Newbie Wants to Know

[mdtony]

Forgive me if this has been asked before, but I am very curious as to just how to go about actually getting paid for flying. I was talked into doing an intro flight by a couple of my buddies who fly, and I was hooked. I have completely fallen in love with flying, and one of them is trying to talk me into making it a career.

I know that in order to get started, I need not only to complete the private, instrument, and multi but then I'll need to shell out another $15K to get a commercial. But what comes next?

Do you have any advice for someone who is giving some real consideration to doing this for a living?

Thanks, guys!

[traveler]

I assume you are in the US, since you used the $ sign.

Lets see, ... the commercial license is essential to getting paid.
With a private license you are not allowed to receive money (officially). So a company won't hire you to work.
The order in which you take those exams you speak of are not set in stone.
You could do the multi-engine one later for instance. (when you have some more money).
With a commercial single engine license you could work at a parachute centre, or do sight-seeing or photography flights or banner towing, etc, etc. You won't get paid much but it is a fun way to start. You could then work on a CFI (flight instructor) or CFII (instruments instructor, for in the clouds) and make some money that way.
All these activities fall under Federal Aviation Regulation 91.
If you want to do small scheduled transport flights, like flying people or cargo on a regular basis you need to adhere to the F.A.R. 135. The minimum flight hours for this work is 1200 hrs. So obviously this comes later. It would be nice if you can get your multi-engine license at this point. Most people try to get into slightly bigger airplanes whenever they can. You would carry more, fly further and start making more money.
I suggest you go to a flightschool close to where you live and talk with the instructors. They can explain all this in detail and set up a plan that would suit your wishes best. Also they can calculate exactly what that would cost you. Prices vary a little between schools, but mostly depend on what equipment they use. (bigger plane = higher rental fee). Also some schools have an accelerated training program (FAR 141) and are allowed to prepare you for a commercial license in less total flight hours than other schools. (= less money). Ask about that too.
Good luck ! and if you want to ask more, go ahead.

graemlins/plane_smilie.gif

[mdtony]

Originally posted by traveler:
Lets see, ... the commercial license is essential to getting paid. The order in which you take those exams you speak of are not set in stone.
You could do the multi-engine one later for instance. (when you have some more money).
With a commercial single engine license you could work at a parachute centre, or do sight-seeing or photography flights or banner towing, etc, etc. You won't get paid much but it is a fun way to start. You could then work on a CFI (flight instructor) or CFII (instruments instructor, for in the clouds) and make some money that way.<font size="2" face="Arial, Verdana ">Hey, thanks for the tips. I guess the multi can come after I start getting paid for flying, huh? That seems to make more sense because getting a little money to offset the costs is kind of key. If I had done this back when I was in college, my dad would have helped me, now this is on my own so money is definitely a huge concern.

I've heard that the CFI and the commericial are pretty similar, and that after passing the commercial, I should schedule the CFI test the next day to do two things -- first, to start getting paid, and second, to build up hours. Is this a good thing to do?

Ah, heck, that's a long way off. I gotta get through the private and instrument first before I worry about that. That I am determined to do, because even if I only do this as a hobby, well, I still need both of those.