I'm 43... Am I too old to start thinking of a career in aviation?

[bgallagher]

I live in Connecticut. I now have only 8 hours under my belt towards my PP. I had a great instructor who got a job so I'm now looking for another. Anyway - If I were to buy my own small plane (at least 6 seater, single prop) could I make a decent living flying regionally? I'm a burnt out landlord and would like to spend the rest of my life doing something I enjoy. Approaching 50 - I assume it would be hard to find a good paying job which is why I'm considering buying my own plane. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

-Brian

[Denny of Oakland]

To be blunt you may want to reconsider this. To haul passengers as a single pilot no manual part 135 is possible. However it will involve lots of hoops to go thru. I perform certification on part 135 air carriers and it’s a lot of paper work with the FAA, money for maintenance and most operators lose most of their money in the first year. I don’t want to sound down on this subject, but it is a real niche market.

To do this will require a commercial pilot certificate to start. After you obtain the commercial rating you may want to consider what you want to do again.

Just one man’s opinion.

[MrJ]

Denny is right... there are lot of hoops...
Get your commerical and then CFI... you can instruct in the airplane under Part 61.. Also, Part 91 does allow you to do certain operations (aerial tours within 25 nm, Aerial photography, bird chasing, and several others...) w/out the part 135 formalities...

I know one guy who is working on his commerical and trying to modify his a/c for aerial phototraphy missions.... apparently there's a market for this in his area... and it certainly beats being a landlord.

[fstflyr]

Age is only a number. I was 46 when I started flying. I too thought it would be quite an experience flying for a living but the realities of which others have relayed are true. But don't let that stop you if it is truly something you think you might want to do. Now age 51 and 400+ hours with my Commercial License on the near horizon I still only fly for fun. I had the opportunity to see how the working half of aviation flys (I have a friend that flys left seat on a charter/fractional King Air 200 I have gone on several trips) and its more warts and waiting rather that fun and freedom. The people he ferrys aren't all that sweet either. Point is fly often, never stop learning thats where the fun is, grab a ride in the right seat whenever you can and you never know where it will lead.

[ajarn1]

Good for you, just keep learning and keep flying, I am 55 have 1200 hrs in all kinds of airplanes I had given up trying to get qualified, and given up dreaming about a job in aviation. For some reson I kept my licence up to date and just flew when I could afford it. Then I got a job as a national manager now I fly myself all over Australia for work and the best part is the boss pays.
That in my opinion is better than an airline job.
What ever happens don't ever allow anyone to tell you you can't do it! those folks are easy to find. YOU CAN and you will. Good luck to you.

[Zonno]

Originally Posted by bgallagher

I live in Connecticut. I now have only 8 hours under my belt towards my PP. I had a great instructor who got a job so I'm now looking for another. Anyway - If I were to buy my own small plane (at least 6 seater, single prop) could I make a decent living flying regionally? I'm a burnt out landlord and would like to spend the rest of my life doing something I enjoy. Approaching 50 - I assume it would be hard to find a good paying job which is why I'm considering buying my own plane. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

-Brian

As long as you're in good enough health to pass the flight physical, the answer is no, you're not too old. But unless you became an airline pilot or a cropduster, I seriously doubt you could make a living flying. With a commercial license, you can make a little extra money here and there, but you might want to try keeping your current job as a landlord and fly on the side.

[akb1]

Originally Posted by MrJ

Denny is right... there are lot of hoops...
Get your commerical and then CFI... you can instruct in the airplane under Part 61.. Also, Part 91 does allow you to do certain operations (aerial tours within 25 nm, Aerial photography, bird chasing, and several others...) w/out the part 135 formalities....

I'm sure it would be difficult to earn a living like this, but you could do it part time. Give you a little break from being a landlord. I'm 47, nearly same situation. I've thought about getting my own plane and doing some instructing. Most likely, I'll just fly for fun.

By the way, I'm a landlord also. Commerical real estate, not residential. If I did residential, I would pull what remains of my hair out.

[fisk]

I have to admit, i'm in a similar situation. I'm 43 now and i'll be 44 by the time I take my first lesson next year. I have a good job now and even a good part time job that could be a career if something went wrong with the first one. Basicaly, I make decent money and i've got a good life, but I really want a major career change. I've been thinking for a while about getting my PPL, and then continuing on to instrument, and eventually a CFI.

My big fear is that no one would want a 49 to 50 year old pilot with only a few years experience. I guess my ultimate goal would be to continue on even further with multi-engine, commercial and jets. I dont really know if this is reasonable or attainable, but for now it's a dream of mine.

[Ditch]

Brian,
I watched my son go from "0" hours to 135 charter to 121 CRJ SIC to fractional PIC. It took eleven years to be able to make a decent enough wage to feed his family AND take a one week vacation. Remembering back, I would have been unable to make the commitment necessary to achieve this at the age of 43 with a family and bills to pay. Guess it depends on how badly you want it.
My hat goes off to all professional pilots. Tremendous dedication is required to maintain proficiency while being answerable to countless masters for very little compensation........ I think you have to love flying.

[akb1]

Originally Posted by Ditch

Brian,
I watched my son go from "0" hours to 135 charter to 121 CRJ SIC to fractional PIC. It took eleven years to be able to make a decent enough wage to feed his family AND take a one week vacation. Remembering back, I would have been unable to make the commitment necessary to achieve this at the age of 43 with a family and bills to pay. Guess it depends on how badly you want it.
My hat goes off to all professional pilots. Tremendous dedication is required to maintain proficiency while being answerable to countless masters for very little compensation........ I think you have to love flying.

I'm sure you're right about having to love to fly. That's the problem. Too many guys/gals love to fly. Too many CFIs looking to move up an airline job. Supply and demand.

[rich-allen]

My younger brother is a pilot (captain) for Chevron Oil. He's been working there for two years now.
He flies big wigs around the world to places like Africa, Japan, China ect. I remember when he started his career, his first job was with United Airlines just two months before 9-11-2001.
He was laid off just two days after the attack.

He spent the next 5 years working for different companies, each time starting from the bottom. It wasn't what he expected at all. Very little pay and only working part time (It's hard for new pilots starting out).

Today he flies two or three different types of aircraft for Chevron, his favorite is the Cessna citation X. It's taken 10 years to get where he is today. Most pilots would kill for his job however, pay is still not the best. A stay at home wife with a new born, car payment and house payments have him living from pay check to pay check barley makes ends meet.

Whenever he's not flying for Chevron he's takes odd jobs delivering aircraft or flying small groups of people for local outfits.

My brother spent last Christmas in Ireland. I remember distinctly when he called the family from a pub while we were all opening gifts. It was really hard not having him home for the holidays. Most holidays he works, that's part of being low on the totem pole.

I guess the money gets much better after your 5th year with Chevron,\in a few years but for now things are tough.

Of course this is just my personal experience with being a professional pilot. It's not all glory and fun. In fact after a while it's just another job.
For anyone thinking of becoming a professional pilot later in life I would discourage it. especially if you make decent money in your profession now.

You have a lot of younger pilots hungry to get out and begin their lives while older folks need to have a job that pays the bills.


Just my two cents.


Rich

[fisk]

Ok, that was kind of discouraging... I was under the impression that airline pilots made pretty decent money. I guess it all depends on seniority and your market value.

In my case, I have no desire of being an airline pilot. I needed to start 20 years ago if that was going to happen. Right now, the web page of the FBO that I plan on starting flight school has a big banner that says they are hiring for full and part-time CFI's.

Am I dreaming if I think that I can get my ppl, instrument rating, and then CFI in an amout of time that would actually allow me to be a CFI part-time? If I could fly and get paid for part of it, i'd be happy with that. Do you think a CFI with only two or three years flying experience could get hired?

oh, by the way, What would a full or part-time CFI make anyway?

[rich-allen]

Fisk, I apologies if I threw a monkey wrench in your idea. I'm not a professional pilot (but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express) and the only experience I have is with my family.

I just called my brother and asked what his annual salary was... $91k was the answer. That's with 9 years of experience behind him.

This is the first job he actually got as captain, all the previous companies he worked from the 2nd chair. That always bugged the crap out of him

We live in the SF Bay Area, $91k doesn't buy much especially when it comes to a home. If you currently live in the woods on Tennessee then $91k looks awful damn good.



I love this saying:
If you work just for money, you'll never make it, but if you love what you're doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours.
Ray Kroc

"founder of McDonald's Hamburgers, Ray bought his very first restaurant when he was 53 years old"

Good luck with your endeavors and have a wonderful holiday season.


Rich