddle with a 4 year degree and a $270,000 student loan. That was circa 2017…😳😳😳😳😳
Londup@reddit (OP)
I was around many riddle kids at a certain point. Prices sounded absolutely insane
Independent_Visit130@reddit
So I mostly just daydream about being a pilot and spend lots of time on reddit. Basically free.
burnmotherf-er@reddit
Haha, same. Cheapest way to be on your way to becoming a pilot.
Tman3355@reddit
College + Flight school about 200k. Financed through student loans. Definitely dont recommend financing like that but it got me in during the hiring boom and I was able to pay it off in 7 years.
Londup@reddit (OP)
Yea right now or the past year and a half or so finishing with that could be crippling good job tho
Tman3355@reddit
Yeah this was before covid. It would be dumb to do that now.
DanThePilot_Mann@reddit
About 75k over the course of 4 years, 3/2020 through 1/2024. Paid as I went working full time. (Yes, it can be done)
snopro80a@reddit
130k for a 141 degree. I used loans with my parents as a co signer, I maybe had 10k in scholarships over my 5 years at school. I’ve got about 100k left to pay on it, been paying the min payment for the past 8 years. Finally in a position at a Major where I can pay more each month. Totally worth it!
Independent-Fill3390@reddit
Similar position here at a smaller 141 school with a bachelors degree. Sallie Mae and FirstMark own me for now lol
snopro80a@reddit
You’ll get them taken care of! Keep pushing!
Old-Trouble-8830@reddit
15K out of pocket for PPL and 100k so far for comm IR and CFI (not finished with CFI yet school takes chunk of loan and pulls from it per lesson)
ShWazy5@reddit
The school I go to ends up being around 150/160k but you also get a degree with it and its 141, it varies by school and by location, gonna be a lot more expensive in California or at embry riddle
Flythebigsky@reddit
Quickly figured out that flying was all I wanted to do, debt be darned. Ended up with about 60k but meh. I rationalize it because a handful of people i know working normal jobs are more than happy to blow that on a new truck.
Ok-Motor1883@reddit
I spent about 60k for 0-cfii in 12mo. While working a second job and not abandoning my family. Researched ahead of time way to save money and go faster. Now trying to help others do the same.
deer_god11@reddit
What things did you do research on in order to save money?
Ok-Motor1883@reddit
Fly with Trent and pro pilot playbook have some good tips. Mainly avoid the high priced well advertised schools. Know what you need and have a plan don’t just trust the instructor/school to spoon feed you. Longer lesson blocks than the traditional 2hr helps waste less money and time on the ground.
deer_god11@reddit
Thank you!
trebor921@reddit
How much time we're you able to commit on week by week basis to get you there in a year? I'm thinking about doing this but I can't quit my day job.
Ok-Motor1883@reddit
I passed all my writtens through cfii before I started flying. Flew 4-5 times a week. My second job was my own business it was more part time at that point and the schedule was flexible.
trebor921@reddit
Thanks for answering that!
chinky47@reddit
No debt for helicopters. About 50k for fixed wing add-ons and time building. Army paid for helicopter training. First civilian company paid for my ATP-H. I ended up sticking with helicopters in the end. I do not regret it one bit. I’m home with my family a lot more which is more important to me than money.
ASSTORIA92@reddit
College + flight school 100k
Necessary_Topic_1656@reddit
no debt. all paid as I learned / flew…., got my commercial glider pilot certificate fairly early around 60-70 total time. didnt have to pay to fly after that except for more certificates. I didn’t decide to become an airline pilot until I had been a glider pilot for 10 years. spent the 12 months of year 10 getting an airplane add on to my commercial certificate, multiengine and instrument ratings spending 50k to get all of the certs and went right into new hire training. the 50k came from a retention bonus the military paid me to stay in the military…. I used the retention bonus to make the career change out of the military.
pilotshashi@reddit
Seven years have passed since I started my journey to achieve stability. I paid 10,000 ppl, 25,000 ifr, and 10,000 cpl. Additionally, I’m planning to save 15,000 for my CMEL
No-Foundation-8034@reddit
0-CFII 62k. Worked during ppl, then saved before rest, then 0% APR CC to get over the line. CC payed off and got some points to go to Hawaii so that’s cool i guess
commies_get_out@reddit
I spent about 100k at UND from 0-CFII. My parents paid for it so 0 debt
TxAggieMike@reddit
Please read what u/RaisetheDed has to say about Paying for Flight TrIning With Loans/Debt.
Londup@reddit (OP)
I’ve read it before but just read it again and yea that’s completely absurd, I did my instrument at a 141 school and had some friends do all their training there and take out loans and they are not doing all the best right now.
churnitupsome@reddit
Didn’t have the money to learn to fly when I was 21 and didn’t want to take out loans to learn, so I waited until I had the money to pay for it all myself when I was 37. Went 0-CFII in 364 days.
If I would have had my crystal ball when I was 21, I would have sucked it up and taken out loans and lived out of my car on ramen noodles for a while because I’d probably be a wide body CA at Delta right now 🤣. But the path I ended up taking has still been pretty awesome!
Swimming_Way_7372@reddit
No debt for me. Paid as I went and found a couple opportunities at some scholarships. Out of pocket probably 40k. Maybe 8k in scholarships. Different times though.
BeeDubba@reddit
I got most of my ratings for free as a military helo pilot with 3500TT (commercial ASEL, helo ATP/CFII).
I paid about $40k out of pocket (no debt) while flying helos full time to get a commercial AMEL, time build 150hrs ASEL and 25hrs AMEL, and attend ATP-CTP. That got me to a regional.
Gandor@reddit
50k is the low end for 0 to CFII and then you have your students pay to get you from 250 to 1500.
You just have to think of it in terms of #hr * cost per hr of the plane. Everything else is a rounding error.
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
Not going to talk about what route I went down or anything in specific, I know there are many routes you can take to become a commercial/cfi pilot such as 141 fast track, college, mom and pop 61 or buying an old plane and getting hours in that. I know some people end with 200k in debt and some come out with none at all but I would like to get a better perspective on where most people stand. So how much did u spend and the people around you spend what way did you do it and would you recommend it. Personally I’m working on my commercial right now.
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