Hi All,
This is only somewhat relevant to EZ's, in terms of my future ownership - but I respect the knowledge and experience on this board so much that I'd love to hear your comments. (My apologies for the length of this post; but its somewhat complex...)
I'm trying to decide what future direction my career and flying should go... I've been in the computer industry for over 10 years now. Unfortunately, I've had the bad luck to be working for the wrong companies at the wrong time - being laid-off or having my employer go bankrupt many times over the last few years. I've been in a good employment situation for the last year or so - but I've very skittish about my future... I'm a total generalist / jack-of-all-trades who does lots of various programming/IT work - but because I don't have a single "expert" skill to hang my hat on, its been tough to progress in my career. And as a college drop-out, my ability to become a senior programmer or move up into management has been limited. All this means that I feel somewhat "stuck" and burned-out in my career (mostly programming dynamic websites).
Aviation is my first love - before I dropped out of college (in '95), I was majoring in Aerospace Engineering. Last year I decided to go back to college and major in Aviation Operations, as a way to get back to my first love. I recently started on my Private license - and after only 2 hours in my logbook I'm already making landings unassisted in DA-20's, so I know I can be a pilot if I go that route. I've been going to school full-time while also working full-time - all in preparation for attending a 4-year college with an aviation program.
That college has recently raised its rates and I'm looking at 3 years of college that will rack up nearly $50k in loans (on top of working 30 hours a week). I'll come out of the program with my CFI, CFII, and MEI ratings - but that kind of debt scares me, given starting pilot/instructor pay rates. It works out to about $500/month to keep up with the loan payments... (Not to mention trying to afford an EZ someday)
Now, I must make it clear that I have no ambitions of flying for the Airlines. I know several pilots that fly for Alaska and United - and all seem somewhat bored with their work. I need challenges in my work - I love trouble-shooting or having to learn and adapt at my job. So I'd much rather fly corporate jets, maybe do ATC work (although by the time I graduate college, I will be 1 year too old under present regulations), or work in a field involving aviation and computers.
If I'm not going to fly 737's or big jets for a living - is it worth going through and getting all of my licenses at this expensive school? I know I will *LOVE* to be a CFI - and I wish I could make a paying career out of that; but it just doesn't seem possible from everyone I've talked to...
I'm just really concerned about being able to keep up with the loans and making a decent living if I go with one of those careers... I don't have a high standard of living (and am willing to sacrifice a lot to fly and/or own a plane) - but I need enough to afford my own apartment, a reliable car, and a few bucks for flight-time or another hobby (I like to stay busy and learn new stuff all the time).
I've thought about trying to blend my two skills - but I don't know exactly what my prospects are. For example, King Schools is hiring for a Webmaster right now. Scaled Composites is also hiring aggressively for fabricators - stating that they'll take novices...perhaps I could get my foot in the door there (I've done a little bit of glass-work while crewing for some SCCA race-car teams), and try to move into some kind of junior engineering or programming role? I would enjoy the hands-on work of fabrication - but getting "stuck" doing that at a low wage for many years would sap my will...
My "safe" option is to maybe go back to a normal college, finish my degree in computers, and just keep flying a hobby. At my current salary level, I could probably buy into 1/2 of an EZ before the end of the summer - and I could definitely build my own. The "instant gratification" aspect of this is quite tempting - but I worry about having a true career in computers, both in terms of stability and in terms of burnout/motivation.
Concerned, and still praying for an EZ someday,
--Noel
noel.wade@gmail.comSeattle, WA
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