There may be no sadder state of affairs than the all-too-common, totally self-imposed, absolutely life-limiting constraint of believing things that just aren’t true. For the sake of clarity and productivity let me give you an example.
A group of five teenagers corralled me as I was leaving the hangar. All five had a similar question. They want to learn to fly. How I could help them achieve that lofty goal?
Now, it’s worth noting that becoming a pilot puts an individual solidly in the top 1% of humans on Earth. Actually, it puts them well into a small fraction of 1%. Because even in the U.S. where general aviation is widely accessible and comparatively affordable, fewer than 2/10ths of 1% of the wider population actually possess a pilot certificate.
Training to become a pilot and clearing the hurdles to achieve the dream is eminently doable, but the process is inherently challenging.
Because I was dealing with five young hopefuls, all of roughly the same age and educational background, none of whom come from families of great means, I made a suggestion that is well outside the mainstream of thought, but undeniably true.
“The least expensive and most convenient way to earn your pilot certificate is to just go buy your own airplane to train and build time in,” I said.
Laugh, gasp, chortle, scoff. Not one kid took the suggestion seriously.
Recognizing the disbelief in my audience I added, “You can buy a good, safe trainer for $20,000 or less.”
That statement met with even more sneering and scorn.
“Where am I going to get $20,000?” said one student. Her compatriots grumbled support of her perspective.
“Well, there are five of you,” I noted. “That brings the cost down to only about $4,000 each.”
“I can’t get $4,000,” said another young hopeful. The full company of teens mouthed agreement.
It was clear that each of these kids, as hopeful as they might be, as serious as their inquiry was, truly believe that paying for their own flight training is impossible. To their core they believe they can’t do it.
Which is a shame for two very specific reasons.
- They can pay for their own training. They just haven’t been encouraged and coached to understand their individual and collective potential.
- The only reason they can’t envision a plan to pay for their flight training is that they believe they can’t, and so they stop even thinking about options. They settle for the belief that they can’t, erroneous as it may be, and let it limit them for life.
Each of these kids is within a year one way or another of being 16 years old. They all plan on going to college, but none has a plan to pay for it. In the coming few years they will all find the funds to buy a car, pedestrian as it may be. However, not one of them has any idea how they will pay for that car. Or their first apartment. Or the marriage and children and mortgage that are undoubtedly in their not-so-distant future.
Not knowing how to cover the cost for those aspects of life isn’t an impediment as they see it, because they see those things as normal activities. Taking on debt for a car purchase feels reasonable, even if it’s not the best move financially. Taking on unimaginably high debt to buy a house is the American way.
Of course, those things are possible even if the mechanism of doing them is unimaginable. But learning to fly? Nope. That’s a bridge too far. Not one of them could see a path to earning their ticket. Their only option is to find some outside entity that will gift them the money. Pay their way. Cover their costs.
They believe they can’t, and as a result, unless their thought process undergoes a profound transformation, they’re right. They can’t. They will not be pilots. They will be less than they hoped they’d be. Because to become what they want to be requires something that isn’t taught in school, or in far too many homes. They need to think creatively. To become problem solvers.
The brain in our heads is not there to simply recognize impediments. It’s real purpose is to recognize the problem, consider options for resolving the problem, then implement that solution.
Next Saturday, after the revelry of Thanksgiving has passed, those five kids and I will be back in that hangar to have a more in-depth discussion. The topic: How can I succeed?
It’s time to do away with the preconceived notion of not being able to solve our own problems.
Mowing two lawns every Saturday for a year will pay a teenager $4,000 or more. Mow a third lawn and that timetable shrinks considerably. Ten hours a week at an entry level job that pays $9.50 an hour will get you to the goal just as quickly.
There are myriad ways to earn a dollar, and as Dave Ramsey has made quite clear, saving and investing the bulk of that money will allow anyone the freedom to pursue a life that might have otherwise appeared to be unattainable.
Certainly, investing in ourselves is a worthy use of our time and efforts. Learning how to collaborate with others to achieve a common goal has value as well.
Each and every one of those kids has the potential to reach their goal of becoming a pilot. They could do it before they finish high school. A few might even get it done by the time next summer ends. All they need is a push and some insight. An idea they can act on and the belief that they can. Because they can.
One of the best ways to learn to fly is through the military. Participating in ROTC in college or high school allows this entry. Also CAP is beneficial. Yes there is a commitment but a military career either full active duty or in the reserves is immensely enjoyable and can led to a commercial career in either corporate or airline. Best of all the government will pay you to learn to fly.
When I was 16 I told my parents that I wanted to learn to fly. They said ok if I paid for it. So I hit the pavement and went to all the stores in town until I found a part time job after school for minimum wage.
I made enough to get an hour a week instruction in a Cessna 150. I would ride my bike to the airport every weekend and get my hour’s worth of instruction. It took awhile to do it that way but I eventually got my Private license.
After graduating from high school I worked at the local airport for a couple years before going to college where I earned my commercial / instrument ticket.
It can be done if one is willing to work for it.
Jamie, great article. A life lesson for all, young and old. “I Can’t” never did anything. Even if, as some have commented, the boys do not achieve a pilot certificate, the lesson the should/will learn applies to all of life’s pursuits. You have to break it down into smaller goals and steps to make it happen. They just need to know the process, have belief, and never give up.
Keep teaching and inspiring……you are doing a great job. Thanks.
Wow, Jamie. Just wow. This is a blockbuster essay. You hit a home run with this one. Bravo for teaching these kids to think out of the box
There’s much to consider for those kids. One or two may have the burning desire for a commercial ticket and the desire to fly for a living. I might start with that question to each of them. For them, I’d, with their parents permission, fly them in my plane for a few hours to see how they react to the experience. Let them feel turbulence, tight turns, stalls, etc.
If they want to still continue, I’d mentor them on getting paid work and the power of saving their money in order to afford lessons. I’d point them to EAA chapters, where I learned to fly, for more affordable training. I’d also suggest they consider the military because of the GI Bill. Perhaps the military has openings for aircraft mechanics, avionics techs, or flight crew.
At the end of the day, you can’t want it for them more than they want it for themselves.
I own two airplanes and I have three kids. None are interested in my giving them the planes for lessons. Perhaps my grandchildren will take me up on the offer.
I think “preconceived notion” is directly coupled with formal education indoctrination. Unfortunately we’re a few generations in at this point.
Many professions now require ‘continuing education”, and typically
the speaker is the weakest link in the room. Nothing but an education cash flow engine.
Perhaps the greater reality is, unless absolutely going after a commercial aviation career, teens have more on their plate than an expensive hobby.
I had dreamed of becoming a pilot since I was a small child. I, like the teenagers in this story, lacked the vision and problem solving skills to attain this dream in my late teens. It’s a common predicament for most teens. They have been protected from many of their problems by well meaning parents while growing up. When I was 36 years old and had learned those skills through the hard knocks of adult life, I drove out to a small airport in a nearby small town. I asked an old guy where I could learn to fly. He told me I was his guy and in 10 min we were doing a walk around on his 150. I had my Private ticket in 3 months. I’m 49 now with 600 or so hours. I’m about to take my instrument checkride.
Great perspective Jamie, where there is a will there is a way.
I wish you’d been around when I was 16 and hungry to fly. Many roadblocks, most if not all imaginary, delayed me for nearly 10 years. When I finally did start flying it was a new life altogether and one I’d not trade for anything.
The EAA ,[ Experimental Aircraft Assoc. ] grants 100, $10,000 scholarships each year to young folks to get a Private Cert.
Our EAA chapter has 2 students now who are flying , One has completed her PPL Cert. and is now at Embry Riddle in Fla. The other has soloed and will get her PPL Cert. within 4-5 months.
So, there are a number of Pilot scholarships available. It only takes some motivation to find them and in the EAA case, join a chapter and show initiative and an interest in flying.
There are over 1,500 EAA chapters in the USA, so there is likely one near an interested student.!
Jamie,
Another great article. I think HiFlite needs to take into account the kids Jamie is talking to are pretty exceptional and they are participating in a pretty exceptional program. I turned down starting pilot training at 16 because I knew it was more than my nonflying family could afford. I wish I would have had a Jamie there to inspire me to think of how to solve the problem in creative ways. I started flying much later in life and am left to only wonder about what paths I might have forged with timely encouragement and inspiration. And I second the endorsement for avoiding debt at a young age and starting to invest, even tiny amounts, as time then becomes a friend and partner rather than an enemy.
There are more government and societal “restrictions”, (you “must” go to college), today and yet a quote from a notable industrialist from the early 20th century still applies.
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.”
― Henry Ford
Repairing an airplane can be less than buying it in flying condition,if that airplane is an EAB ,much less costly. A flyable part 103 ultralight can be had for less than $4000.00 and will teach all the lessons of flight as they do indeed fly. Build 51% of that ultralight and you can license it as experimental homebuilt, a “real” airplane.Now the flight time with it is eligible to be logged as experience for an FAA certificate. Yes a student can be “signed off” to fly solo in a single seat aircraft. A few hundred dollars worth of dual time to solo then fly your single seat to gain full competence. Two thousand dollars will pay for 15 hours of dual, with 20 hrs. total time you would be able to test for a sport pilot certificate.
Nothing says “I won’t” like an “I can’t”
As an examiner, I fly with youngsters who have everything paid for by mom and dad….BUT I also fly with young adults who go to great lengths, often inspirational type lengths to finance their flying education. “It’s hard, no way I can do that” has no place in their lexicon. I honor them for their attitude.
I think that HiFlite lives, like a great percentage of people, in a world that, nowadays, simply doesn’t want to change things and make no efforts to do that. Imagination and a will to change for the better and fulfilling one person’s dreams requires hard work and a strog commitment. But that is the spring that lead the world to change for so many better things. Think in what the sort of things that were achieved by those people that centuries ago went to America.
Not at all. Kids around me have big dreams, but most have limited resources. There’s nothing at all wrong at an early stage with having the dream to fly as a goal; in fact, it can serve as a motivation. (I should know). But is learning to fly at age 30 so terrible that one must do it by age 16? But there is little so frustrating as having a broken airplane without the money to fix it or fret about making the next payment. (I should know). Those who came to America, by and large, arrived dirt poor. They didn’t buy private rail cars upon arrival. What they achieved came from building from the basics of life, up. Same principle applies here.
Okay, Boomer – and I am one. What world do you live in? Most all of the $9.50/hr (if that) crap jobs around here are filled by adults who still can only dream of what used to be a middle class life. My college tuition was $275/semester, now it’s $350/credit hour x 15 = $5,000. What’s more, I could pay for it plus living expenses for the rest of the year working summers on a (union) production line at the local TV factory building up inventory for Christmas. Y’all have any production line factory jobs paying union wages?
Nope, didn’t think so. The *average* USA college graduate starts adult life with a $30,000 debt burden and very uncertain job prospects. Car? Not one of my son and his friends had a car until they had to get one after graduation. Pre-21, just paying insurance would have taken 100 – 200 hours of work, assuming that they could find any.
Flying is a luxury. Buying an airplane at this point in their young lives is ridiculous. Costs are relentless with the surprise of blowing an engine always lurking, which without significant resources would “total” their plane. I bought an airplane while still in college. It was possible then; it’s not now without rich indulgent parents footing the bills. While the cheapest way to fly some is probably to join a glider club (or CAP or ROTC), the best advice for kids now is to save and avoid debt if at all possible. I sincerely hope that these kids are smart enough not to take your advice. There is no defect in their imagination; the defect is in your understanding of the realities that most young people have to deal with.
Wow!! What a great article, and I hope HiFlite spends some time researching Dave Ramsey. Living at home, making 9.50 an hour, 20 hours a week works out to just shy of $10,000 a year. At 16 years old that covers a lot of expenses. Honestly though I can not hire entry level positions at less than $11 an hour, non union. I am in the midwest, small town US, so I have a good grasp on rural America wages. My Nephew makes more than $9.50 at basic retail job, local franchise burger joint starts at $11.
I cut grass as a kid, and at age 16 got a job bagging groceries. While I ended up getting my certificate much later in life, I could have then. What I did not have was you, and the motivating force you bring to the conversation. Thankfully I got lucky enough to have some exposure to the EAA to keep the dream alive, and then some time later the support from my amazing wife. While money was less of an issue, time was not. I worked for 18 months to get my certificate, while working 60 hours a week. Many of my flight training days started at 4:00, while work would often continue to 21:00 or later. There are always obstacles to achieving success. Keep spreading hope, and not excuses. There is always a way, grit, determination, and sacrifice pave a road that can take you anywhere. My mile of pavement just happens to be a runway, and what a reward worth working for!
HiFlite- You note a couple of things- $9.50/hr jobs are not plentiful and college tuition is expensive and often debt laden. You are right a 16y.o. kid isn’t going to find many jobs paying that well; but no, not every young adult is going to be under a load of college debt. (I’m not a fan of so many people taking out college loans plus the student loan debt problem is worthy of its own study and debate outside the scope of this forum.)
Mr. Becket does point out a young person needs to prioritize life expenses and interests. However it isn’t likely the 5 kids will successfully save $4,000 each to buy a training plane. By the time each has the dough life’s priorities and interest may/will have changed and they may/will have gone their separate ways.
I hadn’t thought of the “buy your own plane training program” I don’t know how realistic that is, but it did give me pause on how to motivate new people (young or old) to take up flying.
I don’t have an answer. Maybe just tell someone the truth- yup it’s expensive. Make a list what is important and what isn’t (shiny new stuff?) – Make a plan- what expenses does one want to prioritize? Scrimp and save putting extra money in the flying fund where one can and make an effort not to loose focus on the goal. Confirm with oneself what the goal is.
And don’t forget- keep showing up at the airfield to keep that fire burning. I guess I’m an optimist here.
Your particular, and common, weakness is your indoctrination of can’t succeed without being a graduate, rather than with true talent and motivation. And using “boomer” as being derogatory and somehow defending your lack of ability.
Like the song Time…”No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun”.
Wealthy non graduate Boomer
With
Wealthy non boomer, non graduate kids.
There’s a big world out there, go find it.
PS; most of those obstacles you encounter were created for and by people like yourself.
Original article mentions college. Can kids succeed without college? Of course! But far less likely without wasting scarce money on early luxuries. Save up for tools, work truck, A&P school, any number of such things. Leverage early investments into later rewards. Did you succeed without a large dose of initial frugality? I doubt it.