any commercial pilots?

[bugjuice]

I know there's a few guys around here, just wanting to get some general info..
been flying a few times, love it, hate me job, so wanna fly for a living. But it's just a bit of a 'leap of faith' to switch careers like this.. most of it is about the mula side of it, but also about jobs n stuff too. I'm gonna go postal at work if I don't do something soon, but i just want to know that when i jack it in here, and start flyin for me bread n butter, I'm not making a costly mistake.. I'll have to get a student loan to cover it too, cos i can't earn what I need, fast enough.. so how poor am i going to be for how long? anyone know?
and nah, not overly keen in the NZAF. It'd be good to do, but the stress of making sure my socks are neatly rolled facing magnetic north etc would just do my head in

[James Deuce]

You'd never get into the RNZAF unless you are already a superbly qualified military pilot. Your age is against you there, and the fact that you have to go three rounds with 4 other pilots to get on the flight roster due to the fact that they only have 2 boxkites and a working replica of Leonardo Da Vinci's Helicopter as operational aircraft.

I keep hearing of stories of $100,000 student loans to do the Massey Aviation degree.

Yes it is a leap of faith, and terbang is probably the guy to talk to, but do you really want to be a bus driver in 3D?

[Scouse]

Yep what Jim says Terbang is your goto man he did my multi rating for me and even when flying whisper jets up and down the country for Anset was still heavily involved in flight training for GA pilots so send him a pm and ask him for his cell phone number and have a chat

[Toaster]

I read a decent report intoi the avation industry a few months back. NZ has waaaay too many pilots for the size of the industry. So finding decent paid work is not easy or quick. Offshore would be where you'd have to head by the sounds of it.

[jimbo600]

Fuckin expensive. Getting a CPL is the easy bit. Expect to live like a peasant for a couple of years doing freight runs at night getting hours up. Pay is crap till you get gas turbine multi engine hours and run folk and down the country.

But hey, if you love flying its worth it.

Personally I don't love it that much.

Best in is the RNZAF but forget it if your maths aint top notch

[marty]

NZ has too many young pilots from massey with 200hrs, and not enough with 2000hrs. we have planes parked up cause there is a shortage of pilots. fresh cpl/meir 250hr pilots are no good when you're in IMC in the dark rain on an NDB approach into taupo......

i was accepted into the RNZAF at 37 years and went so far as going down there, but pulled out as i didn't want move to bulls/palmy.

if my circumstances were different, i'd be flying choppers/hercs now, or maybe even flying in africa/botswana, but instead i've stayed working in aviation, paid for my cpl/meir up front, bought a share in a pitts, and have spent 5 hours today flying parachutes at the skydive nats (and being paid for it too!). i've just ticked over 400 hrs since going solo in march 2005. i start my c-cat in a couple of weeks. life's not too bad.

[R6_kid:Me]

if you got decent maths try the air force kit. Only thing is, like you said, learning to be an officer and a gentleman. By the time you're flying the real deal your taxes have paid for $1,000,000 worth of flying across a much larger range of REAL aircraft than any other pilot with as many hours as you will have. And you get paid for it. Another downside is living in Bulls... Kelly might not like it, but your only 1/2hr from Manfield, 4hrs from Taupo... life could be very good! Then there is 10yrs return of service.

I have 3 mates on pilots course atm, all are thoroughly loving it, ages between 21 and 24.

[bugjuice]

yeah, the a/f doesn't really appeal to me..

k, so i'll be poor for a while, but happy..?
was gonna do it from ardmore for the bulk of it cos they can get student loans, then probably do the additions like MR and IR etc at Whenuapi (sp?) or north shore, cos it's a bit closer, and just more experience with other places.

How long would it take, before I start earning off it too? I guess the first step would be instructors, which I don't mind, but I know that I'm not going to earn what I earn now for a while. So, for eg, how long would it take for a newb to get to a ball park of 50g p/a for eg? I don't mind putting the hours in, and for something like this, it'd be cool as.. and I'd be doing temp work in macs still, help make ends meet for a bit


thanks for the advice so far btw

[Jantar]

My son did his cpl/meir/instructor rating etc at Ardmore. He is now an instructor at the Darwin Flying School earning A$50 per flying hour and A$25 per classroom hour. Not big money, but much more than he could earn doing the same job in New Zealand. His student loan is around $160,000.

[bugjuice]

far out.. that's heaps..
see, seeing things like that kinda put me off. There's no way I could pay that much by working for it, so a loan is the only way to go, but then how long would that take to pay off?! But, as long as there's a roof over me head, a burger in me stomach and gogo juice in the bike, then I'm happy

[Pussy]

If you've got REAL determination, and REAL commitment, you won't have too much trouble getting into it. There are, however, lots of CPLs out there who have entered aviation on a whim, and won't in my opinion cut the mustard. The right attitude will get you a long way, as will not thinking that the world owes you something. I've seen some guys who I would have no problem recommending, and lots of others with the same experience who I wouldn't touch. Good luck, if you're serious

[bugjuice]

if i can fly as well as I ride, then I don't think I should have too many problems. And if I don't do something right now, then I never will, and that's gutting. It's always been a passion, along side bikes. It's just cheaper to have bought a nice bike and have fun, than get my PPL to start and build the hrs. I realise I made the wrong choice there, but hey, I'm ready and willing now

[Pussy]

Another little piece of advice... NEVER let your confidence exceed your competence... the cemetaries are full of hot-shot low time pilots

[Grub]

The Grub is a 300hr PPL, a rare beast these days. Most PPL's die out at 150hrs max but I have a genetic eye issue that I didn't want to uncover in the CPL medical and stop me flying all together - I am happy. Aviation is a drug, the best you can get.

If you're into this BugJuice, get your ATPL medical right off. You will not fly turbines, perhaps even in the right seat, certainly not in command, without it. One of my ex-Ansett mates in the business has just been there. (Sounds like Terbang - Andrew is that you?).

If you have avgas in your blood, do this. There are some expensive and some cheaper options. There's a lot of "tertiary" institutions out there dying to take your money. I would recommend considering an aero club for the PPL. There's nothing the tertiaries can teach you (well maybe CRM) that you won't learn there. If you play it right, they can be cheaper.

[YLWDUC]

Folding socks only lasts for a few months, and the training wage in the RNZAF is around 25000 for a bograt Pilot Officer. By the time you're a proper Eric Flashart / Ace Rimmer you'd be on around 60 grand.

That, and you get to fly around at 350kts at 200ft hunting subs. Well, at least you do if you're a fishhead. Most of the pilots just want to learn to drive trucks and then join up with Cathay.....