How did you pay for your CPL?

[Homesick-Angel]

Im currently at a point in my training where Im considering taking a personal loan or something similar to complete my CPL and an Instructor rating..Ive got about 80 hours to go in my 200 hour course and then of course the instructor rating after that..

Im kinda gettting sick of doing it when I can scrape the cash together and then having loooong breaks between flying and living poor..My current calculations allowing for the usual extras that show up have me borrowing about 35 grand or so.

Im trying to weigh up whether at 33 years of age it better for me to fastrack it somewhat with a loan so that I can start earning (crap) money sooner as I do have an instructing job waiting for me as soon as I can get the quals..I have two subjects of theory to go and figure if I go full bore I could be all done and dusted by later this year..

Im planning on talking to a financial advisor as well, but I am getting impatient and just want it done so i can get going..

Would be keen to hear how you managed to do it...

[Homesick-Angel]

Yep..or pretty close to it most of the time..(its a long and boring story)..

What I have generally done is beg, borrow,save or steal the cash to do a licence and its required training in a block so that I am not going backwards and losing currency between flights..Thats also the plan with the CPL and instructor rating phase's

[biggles7374]

I paid cash after working for 4 years solid with a strict savings regime.

The thought of repaying a loan in the initial years after qualifying when wages are very poor does not bear thinking about. That is why a lot of young pilots are now in dire financial difficulty....and that is if you can get a job!!

OK, I have had my licence for 18 months now and not got my first flying job but at least I do not have the weight of a significant loan repayment to worry about.

Biggles

[Green_pilot_79]

Get into mining....

Thats what im doing paying lots of cash and on my breaks i fly. Currently PPL heading towards CPL. Week on week off not to bad i fly at least once to twice a break. Still going to take a while but im not going to go broke. That is until i get a pilot job haha.

Wish i could just stop it get a loan and then complete it all in a couple of months but reading the forums and looking at pay rates for newbie CPLs there is not much money out there :/ And with a missis and a bub to feed thats not a option

I would love instuctor rating aswell. Im in the process of talking to my flying school and saying if im going to spend so much money here as i allready have if theres a chance i can get a job once i have hours and ratings etc etc.

Where abouts do you have your job allready lined up did you hit them up like im about to :P :O

[Super Ord]

Go to NZ bro....

Let the NZ govt pay for your flying training, CPl and MCIR, come back to Oz, get the NZ CPL & MCIR recognised and tranferrred into Oz licences, then, once you're earning, pay back 10% of each dollar earned over $20k, or pay in lump sums if thats an option.

PM me if you need any further info.

[Snow white]

The other guys have hit the nail on the head.

You need to think about surviving on nothing during your first job or two (unless you're lucky).

Having a little debt as possible is a huge help in the beginning. Also, having the skills to get a non-flying job to subsidise your income (which i assume you do) is very helpful.

Personally, I worked full time while doing my flying training to pay it off. Had to get a small loan for extra ratings after CPL but made sure that was all cleared before starting to look for work.

You dont want to get you CPL then start looking for work and find after a year that you've done bugger all flying and still have a massive debt.

[Green_pilot_79]

Surley its a interst loan from the kiwis ? Or are these interest free ?. If so they sound dam good plz pm the details to me :P

[VH-UFO]

Green_pilot_79 is on the right track.

I work in the mining industry, earn $6200 a month net on a 1 week on 1 week off roster.

If your single with no loans etc then you should be able to knock your CPL off pretty quickly flying on your week off.

[empacher48]

The NZ student loan option does incur interest at 7% per annum if you are living outside of NZ. While living in NZ it is still interest free.

I paid for mine by pumping gas through the days and nights and flying on weekends. Back when I did my CPL the student loan wasn't even an option. It is a good feeling to have CPL, MEIR and C-cat instructors rating without owning anyone anything..

It is just a shame that I went to uni and put that on the student loan.. Jesus turned water into wine. I turned a student loan into Vodka and a 3 year headache...:}

[THE-BOOB]

Hi there homesick.

There are many ways to pay for your licence.

I have a suggestion. Well it kinda depends on how well hung you are. THe sex industry is an excellent way to earn those dollars for flying training.

I mean you have to get used to it sooner or later, your flying school will no doubt f.ck you in the a.se.

And you first couple of employers will also totally f.ck you in the a.se, so why the hell not?

You will make more on your knees in a brothel than you will in an aeroplane.

It just takes time to get used to it, oh, and use plenty of lube,(a tip from the experienced).

You have to be a kiwi, living in nz, to qualify for a kiwi government loan. They are different, but they're not dumb, and as far as being interest free, mate they're kiwis.

Remember: When you shake hands with a kiwi, count your fingers afterward.

[Pilotette]

Homesick...I feel your pain! I too worked all the way through my CPL training while also completing a degree. I think that working and flying only when you have the cash may be a bit counter-productive as if your breaks between flying are too long, you will be 1 step behind again. This only adds to the final cost as you will have to pay for catch up flights too. I worked for a small regional airline doing everything ground ops which helped pay for my training to some degree, I also had saved up a bit from my job prior to starting my training but in the end I also decided to take out a loan. My loan is only about half of what you quoted but is such that my repayments are only approx $390 per month. Although I hate the thought of carrying this debt, it is not that hard to make the min repayments & even on a GA wage I often pay more than the min.

Each persons situation is different so you need to decide what's going to be best for you but if you have a job lined up at the end of it all then at least that's one less thing to worry about! Good luck with the rest of your training! :ok:

[cosmo21]

Get into the mining industry, what old mate said about flying in the off week is sound.
I took a loan, did all my training at once, in min hours, instructor ect. But I was lucky and found work right away, This was 13 years ago. I took a few years off flying, but the whole time I wasnt flying I was still paying my loan, something really wrong about that. I got back flying, paid cash for my IFR, but still owe on original loan.
If I had my time again I woulda went for the mines, and flew on weeks off. They make upwards of 100k a year.
But at 33, hurry up. Im 37 and a couple thousand hrs now, but I feel like Im way behind.

Cosmo

[girl with a stick]

I sold my bookshop to pay for my CPL, which I'm about halfway through.

I'm still not sure what compelled me to sell a business that made regular, steady money, doing a job I enjoyed and was good at. I now spend my days sticking tabs in the AIP, learning to land tail wheels and getting to know loading system Echo better than any of my family members.

I'm thirty eight. I have family commitments. I'm an "Arty" type, poor at Maths, with only a basic command of Physics. The prospects out there for me are fairly narrow.

However, like a lot of pilots on this board, I'm prepared to work hard, go where the opportunities are (where ever possible) and get into debt.

Hang in there Homesick Angel...we all get there in the end, many of us without having to resort to bodily prostitution :O

GWAS

[Homesick-Angel]

Thanks for the replies yall.

And boob.. tried what you were talking about, and ended up working for free as it was so much fun..That and no one would pay

I think Il just take my time with the decision and knock of all the theory first..That was always the deal I made with myself so I may as well stick to it....

Id thought of the mines as Im based in WA, but as an unskilled worker I wonder how much is up there for me..(How much work would they have in the mines for a semi retired professional musician?)

Even though I know that Il be pushing sh1t uphill for a few years I absolutely love flying, and for the time being at least, Im happy to wear the pain...Ask me in five years..:}

Cheers

[VH-BCY]

If you are mechanically minded, don't mind getting your hands dirty and have a working relationship with a maintenance organisation, then buy your own plane to do the training in.
I did most of my training in my own planes and my CPL has cost me only a few thousand dollars. Instead of throwing money at the flying schools, throw it towards your own planes. At least you will have something to show instead of just a piece of paper.
Once you become qualified, then you can write off the costs of aircraft ownership if its making a loss.
Then once you have got the bug of owning aircraft and want more, you then need to buy a maintenance org to service them all! :ok:

[VH-BCY]

Sorry homesick angel, didn't read the post about being a musician. I don't think music and aircraft maintenance go hand in hand, I could be wrong.:rolleyes:

[Warren G]

As for the mines and unskilled workers there are opportunities available.

If you have your HR drivers licence then theres always the dumptrucks and such. Otherwise there is usually TA jobs going on construction, and there are definately a few jobs there at the moment with all the large projects.

I myself have just secured work on the Pluto project TA unskilled and i believe its somewhere around the $135k, out on Gorgon the offers for same are $160k or more. Up Hedland way RGP5 is gearing up and they will need the same kind of workers. If you're really keen theres always drilling offsiding. The swings on these jobs are much longer than the equal time a few of the posters mentioned (construcion is generally 4 weeks on 1 off with the option to do longer swings) but you'll find plenty of time to study in the donga at night.

Its hard work but the money is attractive, partly why I have made the decision to step out of my flying job (even though it pays significantly more than any other GA single job Ii've heard and spoken to people about) and into something like this to improve my lot in life and hopefully set myself up a bit for the future.

Good luck with it all.

Wazza

[aussiefan]

Is it possible to combine some of the ratings with the CPL? While you are doing the CPL can you start doing the basics of an instructor rating? Or get started on the instrument rating?

I know they usually include the CSU, NVFR and tail wheel but can you get a start on the others before completeing the CPL?

[phatmike128]

I'm slowly working towards a CPL while working in IT full time, just contracting at the moment. It's annoying to be able to only fly on the weekend and even that depends on the weather and availability of aircraft. I've got about 30k saved up but would be keen to find out any more info anyone has on mining jobs.

I would be up for it, especially the one week on/off deal, but not sure of the jobs on offer or qualifications required.

I have an IT degree and about 3.5 years experience in that field. Is there a mining recruitment agency or something like that to find more info about mining jobs and the skills required?

[Zoomy]

I remember a certain character out at Brisbane airport ask me,

So whats your sorry story!

Fairdinkum, self funding your way through this is a nightmare, add a family and mortgage and youve got to think, think laterally, up, down with your feet, head and sometimes I swear with your fists. Youve got to make decisions, hopefully the right ones, mostly you find out they were the wrong ones, (ah the advice offered on pprune), how it has changed.

So mate out at Brissy, what is your fuc^ing sorry story!:}

[Trojan1981]

Deployed to East Timor- $6600 net per month in 2000, payed for most of it and cleared all of my debt.

Then

Drove trains in Sydney for a while- $5000 net per month with no overtime, payed for the rest.

[norwester33]

Always a hardone, took 3 years to self fund my CPL(A) and instrument rating and yup its awesome to be debt free but if I did it again I would loan it, do it as fast as possible and get in the foodchain, always thought I would get more respect from employers etc blah blah.... but found nobody really gives a f@#$##@ .
You have the licience and they want a pilot as everyone says you are starting at the bottom.
The company I work for now love talking about how they respect hardworkers and "you have done it the hardway"..but dont show it in the slightest.
In reality by taking 2,3 or 4 years to get qualified just prolongs your career and opppotunitys gone begging.
We are the same age and I wouldnt muck around, as usual everyone has an opinion.
Good luck on the quest matey.:ok:

[Dances With Dingoes]

In reality by taking 2,3 or 4 years to get qualified just prolongs your career and opppotunitys gone begging.

Bingo, I started at the same age also. Self funded and paid as I could. Took ages and then I got in at the bottom.

Get the loan and get on the market, you can always get a second job to help you through the lean times of GA and you will be on you r way rather than wait another????

If you want to save a bit of cash on your training, don't get an instructor rating. Get your CPL and get out there and start flying charter.

Good luck

DD

[Homesick-Angel]

Thanks again guys..

Im well aware that once i get the quals Im right at the bottom of the pile(only have to read a few posts on these forums), so I figure at my age its worth getting it done sooner than later..Im in a position where i can still work another job part time for a few years while i get established..

Good luck to all those out there doing the same thing!:ok: