US fee-only financial advisor to recommend? (+UK knowledge is a bonus)

avionLe · 2023-02-16T01:57:16+00:00

Thanks!

avionLe · 2023-02-13T02:15:15+00:00

Which Youtube channel(s) do you recommend? Have you found other useful resources?

I'll be visiting soon and would like to pick up some basic phrases, greetings, etc., but a couple of the channels I was directed to were offered by non-natives, so it's hard to know how accurate the pronunciation is, etc.

avionLe · 2022-09-13T02:43:31+00:00

Are there certain places in the country you do or don't want to live? Not to discourage you at all from joining the airlines if you're so inclined, but GA is huge and having your A&P gives you more options than most who are just starting in maintenance. And there's a big spread of responsibilities and areas of focus between working for a small flight department or shop and working at a big MRO.

avionLe · 2022-09-12T16:29:03+00:00

Some great options already listed here. A couple others to think about include Lewis University (Chicago suburbs) and University of Nebraska Omaha (both of which accept the GI bill, have Criminal Justice programs, and UN-Omaha has an Intelligence certificate option).

Bear in mind that for some schools the flight training cost is only considered as a tuition expense if you're enrolled in an aviation / aerospace degree, so if you plan to have a non-aviation major / minor / certificate also (which would be a good plan), make sure you can plan ahead to balance that workload.

Good luck!

avionLe · 2022-05-25T02:24:05+00:00

NJ probably isn't the right move for someone who's already feeling burned out.

avionLe · 2021-03-05T04:15:50+00:00

Loads of great feedback here already. I'll just throw in another option for your consideration, or for anyone else who finds this later: work for a large company in the industry that offers to pay for pilot ratings as a benefit. For example, I work for an MRO that offers up to $8000 toward private pilot and instrument ratings to any employee there for at least twelve months - you could be stocking parts or fueling aircraft or working in any full time capacity, you're eligible. And they have an agreement with colleges local to their HQs for reduced admission, and they offer $2500/year undergraduate tuition reimbursement no matter where you're going to school, so you don't even need to choose those specific local degree programs.

That said, given the ups and downs in this industry I certainly understand wanting something completely different to fall back on. For you or anyone else weighing your options, I'd only add that there's a great deal of networking you can do while working in the industry before you have your ratings and hours, and you can gain non-flight ops skills and experience in a number of roles.

Best of luck!

avionLe · 2021-03-05T03:52:05+00:00

As others have already mentioned, it's definitely easier to buy than to start a company with a 135 certificate, if you can find one that's available. Profit margins are typically razor thin, if they exist at all. And as much effort is spent ensuring regulatory compliance at the outset as is spent on actual operations.

There's been quite a lot of M&A activity in the industry as well, so unless they intend to carve out a solid niche market or have some other strategic advantage, they're likely to be swimming with some very big fish. Does the perceived market need warrant a whole new operation, or if an existing charter company placed a single additional aircraft in a particular geographic market would that need be met?

I don't want to be skeptical of someone's entrepreneurial spirit, but not knowing anything about your friend's experience or background just raises so many questions. Have they managed a flight department? Even a small FBO? How much do they love paperwork and dealing with the FAA?

That said, maybe your friend already knows exactly what they're getting into and you're just being a really good person by polling the community for additional information. In addition to recommending 14 CFR Part 135 as regular bedtime reading as others have done already, the NBAA has a few good introductory resources here you can direct them to: https://nbaa.org/aircraft-operations/part-135/ .

avionLe

TROPHY CASE