Korea Aerospace University
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Uljin, Korea
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Korea Aerospace University
Today is your lucky day! I recently wrote about my experiences there on another website. So let me just copy and paste most of that here...
I have been working at Korea Aerospace University for 18 months now, and overall I am very satisfied with my experience here. I apologize for this being extremely long. I'm going to divide this into categories: Initial Hiring Process, ATC & Airspace, Weather, Flying and Students, Career Advancements and the Benefits of Uljin, Living in Uljin, and Other Hardships.
Initial Hiring Process
From initial application to flying with students took me about three months. HR helped me do about everything, making the process quite simple. If you're confident in your flight skill and that you will like Korea, the smart choice is to get your work visa before you leave your country. Otherwise, you're going to have to leave Korea to get your visa changed later, causing more delay and more expense. After arriving I had to pass an oral evaluation, evaluation in an FTD and C172R, and an interview with Korean Air. If you feel capable of passing CPL and IR checks again, then you will be fine. Previous experience in a C172 is not even required, but 200 dual given is. Additionally, you will need to pass a Korean Air Law written and oral test. These can be tough, but at the time I did it we were allowed two or three tries. I was provided with some study material and passed both my first try.
Finally, with my Korean pilot license, I began standardization. It takes about two more weeks.
ATC & Airspace
Admittedly, flying here is a bit of a limited experience. Around half the airports are military, meaning no access most of the time. You'll have to do cross countries to the same airports time and time again. ATC is generally fine, but may be confused if you try something out of the ordinary. Occasionally it may even come down to your student and ATC using Korean. Military will steal your airspace, and silly NOTAMS will pop up for young Korean student's when they take their English listening test barring nearly all flights from flying below 10,000 MSL (no joke!), but most days your plans will go undisturbed. Considering the country is still at war, I'd say things are better than you'd expect. General procedures are nearly the same as they were in the U.S., just less variety.
Weather
Not much to say here. Uljin has all four seasons and they're exactly what you'd expect, except summer may have the occasional typhoon. Myself and others have noticed the following: Visibility a little hazy most days, frequent light turbulence and occasional moderate turbulence, and strong winds.
Flying and Students
99% of the students are Korean. Generally speaking here, they study hard and make your job as a flight instructor as easy as you've ever had it. My students religiously take notes and are totally capable of single handedly preparing for each flight starting from the second lesson. They are extremely respectful, and quite friendly. You don't need to know any Korean. Some of their English is better than others, but rest assured you will be assigned the students with best English. Of course their are challenges and times you can't use the vocabulary you want to use, but there's been nothing that has been a serious burden for me. You will usually fly between 60 and 90 hours per month.
Career Advancement and Benefits of Uljin
Salary. This must be one of the best salaries out there in terms of flight instructing. You can see it all on the school's website. You will start at $35,000 a year, but actually receive a $5,000 per year raise each 6 months, topping out at $50,000 per year. You can add to this $5,000 to $9,000 coming from your hourly flight pay. You do have to pay for your own living expenses, but honestly $230 per month, with free utilities and blazing fast internet, is nothing to cry about.
The school has a Diamond Twinstar I was able to get my hands on, helping me to rack up some multi-engine time. But don't expect to just jump right into flying it. Not everyone is standardized in it, and it takes a little seniority. With any luck though, you'll have a chance. Especially if you've already got some multi-time on you.
If you read the job posting on the website carefully, you'll see that an interview at KAL will be arranged after two years of service. Nobody has ever done this because, since this is a young school, no young foreigner has ever worked here for two years. I don't know the age cut off for this. But rest assured, as the title insists, I'll know about the likelihood of KAL in another few months. Even if it's a wash, I'd still have no regrets because I've enjoyed working here, buildings lots of time, the salary, and the experience.
Living in Uljin
Okay, this is the challenge. This could be the show stopper. Uljin is not for everyone. Biggest problem for foreigners is Uljin. However, you can be positive and make the best of it like I have. Uljin is difficult because it's totally countryside. Not like U.S. countryside. Grocery store's have limited food selections, and restaurants are quite limited too. If you invest in a car or have the patience to take the bus around, it'll be a little better. But don't expect anything close to McDonald's, Taco Bell, Chili's, etc. Don't even expect a burger or sub sandwich. You can get them in the larger cities, but not around here. If I got used to the new diet, you can too. I ate exclusively frozen pizza, chicken, and tacos nearly every day before I came here. Of course, if you like vegetables and fish, then your transition will be effortless because those are some of the most abundant cuisines here.
Uljin does not have a night life, and definitely does not have a young crowd. The only young crowd consists of the students, aged 22 to 35ish, and coworkers. It's true, there's not much to do here. But you can make the best of it. Go hiking, hang out with students occasionally (they're cool), watch movies with your blazing fast internet. If you have the weekend off, go to Seoul or somewhere closer like Pohang. I promise then you can eat Western food to your heart's content. There's something for everyone. I won't lie though, Seoul takes about 4.5 hours by bus (cheap though), and Pohang about 1.5 hours.
Other Hardships
Transportation to the airport. Yes, this is a problem. You can get by if you get rides from your students or other coworkers. One of my coworkers did this for nearly two years. Bravo to him! Or you can spend some of your hard earned cash like me and buy a totally ballin' Daewoo Matiz. Cruising around with 50 hp and 50 mpg is a glorious thing. There is also a bus and a shuttle that runs to and from the airport, but it doesn't make the run too often and I've never used it before, so can't say much about it.
Again, I apologize for this long post. I didn't mean for this to be so long. If you want to know more about KAU, then please let me know.
I have been working at Korea Aerospace University for 18 months now, and overall I am very satisfied with my experience here. I apologize for this being extremely long. I'm going to divide this into categories: Initial Hiring Process, ATC & Airspace, Weather, Flying and Students, Career Advancements and the Benefits of Uljin, Living in Uljin, and Other Hardships.
Initial Hiring Process
From initial application to flying with students took me about three months. HR helped me do about everything, making the process quite simple. If you're confident in your flight skill and that you will like Korea, the smart choice is to get your work visa before you leave your country. Otherwise, you're going to have to leave Korea to get your visa changed later, causing more delay and more expense. After arriving I had to pass an oral evaluation, evaluation in an FTD and C172R, and an interview with Korean Air. If you feel capable of passing CPL and IR checks again, then you will be fine. Previous experience in a C172 is not even required, but 200 dual given is. Additionally, you will need to pass a Korean Air Law written and oral test. These can be tough, but at the time I did it we were allowed two or three tries. I was provided with some study material and passed both my first try.
Finally, with my Korean pilot license, I began standardization. It takes about two more weeks.
ATC & Airspace
Admittedly, flying here is a bit of a limited experience. Around half the airports are military, meaning no access most of the time. You'll have to do cross countries to the same airports time and time again. ATC is generally fine, but may be confused if you try something out of the ordinary. Occasionally it may even come down to your student and ATC using Korean. Military will steal your airspace, and silly NOTAMS will pop up for young Korean student's when they take their English listening test barring nearly all flights from flying below 10,000 MSL (no joke!), but most days your plans will go undisturbed. Considering the country is still at war, I'd say things are better than you'd expect. General procedures are nearly the same as they were in the U.S., just less variety.
Weather
Not much to say here. Uljin has all four seasons and they're exactly what you'd expect, except summer may have the occasional typhoon. Myself and others have noticed the following: Visibility a little hazy most days, frequent light turbulence and occasional moderate turbulence, and strong winds.
Flying and Students
99% of the students are Korean. Generally speaking here, they study hard and make your job as a flight instructor as easy as you've ever had it. My students religiously take notes and are totally capable of single handedly preparing for each flight starting from the second lesson. They are extremely respectful, and quite friendly. You don't need to know any Korean. Some of their English is better than others, but rest assured you will be assigned the students with best English. Of course their are challenges and times you can't use the vocabulary you want to use, but there's been nothing that has been a serious burden for me. You will usually fly between 60 and 90 hours per month.
Career Advancement and Benefits of Uljin
Salary. This must be one of the best salaries out there in terms of flight instructing. You can see it all on the school's website. You will start at $35,000 a year, but actually receive a $5,000 per year raise each 6 months, topping out at $50,000 per year. You can add to this $5,000 to $9,000 coming from your hourly flight pay. You do have to pay for your own living expenses, but honestly $230 per month, with free utilities and blazing fast internet, is nothing to cry about.
The school has a Diamond Twinstar I was able to get my hands on, helping me to rack up some multi-engine time. But don't expect to just jump right into flying it. Not everyone is standardized in it, and it takes a little seniority. With any luck though, you'll have a chance. Especially if you've already got some multi-time on you.
If you read the job posting on the website carefully, you'll see that an interview at KAL will be arranged after two years of service. Nobody has ever done this because, since this is a young school, no young foreigner has ever worked here for two years. I don't know the age cut off for this. But rest assured, as the title insists, I'll know about the likelihood of KAL in another few months. Even if it's a wash, I'd still have no regrets because I've enjoyed working here, buildings lots of time, the salary, and the experience.
Living in Uljin
Okay, this is the challenge. This could be the show stopper. Uljin is not for everyone. Biggest problem for foreigners is Uljin. However, you can be positive and make the best of it like I have. Uljin is difficult because it's totally countryside. Not like U.S. countryside. Grocery store's have limited food selections, and restaurants are quite limited too. If you invest in a car or have the patience to take the bus around, it'll be a little better. But don't expect anything close to McDonald's, Taco Bell, Chili's, etc. Don't even expect a burger or sub sandwich. You can get them in the larger cities, but not around here. If I got used to the new diet, you can too. I ate exclusively frozen pizza, chicken, and tacos nearly every day before I came here. Of course, if you like vegetables and fish, then your transition will be effortless because those are some of the most abundant cuisines here.
Uljin does not have a night life, and definitely does not have a young crowd. The only young crowd consists of the students, aged 22 to 35ish, and coworkers. It's true, there's not much to do here. But you can make the best of it. Go hiking, hang out with students occasionally (they're cool), watch movies with your blazing fast internet. If you have the weekend off, go to Seoul or somewhere closer like Pohang. I promise then you can eat Western food to your heart's content. There's something for everyone. I won't lie though, Seoul takes about 4.5 hours by bus (cheap though), and Pohang about 1.5 hours.
Other Hardships
Transportation to the airport. Yes, this is a problem. You can get by if you get rides from your students or other coworkers. One of my coworkers did this for nearly two years. Bravo to him! Or you can spend some of your hard earned cash like me and buy a totally ballin' Daewoo Matiz. Cruising around with 50 hp and 50 mpg is a glorious thing. There is also a bus and a shuttle that runs to and from the airport, but it doesn't make the run too often and I've never used it before, so can't say much about it.
Again, I apologize for this long post. I didn't mean for this to be so long. If you want to know more about KAU, then please let me know.
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Uljin, Korea
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You must pay your air-ticket to get over there for job interview.
If they like you, they will consider you.
Last edited by bkanders; 10th May 2013 at 11:25.
Join Date: Oct 2006
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University degree ?
Guys, what I dont understand is that, when you have a 4 year University degree, who wants to be a flight instructor and make 35 grand a year ..??
OOOOhhhhh, Okay thanks, that makes a lot of sense, now I understand !
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I seriously doubt foreigners will get opportunities to join KAL without hours on type. Yes, I have seen many Korean instructors getting in after reaching 1000 hours total by being an instructor but not the same case for foreigners.
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Has anyone been there lately?
I hold EASA CPL with FI and some hours. I would like to work in Korea. Most of the schools in Korea do not accept foreign instructor. Only Uljin does and I might be able to get work permit by myself since my wife is Korean. The problem is even though my english is not too bad it is not my native language. Do you think I have a chance there? How are the conditions
I hold EASA CPL with FI and some hours. I would like to work in Korea. Most of the schools in Korea do not accept foreign instructor. Only Uljin does and I might be able to get work permit by myself since my wife is Korean. The problem is even though my english is not too bad it is not my native language. Do you think I have a chance there? How are the conditions
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Originally Posted by Ihatemondays
Only Uljin does and I might be able to get work permit by myself since my wife is Korean. The problem is even though my english is not too bad it is not my native language. Do you think I have a chance there? How are the conditions
I can't reveal much here. Provide me your number.
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Hello everyone,
This is my first message in this forum, so hello again. So I currently hold an EASA CPL/ME-IR license but I could not find a first job in my country. I always wanted to live and work in Korea, so when I saw this message I wanted to write a reply. So without an FI rating is it possible to apply to a job in KAU? Who should I get in contact initially? Thanks in advance!
This is my first message in this forum, so hello again. So I currently hold an EASA CPL/ME-IR license but I could not find a first job in my country. I always wanted to live and work in Korea, so when I saw this message I wanted to write a reply. So without an FI rating is it possible to apply to a job in KAU? Who should I get in contact initially? Thanks in advance!
