I am a 35yo Army Veteran. I am trying to find a way to become a pilot using my VA benefits. When I talk to anyone at the VA about a way to get my pilot license. They tell me there is no way without me already having my private pilots license. Does anyone know how if there is a way around that, or maybe if they know of a way to get financial help for my private rating so the VA will pick up the bill like they should.
Andrew,
Hopefully someone with actual experience will chime in but that sounds very odd to me. I know the VA puts limits on how much they’ll pay per year towards training and will only pay for certain flight schools but I’m certain there’s a way.
For the record of you’re talking about becoming a professional pilot, while I appreciate the fact you’d like the govt to pay the tab, it’s definitely not the most efficient route to the airlines. At 35 you’re not old but you’re not young either and you have a finite amount of time you can fly. While the VA might save you money upfront you’ll be sacrificing much more in the long run.
Adam
Only experienced in that I looked this up myself. Part 141 is covered (university affiliated/structured). VA doesn’t pay for PPL in general, but contact your nearest University pilot program to see if, by way of being enrolled in a Commercial Pilot course of study they might then pay for PPL. VA says they’ll pay for some fees related to becoming a commercial aviator. I haven’t used that benefit but it’s on their website.
I use my VA benefits for flight training but I had to pay for my PPL out of pocket. It cost me $10k to get it done at a small flight school. You could probably get a personal loan from a bank at a low interest rate, depending on your credit, to finance it.
I’m not sure but I believe you can get your PPL paid for by going through a public university program, like UND. That’s a very long route though, at least 4 years. Your best bet is to call a university that has a flight program and talk to their VA admissions department.
AOPA finances PPLs
@Shaggy, do you already have your bachelors? Another way to think about this is that maybe you should just do loans to get your PPL and your other ratings (ATP would serve the purpose and get you through fast), you can use VA to help with some of the FAA fees for the ratings. Get into the regionals after completion and then use GI Bill to pay for your college degree so you are ready to compete for hiring at the majors. Of note, elsewhere on this site it’s mentioned that some universities will give you a big lump of college credit for ATP’s training.
If you want to fly, and get on the flight deck fast to start building flight hours and seniority…and you want to maximize use of vets benefits…you will need to be creative.