introduction

[KalabM-WY-609]

Afternoon John. My name is Kalab Mullins, I am 27, and I live in Green River Wyoming. I have absolutely no flight time, but have always dreamed of a career in aviation. I am fortunate enough to have seen much of the world already. Australia and Africa for example. For the past 5 years I have had task of helping a local pilot load up his ag-cat for mosquito control. I think I would really love doing that. Or Charter flying in Alaska or Africa. Or possibly even commercial airline, although I hear those are tough eggs to crack. I am currently working as a plant operator in a natural gas processing facility and its good work with good hours and wages, its just not me. I want to do something I will love, something that pushes my abilities and stretches my intelligence. I have a wife but as of yet no kids, I hope its not too late for me to start a "real" career. Thanks for you time and help.

[PSA John]

Hello Kalab!
It's great to hear from you. Thank you for posting and introducing yourself. Well, you are definitely not too old to begin a career that you love. In fact, at 27, most of us are just warming into the person we're really going to become, I would guess.

What makes your outlook nice is that you are open to doing many different things in aviation. Although we tend to think of airline pilots when someone mentions a 'commercial' pilot, the truth is there are many areas which you could pursue. I've also daydreamed at times about being a charter pilot in Alaska!

At any rate, I'm glad to be able to help you out and steer you in a direction that will best contribute to your aviation future. How did you happen to find ATP? How did you find the coaches board? Have you ever done an introduction flight (sometimes called a discovery flight)?

Thanks again for your post. I look forward to hearing more.

John

[KalabM-WY-609]

John, Wow your reply was fast. To answer some of your questions; no I have not done a discover flight. Ive been looking into it, at all the nearby airports. Trying to find one that offers it. So far no luck but there are still some that are a 100+ miles away I have yet to try. I think that would be a great next step, I really think I could learn a lot in just a few minutes. At least get the feel of things from the front seat. Aswell as one that isnt rolling around the office floor, (I do have a small adiction to microsoft flight sim).

My wife brings me home the library copies of plane and pilot magazine. And there is always an APC advertisment in them. I went to the website and requested more information and they emailed me the link to the coaches board. And so here I am.

For starters, I would like to know; what is the best way to go about finding a way to finance it? And since it is probably a related question. Based on some of my goals, would you recommend I go all the way through to CFI right away or take it in smaller steps as needed?

Thanks for your time, and once again the quick answer.

[PSA John]

Hello again, Kalab!
That is one nice wife of yours to bring you home plane and pilot. I also liked your comment about flight sim. Haha...my neighbor is completely addicted to flight simulators. In fact, I was giving him a hard time yesterday because I actually spotted him in his yard on a Sunday afternoon. Usually, on Sunday's, he's doing dog fights online

Anyway, the best way to go about financing... Well, you have a few options. I have to start by saying that if you do a program such as ATP's Airline Career Pilot Program, there are financing programs in place at ATP. So, in that case, I'd encourage you to call the 800 number and inquire about the financing programs they offer. Trust me, ATP is EXTREMELY good at pilot training and looks exhaustively for ways to help pilots get through the program.

Now, if you choose to find a local instructor and just start taking lessons, I'd say the very best way to do it is pay as you go. Simply rent the plane and pay the instructor for his/her time. Put as much money away as possible and fly as MUCH as possible. The less you fly, the more out of practice you get and the longer it ends up taking you.

As for your last question.....this depends in large part on your personality. I definitely recommend that you get your CFI. It is invaluable in aviation. A few people make it to a professional pilot position having never instructed, but very few and, in my humble opinion, they lack a certain perspective about how to fly with someone else and about crew resources management. Now, whether you pursue your CFI though a fast paced program like ATP or through your local flight school may depend in part on the current status of the economy. The economy is slow and airline hiring is very slow at the moment. However, there will come a time when airline pilot hiring is very busy again and you'll want to be ready and qualified when it does. Therefore, I definitely recommend that if you are serious, you should get to work right away on your flying experience.

I hope all that helps. Talk to you soon

John