2 Questions

[ryann24]

I hope I am not setting myself up to get batterd on here, but I have two questions:

1) Will the VA pay for my husband to get his private pilots license after IFS?

2) My husband should be starting API sometime after the New Year, and I want him to have absolutely NO distractions (I stay at home with two little ones), and I was curious to what you all thought was more demanding API or Primary. I know they are both extremely challenging, but I thought about taking the kids back to Il/IA for a visit to give him a break from us for a little while and was curious to which would help him the most. I know his first choice wouldn't be to "ship us away", but at the same time I know he needs to be soley focused on his career and having us around may make him feel guilty at times. Just curious to everyone's thoughts or experiences. Thanks

 

[crysmc]

1) My husband said that IFS is all you get... not a PPL. A PPL requires a minimum of 40 hours, and IFS will get you about 25 hours. If he wants to pursue pilot training with the Montgomery GI Bill after he gets out, my husband said he could use it for that. My husband also thinks your husband could take an equivalency test after he finishes primary and be rated as a private pilot at that point.

2) My husband says that the first 4 weeks of API were the most study-intensive weeks he's experienced. The last 2 weeks of API were mostly physical, not academic, so I wouldn't plan on being gone then because he shouldn't have too much going on. As far as my husband goes, he's been really busy in Primary, and stress seems to be part of the syllabus, but it's a different kind of busy for him than API was. Also, primary seems to be around 6 months long, so I wouldn't try to spend that time away from your husband b/c well... that's a long time. I'd just not get my feelings hurt if he needed to go study with buddies frequently, and try to be as supportive and understanding of his schedule & needs as possible.

 

[phrogpilot73]

Most Importantly...

Is your husband in the pilot or NFO pipeline? If he's in the pilot pipeline, don't bother spending the money to get his PPL... You pay something like $85 (it could be more, you know - inflation), and take the FAA's military competency exam. As a helo guy, a DPE (Designated Pilot Examiner) will come down from Birmingham, give you a class (that covers ALL the answers to the test), and then an hour later you take the test. Once you're winged, 4-6 weeks later you'll have a commercial single engine fixed wing land, and rotorcraft-helicopter license, plus instrument ratings for both in your grubby hands. All on the taxpayer's dime!

 

[ryann24]

Thanks for the words of wisdom That is what I was curious about. He said he totally supports me going back to our hometowns for a few weeks and we thought we would schedule when he will have the most demanding schedule. It is funny what you said about the "studying with the guys", because I have told him numerous times that is his best bet because even though he can lock himself in the bedroom he can still hear the kids, etc. I know I couldn't do it! It will be much easier on him I think to do his studying away from home as much as possible. It is such a short time to sacrifice, when the pay off in the end for our family and his career will be such a huge reward. Thanks again!

 

[ryann24]

Is your husband in the pilot or NFO pipeline? If he's in the pilot pipeline, don't bother spending the money to get his PPL... You pay something like $85 (it could be more, you know - inflation), and take the FAA's military competency exam. As a helo guy, a DPE (Designated Pilot Examiner) will come down from Birmingham, give you a class (that covers ALL the answers to the test), and then an hour later you take the test. Once you're winged, 4-6 weeks later you'll have a commercial single engine fixed wing land, and rotorcraft-helicopter license, plus instrument ratings for both in your grubby hands. All on the taxpayer's dime!

He is actually NFO...so that doesn't count right?

 

[phrogpilot73]

He is actually NFO...so that doesn't count right?

Yeah, sorry... He'll have to pay for it (or use GI bill) on his own... Good deal for pilots though...

They don't allow NFOs to take the military competency exam (because it's for pilots), although getting his ratings will probably take less time and flight hours (read: money!) than other guys going through a civilian pipeline...

 

[Steve Wilkins]

1) Will the VA pay for my husband to get his private pilots license after IFS?

The GI Bill can't be used for the private pilot certificate. Your husband will have to pay for that out of pocket. However, once he has his license, THEN he can use his GI Bill to pay for 60% of the cost of training for his instrument rating on up to whatever level he wants to go and however far the GI Bill will take him (read: before it is all spent). Be aware that he must enroll in a FAA Part 141 flight school in order for the GI Bill to make payments.

 

[ryann24]

The GI Bill can't be used for the private pilot certificate. Your husband will have to pay for that out of pocket. However, once he has his license, THEN he can use his GI Bill to pay for 60% of the cost of training for his instrument rating on up to whatever level he wants to go and however far the GI Bill will take him (read: before it is all spent). Be aware that he must enroll in a FAA Part 141 flight school in order for the GI Bill to make payments.

Thanks a ton!

 

[KBayDog]

2) My husband should be starting API sometime after the New Year, and I want him to have absolutely NO distractions (I stay at home with two little ones), and I was curious to what you all thought was more demanding API or Primary. I know they are both extremely challenging, but I thought about taking the kids back to Il/IA for a visit to give him a break from us for a little while and was curious to which would help him the most. I know his first choice wouldn't be to "ship us away", but at the same time I know he needs to be soley focused on his career and having us around may make him feel guilty at times. Just curious to everyone's thoughts or experiences. Thanks

I just finished SNA Primary, and so far, the first four weeks of API have been the most academically demanding and time-consuming part of flight school. The material isn't hard; there's just so much of it to memorize (yes, memorize). If you were looking at getting away for a while, the first four weeks of API are the time to go - more for YOUR sanity, not his. (E5B's better half wrote an excellent post on this subject: http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9334)

My wife felt the same way...she HATED my time at API. Even TBS wasn't as bad for her as API, because after a long day in Quantico, I could still come home and just chill. At API, you go in early, leave in mid-afternoon, and then study until the next morning. If he is like most married SNAs/SNFOs, you simply will not see him. Plus, it's going to wear on the kids when Daddy can't play because he has to work ("But he's home - he's not working!")

The first few weeks of Primary were busy, too, but they couldn't hold a candle to the first four weeks of API. Again, I would recommend taking a short vacation sometime during the first four weeks of API.

 

[Circle K]

I would concur with KBay on this one. If you are going to give him a break do it during API. The first 4 weeks are intense and any distraction is just compounded by that. The begining of primary is intense as well but as it was said before, it's 6+ months long. I would imagine that taking a "vacation" like that is pretty unreasonable for you. Secondly, being one of those guys, who was married during primary, I personally was very happy to have my wife there the whole time (no kids here). It was very stressful at times and it was great to have her there on some of those terrible days.

 

[A4sForever]

I just finished SNA Primary.....

Soooooooooooooooo ..... welcome back, K-Bay. I was over there (K-Bay) today puschasing "toiletries" .

Like you think you had to sign off AW to complete Primary ???? Does not speak too well for AW ....

 

[KBayDog]

Sorry A4s, I just had to pick the fairy-tale world in which I needed to spend more time:

Air Warriors or Pensacola TRACON.

 

[ChunksJR]

Just a heads up too...

Montgomery GI bill is signed away by Middies...whether they are ROTC or Academy...

I don't know if I'd agree about the first 4 weeks being the toughest, but then again, I didn't have IFS...so Fam 0 (both times) and Fams 1-8 and then my 4390 was the roughest time for me.

My 2cents...
~D