Flight time money issues/suggestions

[ander37]

I have to say that this site has a wealth of information and has helped me with some issues early in my quest to be an SNA.
My question is this: For those people that have earned their PPL, how did you pay for it? I know it costs a lot of money, but did you take out a loan or just pay for it with cash from a job, or what?
I am at 1.2 hours right now, but that because I have taken two "intro" flights at different airports. I would like to get up to 20 hours in the next month or so, so I am looking for suggestions.


My background:
College, graduating Jun '05.
ASTB - 8,9,8,63.
GPA - 3.10 majoring in Computer Science.
All-American athlete.
3rd generation Navy.

Applied for SNA Nov 19th '03, rejected Dec 1st '03 (rather fast response :icon_cat: ).

 

[CavemanOgg]

If you know you want to get 20 hours (or at least a sizeable chunk) flight schools often have "block" rates where if you pay for a certain amount up front you can get a deal. If they are not advertised these same rates can also be achieved by talking to the owner or operator of the flight school. Tell him your story and he may cut you a deal.

Flight schools also often have literature hanging around for low rate educational loans you could hook up with and apply to the afforementioned.

You could get a job at a flight school and that would definately lead to some connections of reduced rates or free flight hours.

Search the AOPA (Airplane Owners and Pilots association) website or other web sources for flight instructors in your area.... you may find one that has his/her own plane or a new flight instructor that is scrapping for work that would be willing to cut you some kind of deal.

 

[ander37]

Thanks

I was thinking about trying to get a job at the airport by my college. I will definitely talk to them about all those suggestions.
Thanks for the reply.
And as always, more suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[DairyCreamer]

*** Just about your last comment on the rejection ***

The reason your first app was rejected, assuming you were going for direct accession and not BDCP, was you were more than 12 months out from being available for OCS.

This happened to me last year when I applied for the first time. I applied in July '03 when I'm graduating in December '04. Got a reject in 2 weeks flat. Of course, they dont bother telling you why, but I found out later on the Navy recruiting site that they want applicants to be available for OCS within 12 months of the application (for direct accession applications anyway). I dont have the link with me at the moment, but I'll find it later and get the text that I read.

Anyway... this time, round two was submitted at the end of May this year, and it's been 2 months and a week now without a pro-rec or non-select decision. They did ask for some additional info on myself last week though, which cant be bad. Still have my fingers crossed.

Well, that's my take on the situation. There could be a million reasons I guess, but that seems pretty likely. If you were applying BDCP though, I don't know.

~Nate

 

[gnorman911]

Also, my want to look into college flying clubs, some offer a good discount on flight time to members.

 

[ander37]

I was actually applying for BDCP when I got rejected. I guess I got the package in the day of the deadline, so that is how I got that quick response.
I might try to get a Recreational License instead of the PPL, since it is much cheaper...

 

[TargetInSight]

Is it worth getting some time in the air before flight school down in p'cola? I know it seems like an obvious answer but I've heard YES's and NO's from varying sources.