As someone who is in SpecWar, I’ve seen Jake Zweig and some of what he says is inaccurate. Take it with a grain of salt
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Stupid Questions about Naval Aviation (Part 3)
- Thread starter Top_Gun_1_0_1
- Start date
Randomranger900
New Member
I probably have around $10k to spare
Save your money for something else.
Agree with this- save your money and keep that financial head start on life. If you’re determined to do something right now, learning the concepts and definitions is free. 10-20 minutes of reading three times a week will make a big difference between “huh?” and “ooh yeah, I’ve read about this…”
Simulators aren’t necessarily bad, but it can quickly turn into a money pit with the “keeping with with Reddit or XYZ forum” mindset that so many hobbies have.
At the most maybe spend a few hundred dollars for a discovery ride and ask the pilot to do a spin or two just to get the feeling of it. Beyond that, you’ll be flying far more complex aircraft very quickly so it isn’t worth the PPL.
You are correct that zero hours is a valid answer.
The trope that people with hours and licenses fail out of Navy flight school is tired. The vast majority of those with such a pedigree (beyond just a small number hours of just dicking around) have a very significant advantage. While *some* of those people have had issues or even attrite, they are certainly outliers. Your post should’ve phrased it in such a way to not be misleading.
That said, with $10K to spare, this individual should not spend it on gaining flight time. If @Randomranger900 had a license and wanted to get an instrument rating, then I would give a different answer. Getting the instrument is a much bigger leg up than just a PPL, since the T-6 is more powerful and complex airplane.
Anecdotal answer: I had 0 hours when I showed up to NIFE. "Doing well" is subjective since your performance and how nice the instructor is feeling on the grade sheet change daily.
If you really want to fly, $10,000 is in the ballpark for a PPL in gliders if you do it with a club. It could potentially be half that with the right club. (Tidewater Soaring Society in Hampton Roads has a scholarship program that gets you to solo/40 flights for free).
So if you really want to fly because it's fun that's a great way to do it.