I am now 31, soon will be 32... and if I choose to wait to 35 years old and only then start training. Will I make mistake in your opinion? I know that it is hard to say "you will" or "you will not" but what would you tell me if I am your friend and tell you this.
And I planed it like that, partly because of (some of the most important things):
1) I have wife, but we still don't have children. We want to have children from now on and I guess that it will be really hard for her to be alone with small baby while I am somewhere in Europe on training. And it is very likely to happen (that we have baby) if I start training now. Having baby later is not option as we will be too old to have first child in near 40, at least for me (but please don't argue about this).
2) I have really great job right now and I need to do some more steps to ensure my future and to have certain "backup" job if I don't succeed as pilot. I can't do those steps tomorrow as I need some more working experience (something like gaining flight hours - but just in law)
3) I have luck (or bad luck) to live in Bosnia which is rather poor and ****** up country and for example Wizz air has base in my city. I would be perfectly happy to fly for Wizz, and with FO income you can live in Bosnia really good while in rest of Europe you can't even rent a house. I see that Wizz is constantly employing new people and that they are growing and I guess that not much potential FOs fighting to work in my country. But how like is that they will hire one 35-36 years old pilot and let him work at his home town? (I can work in EU too as i have Croatian citizenship too).
4) I am not looking to become rich in way that because I am captain of Airplane I have house with pool and Porsche for me, my wife and every child
. I must admit that (thankfully to my parents and my work) I have enough money to finance my training and would be satisfied if in rest of my working life I repay invested money in training and earn some more money...
If I am 5 years younger I would not ask this and would do it, but now I am not sure what to do. To drop this plan as unrealistic and too optimistic or to to proceed with it. I am aware that 3rd point is too stretched to be my main goal and, but you can see that I would be happy even with this scenario which 99% of pilots will not be happy with.
I have probably gone too deep with my "story" but what do you think about everything I said? Sometime it feels like good plan (as I don't expect much in return, have money for school and have support from wife) but also sometimes it feels to me that I will be too old to start all this and that I will be counting on too much uncertain things. I don't have friends with real life flying experience as captains or FO, so I can't evaluate my thought without your help. That is why I ask it heir.
P.S.
Right now I don't have any permits for flying and I would probably go with integrated way. Maybe get PPL in meantime...