Thanks in advance to Chris, Tory and Adam (and countless others) who I know are here answering the same questions time and time again, I truly appreciate you all, this site and all the information that you openly share with us, I value and trust your opinions.
Being a pilot always seemed like an unobtainable dream until I started doing some research and realized that it wasn’t necessarily, it surprisingly seems possible for me but the logistics of how my life and a new career would mesh is overwhelming.
I’ve been self-employed for about 15 years, business is still running but I have quite a bit of spare time on my hands. Cultivating an essential skill that I love to do is the safest (and most fun) way to guarantee mine and my families future. I’ve got two kiddos, 6 and 8, a wife, mortgage, car payments, the works. I live near Salt Lake City, UT
My concern is, I really really don’t want to move! I just moved back to my home state of UT from China a few years ago, it feels like we are just getting settled here. I’ve already discussed with my family the possibility of being away for a year or 2 while working as a CFI and we all agree that it sounds pretty bad, it is likely the only hurdle that could possibly hold me back from going all in
I don’t really care what the pay or workload is getting to my 1500+ hours, but I can’t seem to find any jobs near me currently that would hire a low hours pilot or CFI, may be because of the timing but I fear that this is how it might look in the next year as well.
Has anybody else been in the same boat? If so, how did you make it work while away from your family? Did you commute? Did you find a good CFI or low hours job near your home? What about having to relocate when finding your first regional job? I’m just trying to prepare myself whether or not I should plan on being elsewhere while building hours as well as with my first airline job. I know there are so many variables, luck being a large part of that as well. Just trying to get some advice from those that may have gone through that and can hopefully give me a reason to go one way or another.
FYI I have my intro flight (ATP) on Monday.
Thanks to all -
Mike