Immelmann85
8th Oct 2012, 00:13
Hello everyone.
Let me start by saying sorry if this is the wrong place for this but it seemed like a good place to start.
I am a 27 year old 911 and police dispatcher from NJ. I have always been in love with aviation and flying in general. I never thought of pursuing a career in it basically out of lack of knowledge and fear of stepping into something so unknown. Recently however my career outlook, while not horrible, isn't making me happy. My wife has since bugged me to throw caution into the wind and pursue my dream of becoming a commercial pilot.
I've sought all sorts of information and I believe I have at least the basics of what this will entail both financial and time wise. My real problem is WHERE. I've looked into ATP flight school and Century Air in NJ. ATP is kind of far, and slightly more expensive but it seems more "career building oriented". Century Air seems slightly more professional, cheaper, and closer. However it doesn't seem as "Get you a job" oriented. Now mind you i'm just basing this off their websites and what I've read from others posting online.
I've also looked into other schools like one nearest to me at Linden airport. It has several schools in which I could attend but they all seem very small and mainly just geared towards building hours. But once again I know nothing about this just what I'm seeing on their sites.
My real questions are a couple:
+ How viable is it to do something like this at my age?
+ Have you heard of any of these schools and can you offer any advice on what to look for when choosing?
+ I've always wanted to be a fixed wing pilot but is going rotary a "smarter" move career wise?
+ What's the difference between Flight dispatcher and Air traffic controller? (I figured these are an alternate path given my background in radio communications)
Also I know that most major airlines want a 4 year degree as well. I was thinking of getting my CPL FIRST and while building hours going back to a school for a bachelors or associates. Any thoughts on this?
I would like to thank everyone in advance for ANY AND ALL help or guidance. I'm really starting to get sorta overwhelmed. I don't want to make to many wrong choices. I want to give myself the best shot in living the dream.
Let me start by saying sorry if this is the wrong place for this but it seemed like a good place to start.
I am a 27 year old 911 and police dispatcher from NJ. I have always been in love with aviation and flying in general. I never thought of pursuing a career in it basically out of lack of knowledge and fear of stepping into something so unknown. Recently however my career outlook, while not horrible, isn't making me happy. My wife has since bugged me to throw caution into the wind and pursue my dream of becoming a commercial pilot.
I've sought all sorts of information and I believe I have at least the basics of what this will entail both financial and time wise. My real problem is WHERE. I've looked into ATP flight school and Century Air in NJ. ATP is kind of far, and slightly more expensive but it seems more "career building oriented". Century Air seems slightly more professional, cheaper, and closer. However it doesn't seem as "Get you a job" oriented. Now mind you i'm just basing this off their websites and what I've read from others posting online.
I've also looked into other schools like one nearest to me at Linden airport. It has several schools in which I could attend but they all seem very small and mainly just geared towards building hours. But once again I know nothing about this just what I'm seeing on their sites.
My real questions are a couple:
+ How viable is it to do something like this at my age?
+ Have you heard of any of these schools and can you offer any advice on what to look for when choosing?
+ I've always wanted to be a fixed wing pilot but is going rotary a "smarter" move career wise?
+ What's the difference between Flight dispatcher and Air traffic controller? (I figured these are an alternate path given my background in radio communications)
Also I know that most major airlines want a 4 year degree as well. I was thinking of getting my CPL FIRST and while building hours going back to a school for a bachelors or associates. Any thoughts on this?
I would like to thank everyone in advance for ANY AND ALL help or guidance. I'm really starting to get sorta overwhelmed. I don't want to make to many wrong choices. I want to give myself the best shot in living the dream.