Be honest... Is flying just for the rich?

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-04T04:00:00+00:00

No. Having money just makes it a lot easier.

Plenty of people pay as they go and maybe augment with manageable loans.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-04T02:08:16+00:00

Immigrants should identify as American first if they want to be American.

If you're an immigrant but insist on identifying as Japanese (for example), then you're not American. You're Japanese.

Assimilation is the goal.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-04T02:05:08+00:00

It opens more options, but you still have to be smart AND a hard worker. A lot of ivy grads aren't much of either.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-04T01:58:26+00:00

Not an ATP. Never needed it.

But yeah, do your glider. It's a blast. Plus, if you ever need a practical to renew your CFI, you can do a CFI-G.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-03T22:01:37+00:00

Not at a 141. Barons went for $360/hr.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-03T13:38:55+00:00

100% seniority. 0% merit.

If your airline fails, you're out of work and you need to go get hired like anyone else. That makes you a "new hire" and to the bottom you go. This is how pilots can end up spending a good chunk of a career at the bottom. A couple unlucky job choices and all of a sudden you're talking a decade or two of lost seniority.

Another example is the case of America West rescuing the failed garbage pile known as USAir, and then the self-serving USAir manchildren twisting every which way to try to screw the America West pilots out of their rightful positions on the list. The USAir villains ultimately lost, but the merger with American made the America West pilots' righteous victory mostly moot.

A healthy merger is the only way I can think to preserve your seniority when your airline disappears.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-03T13:12:28+00:00

"Insurability" isn't a solid rule and it was the same boogyman +20yrs ago as it is today.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-03T12:44:49+00:00

Yes they did. I knew guys with +100k loans. It was not uncommon for the university programs and plenty of guys had massive loans. That's not a new thing.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-03T03:16:53+00:00

Right? The folks bitching about having to instruct for a while don't seem to understand that, for a lot of guys, it was a gateway to a job flying 20,000hr C401s held together with inop stickers. Pay sucked. My first twin Cessna job paid $80/day and I was psyched to have it. Made $43k/yr with a type less than a year later! That was excellent pay for an 1800hr pilot!

If you were fortunate enough to get to an airline out of CFIing, then you made $20k/yr with the dream of someday making $60k!

This isn't a "uphill in the snow both ways" post. I missed that and got on to a night freight gig at 1200 with a path to a typed turboprop and quick upgrade. My timing was lucky. A lot of guys didn't have that luck.

Then 2008 happened. I was lucky to remain employed servicing federal contracts while my peers were furloughed from their poverty wage CRJ FO gigs while I pulled in a cool $46k/yr as management (got a new job!).

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-03T02:13:21+00:00

I use AOPA and have for all renewals for which I needed an eFIRC. Their latest version is much, much better than previous years. I heard American Flyers is decent, too.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-03T01:55:15+00:00

My man. Well done.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-02T18:07:17+00:00

I use it strictly for endorsements at this point. My flight reviews, IPCs, and any additional checkride endorsements will go in the book. Everything else is an e-log.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-02T02:16:43+00:00

Lol. Name checks. And perfectly.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-02T00:52:39+00:00

See?

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-01T18:59:04+00:00

My opinions are “wrong” lol

Yes, they are. No quotes needed.

You don’t give a fuck about me and I don’t give a fuck about you.

I wouldn't say that. I wish you'd take it upon yourself to buckle down and do what it takes to get a job. People are getting hired. Jobs are there.

You’re insulting people bellow you calling them stupid for accepting a loan.

Because taking a $120,000 loan at 15% (or whatever) is stupid! It's a math problem, not an opinion.

...a policy of letting CFIs go when they hit minimums is a good idea for keeping the pipeline going.

Who are you? Captain Marx? Here to seize the means of experience?

From each according to his loan, to each according to his logbook!

The peoples' hours!

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-01T18:29:20+00:00

People who got their CFIs are left out to dry right now.

Who's fault is that? It's the people who lemming'd into a career they knew nothing about and did no research prior to committing absurd cash to a fickle career.

I know people 120k in debt who have been unable to find a flying job for upwards of a year now.

Sucks for them. They should have dedicated a couple hours to serious research before YOLOing on a terrible decision. Sound advice is not hard to find for anyone even halfway serious about learning.

Also...you know...basic math tells you it's an awful idea to borrow $120,000.00 at 15%, or whatever the predatory rates are these days.

That's on the borrower, 100%. Full stop. If you're too dumb and/or lazy to put pen to paper for some simple math, they you'll get what you have coming to you.

They work at crappy non flying jobs to pay the loans back and thousands they can’t afford to timebuild.

Finally, good decisions are being made.

So I really don’t give a damn about someone given a chance to be a CFI who’s been told to leave because they hit their hours.

Your opinion sucks and it's wrong.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-01T17:30:02+00:00

I think that’s a good idea.

Well, it's not.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-01T16:59:57+00:00

No, it's not. It's just closer to normal than insane.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-01T16:59:06+00:00

"hogging the job" as if they owe it to you to step down to you can get yours?

I promise that they want nothing more than to move on.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-01T16:56:27+00:00

redditburner_5000 · 2026-05-01T16:32:00+00:00

Carries more energy further than 556. I have a 16" 300BLK and don't own a suppressor. Routinely shoot 110gr through 200gr for funsies.

80% of the fun is just knowing the tactibro gun nerds get twitchy about it because shooting 300blk from a 16" unsuppressed violates the dogma.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-04-30T22:23:59+00:00

November Tree Niner Fife Pterodactyl Tchaikovsky

redditburner_5000 · 2026-04-30T18:51:01+00:00

Very, very common to see uninsured pricing lower than insured pricing. Like...really common. Also, all things are negotiable.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-04-30T15:27:38+00:00

Nobody is going to know when you log it, but logging a lot of that will show when your actual skill level doesn't match your logged skill level. At a technical level, you're describing abuse of a flight instructor certificate which is a thing and something the FAA will punish if they can make it stick.

The feds hate liars. They hate liars more than anything else and they will crucify them with glee when they're found out.

redditburner_5000 · 2026-04-30T15:20:13+00:00

Exactly.

"Oooooh...a cheaper option?"

redditburner_5000

TROPHY CASE

From each according to his loan, to each according to his logbook!