Working While Training?

[lotus steve]

Can anyone give me an idea of the work load during training. I'm wondering if it is a good idea to try to continue working while doing my training? I work a 4 days on 4 days off shift. Or would it be better to train full time?

[volition]

Can anyone give me an idea of the work load during training. I'm wondering if it is a good idea to try to continue working while doing my training? I work a 4 days on 4 days off shift. Or would it be better to train full time?

That actually sounds like a great idea!! Being able to still work while you trin will help on the financila side of things. The work load you have, It's sounds like a great fit for you to be able to do both at the same time. :punk:

[2BanAviator]

The feedback I got from all the schools I spoke to was that you would be best to devote 100% of your time to the training. It will take place over a number of months, but you can expect your time to be pretty full and you will get best benefit from applying yourself full time.

 

Of course an income will be useful, but if you have made a decision to switch careers it may be best to make it a definite switch or you run the risk of completing the course, having a freshly minted licence, but returning to your old job and never devoting the time necessary to break into the industry.

 

I hate to appear to be disagreeing with Volition, because I believe he is already working in the industry and probably knows better than me, but you posted a question so you probably want to hear as many opinions as possible.

[volition]

Yeah, it would be a different situation for everyone. Some FTU runs their programs from Sep-May, so they would like all the students gone by the summer, others will gladly take you on part time!

[prat]

I've been working full time as well as training for the past few months. Originally I had wanted to dedicate full time towards my flight training but the way things worked out, it worked better for me to stay employed and do the training during my time free from work. I, like you, have been doing shift work, meaning more or less lots of days off at a time and for the most part I was able to get through everything no problem, aside from groundschool hours which I'm a little behind on.

 

You will need to make some personal sacrifices during your training to make time for everything necessary but in the end, I for one am glad I stayed employed. Rather than draining my savings completely, and risk being completely broke by the time I'm finished (and perhaps without an job at the end of the day).... I'm now going to be only SLIGHTLY broke!

 

Typical day starts at about 4:30am, commute to work for 0530, work til 1300, fly from 1400-1500, and if I had a decent nights sleep I may tag on another hour of flying (1 hour dual, 1 hour solo), commute home, eat dinner, and fall asleep reading my manuals! Days off I'll hit up as many hours of groundschool as I'm able to fit in, and get my head in the books during the rest of my free time. Still been able to cram in a few summer hiking trips as well to vent off some stress.

 

Might take me an extra month to get my training done, but during the 5 months of training I also earned an extra $10k to put towards rent, food, gas, and other expenditures. Seems like a pretty good deal to me. Now I can put that money I would've spent towards something useful. (Like a vacation!!?)

 

Get the ball rolling and see what happens. If you're overwhelmed you'll just have to cut back.

[lotus steve]

Thanks Prat,

 

It's nice to hear from someone that it can be done. I asked the question because one of the schools that I checked out told me that if I tried to do my training on my 4 days off, the training would take longer and cost more, closer to $80k. The extra cost was because of a lack of continuity of the training, causing some lessons and skills to have to be relearned before learning something new. I figure that if the training costs me $80k instead of $50k, I may as well take a leave of absence, because I won't make the $30k difference after taxes in 4-6 months.

 

Good luck with your training.

[Skidz]

Steve,

 

The secret to retention during training is to maintain a steady pace. Too much is as bad as too little. This is true in any discipline.

 

I took exactly 8 months to complete my license, from first flight to license issued @ 100.1 hours TT. I started on April 17th 2003 and finished on December 17th 2003 (on the 100th anniversary of powered flight, fittingly enough).

 

I was working 40 hours a week throughout my training. It's not the ideal for everyone. I had a flexible work schedule that allowed my to fit my day job around my flight hours, and I made arrangements with the FTU to do my groundschool extra early in the morning (7-9 am, 5 days a week for about ten weeks).

 

The longest I went between flights during my training was two weeks. that was too long. I didn't have a choice because I had to go away on business. That break cost me about 1.5 hours of training. I had breaks of 4-6 days on a few occasions and I didn' feel I had regressed when I got back in the seat after those breaks.

 

I started out with about three flights a week (training flights will vary from about 0.7 to 1.5 hours, except for x-country flights, which are usually longer). As training wore on and I got closer to the check ride, I gradually ramped up to a point where on the 3 or 4 days prior to my check ride I was flying a total of about three hours a day, mostly doing autorotations, stuck pedals and the like.

 

I didn't find studying all that difficult, because all of the subject matter was so interesting to me (well ok, WX sucked ), so I didn't tend to fall asleep in my books.

 

If your plan is to work 4 and train 4, don't overdo it on your training days. I don't recommend more than two flights per day, and no more than 2 hours of groundschool at once with at least a couple hour's break in between (ie, one flight in the early morning, two hours groundschool, one flight in the afternoon, then study and exercises).

 

If I can offer one really important piece of advice: Before every flight, make sure you know which exercise(s) you'll be doing. Just before your pre-flight briefing, read the appropriate exercises in your TP9982. Immediately after your post-flight de-brief, and before doing anything else, like driving home even, go back and read them again, as well as any other exercises your instructor may have thrown into the flight. This is the single most important thing that will help you retain what you learn.

 

Good luck !

[lotus steve]

Skidz,

 

Thanks for the information, it is very helpful.

By the way, what is WX?

 

Steve

[Jay Flight]

wx=weather

[67november]

Skidz,

 

Thanks for the information, it is very helpful.

By the way, what is WX?

 

Steve

 

 

time to start reading your training manuals!

home schooling is a good thing.