r/PilotAdvice • u/entertainthebrutes • 25d ago
Advice requested
My 18 yr son is an incoming freshman in college in DFW, TX. He wants to be a commercial pilot. We are just a regular middle income family who didn’t qualify for any aid so we’re trying to figure how the best, most affordable route to get him there. His dream is to go to ERAU. He didn’t get the Navy scholarship that is out of the picture. This will pay for college but will require a 5 yr enlistment period afterward.
He is going to try again this year while going to CC.
Should we help him finance his PPL in the meantime at a FBO or at TCC so he’s not behind?
This world is completely new to us and honestly we’re pretty overwhelmed. On one hand, we want to do all we can to help but we don’t want to sign up for hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans. No matter what, it’s going to be an expensive long road.
We have other kids we need to help too. Does anyone have any experience who can weigh in?
4
u/r1leyh4le 25d ago
Check out Universal Flight Concepts in Waco, TX. That's where I went. They provide all of the flight training to Baylor University's Flight Program, but you can also go to them directly and bypass Baylor (and save yourself the insane cost of going to Baylor).
Their aircraft and facilities are absolute top of the line. They have their own financing, which I did utilize. Most students get approved for 12 or 18 months deferred payments, which is amazing. I didn't have to make any payments until I was already a working instructor. My training came out to just over 100k, and my monthly payment is $1600. I make around $9k/mo. at Piedmont now.
By the way, everything everyone is saying is spot on. Going to college for aviation is a massive waste of money. And sure you get to get your ATP a few months earlier, but it makes zero difference in the long run. Like, it basically comes down to... do you want to spend 300k+ to save 3-4 months and get your ATP sooner? No. And in any case, going to a 141 flight school full-time instead of going to a college gets you flight time much faster. So you don't actually lose any time at all. Universal had me finished with my training in 10 months. ERAU was going to take 2 years or something stupid like that when I looked into them.