I'm certainly not an expert, but a quick question: Does it have to be SF ? If you just want to learn coding, have you considered working at a company that combines what you know (aviation, physics of flight) with what you want to learn (software development)?

First think that comes to mind is Microsoft (Flight Simulator), but they are probably strongly in the camp of "University degree required". Anyways, I hope the general idea / different POV is of some help