How long ago did you receive the DUI and did you complete remedial training?  Find the local FSDO representative from the FAA and speak with him.

   I once asked a gentleman the age of a beautiful biplane which he was flying and he asked "Which end?"  "The front part of the airplane has been built during the last ten years, it was finished last year. The rear end of the airplane was begun 28 years ago."

 I see so many kit airplanes which have never been completed (probably 75%) that it is a joy for me to celebrate the completion of one by a friend. Life seems to get in the way without warning. Therefore, please complete your pilot training at least to the Private Pilot level before beginning a building project. Just remember, time spent in building and the money as well is taken out of time spent flying and that money. Once you have a certificate, you can fly with other airplane owners and gain experience at a greatly reduced cost. Many are happy to have someone sharing the expenses.

    Carlos, you are asking for a simple answer to a complicated question.  Airplane expenses are divided roughly into two different expenses, fixed and variable, which comprise the total cost of flying. Each item in the expense category varies depending on where you are living, how experienced you are, what type of airplane or other aircraft (helicopter, balloon, gyroplane, blimp, etc.) you own, etc.   Fixed expenses are those which will be the same each month whether you fly the airplane or not. Variable expenses vary with the number of hours you fly each month. The total or these expenses added together and divided by 12 will give you a reasonable estimate of monthly expenses,  Add ten to fifteen percent for unscheduled maintenance and you will be in the ballpark.

A good book which discusses all aspects of aircraft ownership is " The Aircraft Owner's Handbook" by Timothy R.V. Foster.  Your local library or one of the companies on Amazon will have a copy.  It is a good read.   My only comment on aircraft ownership (and I have owned several over the last thirty years) is that like a motorhome, the normal wage owner does not need to own an airplane by himself. Flying and sharing expenses with friends makes a lot more sense unless you can earn enough using the airplane to pay for it.

  This also applies to a car.  Where is lesson #2, #3, #4, etc?

Gary,
   Many years ago I had only thirty days to obtain a private pilot certificate. I was in the military and they needed new pilots for Vietnam. (US Army) Because of my age (over 30), they would only consider sending me to flight school if I already had a civilian certificate. This was before written test books with the answers already prepared and before computerized testing. I had four days to pass the written because it took two weeks for the exam grades to return from Oklahoma City (FAA).  This was accomplished at a local flight school in Macon, Georgia with only one instructor and one licensed examiner, but it was done. It has led to 35 years of enjoyable flying and a varied military and civilian career.  Once a person has become a pilot in his/her own mind, the rest is nothing more than application and persistence. I recommend it even though it took a couple of more years before cross wind landings really fell into place. In the military this is called total immersion training (total concentration on the goal or outcome you desire).  JUST DO IT.

   You have at least two local flight instructors here in the Warner Robins, Perry, Fort Valley and Macon area of central Georgia. Ask John Lanier to lead such a group.

  You are very young to be in the second year of college. I do not know if your statement means that you are in a General Aviation program or that you are in a college program in Georgia. If in Georgia, which program? There is a good one at the Heart of Georgia college and it's affiliate in Eastman, Georgia and Cochran, Georgia.  Go to the local airfield and network with all of the local pilots, particularly the older ones who own airplanes or who fly for local companies.  Most persons are willing to share information about their careers if you are really interested and the older pilots have probably followed different career paths than many younger pilots. Ask and you will learn.  When you have talked to enough pilots you can evaluate the information and make changes as your training progresses.   May I suggest that you try to learn only one thing at a time and learn it well. Accelerate your training to get the basic private pilot's certificate, fly regularly with the new friends you will make at the airport, get your degree (at least the two year degree) while flying for experience and pleasure. Once you have decided on the career path, accelerate the advanced pilot training.

    Nashville is fine, but why Nashville and when in the future?

   Go to the local airport and meet the locals and the transients.

   Gary, I think many persons miss an important point about age and hiring.  Often companies will not hire an older person although this will not be admitted because pension law makes it much more ex-pensive to accommodate older persons and still meet federal retirement law requirements. The yearly cost of providing retirement for and older person is higher than for a younger person and the older person will probably stay until retirement or until vested in the retirement program while a younger person is often likely to move on without being vested in the program.

   The military is totally unconcerned about the area in which you have a degree. They will train you from no experience to pilot on orders without worrying about a career field.  Many times they will use a pilot's certificate only to confirm, that you are suited to be a pilot. The USAF has a program in which they pay civilian flight schools to vet pilot applicants prior to commiting to a flight training program. See a military training specialist at a base education center for the latest information.  It is important to understand that many military pilots do not hold civilian pilot certificates because they are not required when flying military aircraft. Civilian certificates are obtained by military pilots by passing a written military competency examination and receiving a certificate from the Federal Aviation Agency.

   I believe some of the answers to your question are incorrect but it can be checked.  The VA will only pay for training once you have already obtained a private pilot certificate. The rate was 80% some years ago, but I believe it is much lower now. It does not matter whether your initial training comes from a Part 61 or a Part 141 course of instruction.  I am rated in both airplanes and rotorcraft and have several thousand hours in each category. After an initial investment of $835 I earned the money back and actually was paid for my additional flight training.

   The least expensive way for you to obtain the ratings is to get the airplane ratings and then do an " add on" rating for rotorcraft. The earlier comments about the experience of flying under the same or nearly same regulations being valuable is correct. Go to an airport, meet other pilots, make yourself available to fly with anyone who will let you come along, network with working and recreational pilots.

   Get your civilian mechanic's certificate and , if possible, trade mechanical work for flight time with others. Being a flight instructor is not the only or necessarily the best way to build flight time. Having both ratings will make you more desirable in the corporate job market.

   Does your base have an aero club, if so use it. I am not completely sold on 141 flight schools and with over 9000 hours I have never attended one.

   Unless you fly for a smaller helicopter company, how do you expect to amass 1000 hours of helicopter PIC and 2000 hours of helicopter flight time?  Remember the insurance issue.

   Carlos, Formal training is required. Much of this training can only be obtained from a certified flight instructor. The requirements are contained in the pertinent regulations. Go to an airfield or airport and speak with a flight instructor. He will be happy to answer your questions.

   You can learn from friends but this experience can not be logged toward your pilot's certificate. Any qualified pilot may instruct you in the flying of the airplane or other aircraft, but none of the time will qualify you for the required ratings. It is probably better to start with a qualified instructor since bad habits are harder to change than learning good habits. Once you have a rating and some experience you will have the judgment to select the procedures which are wise to follow rather than copying some bad procedures.

   Ask an instructor to recommend some good reading material to whet your appetite.

   While age may not be a detriment to becoming a corporate pilot, it will make an airline pilot job much harder to secure, not impossible but more difficult. Before making a decision, talk to pilots in various jobs to learn if their jobs are suitable for you.  This may save you a lot of money and wasted effort.

   Wouldn't it be more productive to entertain thoughts about how we could have been better students rather than concentrating on the faults present in our instructors? Many instructors, sad to say, are very low time pilots themselves and they are learning as much from the student as the student is learning from them. Many errors in instruction come from the fact that the instructor is teaching in the way that he or she was taught, good or bad. Most young instructors do not see instruction as a career goal although it can be very satisfying to see a student surpass you in many ways over the years.

   A good motto for this subject is "Don't fix the blame, fix the problem."

   Probably the best continuing education program for instructors is to continue their own education in aviation by adding new ratings every two or three years and working with each other solving problems which students are experiencing. In checking my log books, I have found over 400 hours of instruction from other flight instructors who were more capable than I at any given time in a 35 year span. Ten or fifteen hours of instruction taken per year does not seem like a lot.
   In addition, my bookshelf has fifteen feet of aviation related non-fiction material read and studied with some of them being rare treasures inherited from other pilots. Many of these books go back to 1942 and 1943.  Another fact I have noticed is that many flight instructors have never used the real regulations with the Ppages (Preamble to the regulation) which tell why and how each regulation came into existence. For some unknown reason, these regulations are not required in aviation school libraries even for part 141 schools.

   Could it be that each of us may be responsible for our own never ending education?