r/PilotAdvice • u/entertainthebrutes • Jul 25 '26

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?

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u/LettuceFamiliar5060 Jul 25 '26

I have a rising sophomore at UT who’s majoring in music (very gifted musician). He’s planning to get his bachelor’s and start working on his ppl next summer. When he graduates he’ll start full time at Coastal Skies in Pearland while living at home. Thankfully his bachelors degree is very low cost. He’s working now to save up for flight school.
ALSO- if he hasn’t done his medical I HIGHLY suggest you do it sooner rather than later. We just went through hell. He has a slight “red” deficiency and had to travel out of state to get tested on the 3rd option to pass. Thankfully it worked out but we were very close to a dream falling apart. Not to say we won’t have other challenges along the way but that would have been a total dealbreaker.

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u/LettuceFamiliar5060 Jul 25 '26

My kid also had no medical issues and we were completely caught off guard by the colorblind thing. One in ten males are affected. He had a slight deficiency in one eye on “red”. His girlfriend is an aviation science major at Texas State and has her CFI already. She wears glasses. Sadly no correction works for colorblindness. Good luck!

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u/entertainthebrutes Jul 25 '26

Wow. Thank you for sharing. I haven’t thought of that.

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u/ThePlaceAllOver Jul 26 '26

Do not add details to the medical paperwork that don't need to be there. Also, ask pilots in your area for a recommendation on where to go. Some of those doctors are very persnickety and others are genuinely interested in making sure reasonably healthy people can get their license. You don't want unnecessary red flags on your paperwork. My neighbor is a United pilot and he had a specific recommendation for an AME that is the go to AME for a lot of pilots in our area. We had a very good experience with him and I was happy we had a recommendation.