I'm working my way though helicopter ratings right now. I finshed my private and instrument and am starting the commercial rating in a couple weeks. I'm using m

I'm working my way though helicopter ratings right now. I finshed my private and instrument and am starting the commercial rating in a couple weeks. I'm using my GI Bill to pay for the training, it's way too expensive to justify doing it this late in life otherwise. There are 2 routes to paying for flight training with the GI Bill that I'm aware of: through an "institute of higher learning" (usually a community college) or directly through a flight school. If you go with the first option, the VA will pay for the whole thing as long as your PPL instructors are employees of the college. If you go directly through a flight school the VA will only pay the lesser of $10,000/year or the actual cost of training. Another benefit of going through a college is that the degree program has higher minimum flight hour requirements than the rating itself. At the school I went through, you had to fly 75 hours to finish the PPL semester even if it only took you 50 hours to get through the check ride. That means when you finish with CFII you have enough hours to start instructing right away. If you are a veteran with post-9/11 GI Bill benefits remaining and want to be a pilot, now is an incredible time. The job market is booming and you can get the training free. Even if you have to pay out of pocket for the PPL (which I have heard has become the case since I started) it's still amazing.