To whom it may concern.


My name is Jason Loadman and I reside in Guateng, South Africa. I am in the USA, as a temporary resident for one year, B1/B2 Visa.
Growing up in Africa right under final approach to Wonderboom airport was exciting, nav lights flickering in the hazy, dust filled, African sunsets and the drone of the twin engines in the distance. It was all a wonderful dream in my youth to become part of the elite, part of those with “wings” and who had the cockpit as the office. Now it has become an obsession to make this dream come to reality.

This has brought me to America, to learn how to become a professional pilot.
To do this back in South Africa, under the circumstances in my county, would take a large amount of money, this would be way out of reach for a low income group such as my self, not to mention dream shattering. So for some time now, I have been putting as much as possible into my savings account, always remembering that for every $1 needed, I would need to have R6-50 [South Africans currency is the Rand] . Unfortunately I did not take into account how high the cost of living America would be and will probably only just get over half way done with PPL, which is disappointing as I am not legally allowed to be employed in the USA. Work visas don’t come easy for South Africans!

It is with this,  that I ask for some much needed advice and/or assistance;

I have been doing plenty of research on the internet and in the library on getting started. As I am eager and extremely anxious to do so, I have encountered a few hurdles along the way, not to mention the financial responcibilities. The first one would be a back round check by the TSA, as I am not a permanent citizen.  Now, I fully agree with this due to the terror attacks, but I can’t for the life of me understand why it should cost anyone $130. I don’t mind paying some thing towards the processing, but come on, no matter which part of the word you are from $130 is a lot of money for a back round check. I would like to know why this is so?

Secondly, Would it be cheaper to find a good instructor to teach me and to do the ground school as a self  home study, as apposed to going through a “not for profit” flying club? These sort of clubs or schools have large joining or start-up fees and over charge you for ground school material to make up for other costs.

Finally, is there any institution or organization who could offer me some sort of financial assistance to help me complete the PPL and/or eventually the CPL? I would like to take a student loan or a personal loan from the local banks, but they can not assist me as I am not a permanent resident.

I have recently been on a discovery flight over one of the Finger Lakes and it almost brought tears to my eyes, how beautiful and exciting it was to be up there with my very own hands on the yolk for five or so minutes. That flight only fuelled my desperation and long lasting desire to become a pilot. So hopefully you can understand my rather unfortunate situation.

I would appreciate any and all advice or assistance that anyone has to offer to me, please!!!
 
Thank-you for the time you have taken to read this letter. I look forward to hearing from anyone who has the time to help a young South African man, heart willing to learn to fly.

Yours sincerely

Jason Loadman
Tel: 607 657-8321
jasonloadman@gmail.com