Student pilot age 16

[Dillon318]

Hello everyone.
I have a quick question about jobs. I'm starting flight training and I'm paying for it with my own money which means by the time I'm finished I'll be broke. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on what jobs or volunteer work which would either let me be around or fly planes that doesn't involve me paying anything? I hope you can help. Thanks

[G-F0RC3]

I've known of a few guys who have cleaned aircraft for some free hours, although it seemed to work on the basis of around 30 hours cleaning for 1 hour of flying (such is the difference in relative value). So in that sense you're probably better off working somewhere that pays better instead; and then using that money directly for flying. However, at sixteen I'd imagine your options are limited in terms of earning a higher salary, so perhaps that's a good idea for you?

Unfortunately there are no easy ways really. All you can do is keep working hard and hoping for the best.

Good luck! :ok:

[ryan1995]

Hi, hopefully I will be able to help you somewhat as you're more or less in the same boat as me.

At the age of 15/16 I was the same as you - wanting to fly but without the several thousand pounds required. So I decided to get myself a part time job (not relevant to aviation at all - I was a waiter) alongside school. I found that I was earning around £200-250 a month which really is no where near enough. So what I did was save for a couple of months at a time to have a few hours flying at a time - purely for leisure.

I then started college and found I could no longer work the amount of hours I was previously doing due to additional work so I decided to botch the flying for the duration of college and in the meantime save up as much as I possibly could through my part time job.

Now I have finished college, come out with reasonable enough grades and have saved a good portion of the amount required for a PPL. Recently I have got myself a full time job working at Heathrow in baggage. Alongside that I have started preparing for the ground exams and arranged my medical. So within a few months I hope to have saved the full amount required and get underway properly with the ppl.

From there I hope to continue working within the aviation field whilst taking the modular route: building up my hours (maybe instructing along the way), ratings and licenses, to a point where I may be ready to start applying for jobs flying.

This is just my .02 and the way I plan upon reaching a job flying if you intend to fly as a career and don't have megabucks to spend on cadet programmes or aren't lucky enough to get on the British airways fpp or something similar.

Hope this helps!

[zondaracer]

Flying is expensive. My friends and I joke that it's like crack, but probably more expensive and just as addicting. Anyhow, I work at a flying club and we have some young guys come and clean airplanes in exchange for flight time, it I pretty common, but they clean a lot of airplanes lol.

I would recommend you become a member of your local EAA chapter. Lots of older guys who build their own planes and if you hang around enough, some of them will let you fly their plane if you have the right certificates and whatnot.

You could join Civil Air Patrol, but you will spend a lot of time doing other stuff like marching and community service and a small amount of time actually flying. It is a good program but not for everyone.

There are some scholarships out there, so I would check out AOPA as they have a list of aviation scholarships.

I would also recommend getting into gliders. You an get your private certificate at 16. I've got a friend who started out in gliders and then transitioned to airplanes. It costs less to fly gliders than airplanes typically, and the time mostly counts. My friend started in gliders, then at 17 got his airplane private pilot cert, then at 18 became a glider CFI then airplane CFI. He instructs in both and also tows gliders for pay, and he met ATP minimum before his 19th birthday... Except for the age requirement (23 or 21 for restricted ATP)

[Dillon318]

Thanks:) I guess I'll wait and see what comes my way.

[flytheskies]

Hi Zondaracing

Can you PM some more details of the route your friend took. If you've got any information about costs too that would be really good.

Also, good luck Dillon. Hope it all goes well for you.

[RTN11]

Try thinking outside the box to get some attention. This kid built his own flight sim, and got so much coverage he ended up meeting John Travolta.

Schoolboy becomes qualified pilot after building flight simulator in his bedroom | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2143386/Schoolboy-qualified-pilot-building-flight-simulator-bedroom.html)

[Dillon318]

Thanks, same to you.