davidhaan

So here's my story:

I have a bachelor's in engineering. For the past 6 years I've worked on some fairly lucrative consulting/contracting gigs. However, it's just not doing it for me.

I've always LOVED flying ever since I was a child and I regret not starting an aviation career earlier, but now is the time to do it if I'm going to do it. The civilian route is difficult, long, and expensive. I've heard the military route is a lot better. Flight traning is intense and you get to fly the best of the best aircraft. Also, I've heard half the pilots employed at southwest airlines are serving or at least served in the military.

The problem is that I turn 30 in July this year. I understand the Air Force / Air Force Reserve has an age requirement that you have be IN flight training by the time you turn 30. However, I've heard about "age waivers". What are the chances of getting these waivers?

Does Air National Guard also have the age restriction?

What about the NAVY?

ARMY?

My only requirement is that I want to fly fixed wing. No helicopters!

Whats the commitment after flight school? My ideal situation would be to go thru flight traning and be on "reserve" so I can also pursue a civilian career.

I'm clueless when it comes to the military so if someone could fill me in with my options that would be AWESOME!

I am TOTALLY committed to this new career. If I can't go thru the military I will be doing the civilian route...

Thanks in advance

Twin Wasp

Remember, more than half the pilots that get through UPT end up in a trailer flying UAVs.

rickair7777

This is not true...yet. If you go active duty USAF, there is a chance (15% ?) that you will be assigned to UAV's in which case you will almost certainly never fly manned aircraft.

If you go navy, usmc , uscg you have a 50%+ chance of being assigned helos. Army is even higher.

The usual age limit is 28, maybe extended to 30 in timers of need (it varies by service also).

Waivers are possible, but very hard to get. You would probably have to have some unbelievable qualifications to explain why you waited so long...too busy training for the olympics, stuck on the international space station as a nasa mission specialist, etc. With that said, it cannot hurt to try, but the recruiters will not want to spend a lot of effort on someone who needs a hard-to-get waiver.

Army aviation might be a possibility...I think they had extended their age cutoff to 35 in the recent past. They are doing more fixed-wing flying these days, so while you would probably start in helos odds are good that you could get enough fixed-wing time to eventually get an airline job. Consider active duty, army reserve, and army national guard.

Also...be aware that military service (especially as an officer) is a much larger commitment than just an easy way to build flight time...better have some other reasons for wanting to do it.

BushwickBill

Hey I wish we could trade careers. I haven't flown the King Air in nearly a month, I'm broke and I don't know if I will have a job next week.

Flying is really fun. I would suggest you keep it that way and rent an airplane once a week and go flying.

That's what I would do if I had the money. Right now I only fly if someone else has the money.

davidhaan

Yah, the more time I spend on this website reading posts, the more I wonder if I really want to make the switch. I mean I love flying, but I also like having a job to pay bills.. ;-)