young wannabe sponsorship advice

[harri1888]

Hi everyone, i am a young, keen, enthusiastic wannabe. i am 16, 17 in january and i have applied for a masters course in aeronautical engineering at glasgow university. i intend to sit my PPL in November this year.

I realise i have another 3 years to wait until i can apply for sponsorship, and wondered if anyone knows what i could do to increase my chances of being selected for sponsorship?

Also does anyone know of any airlines who will be offering sponsorship in 3 or more years?

I am just assuming that the youngest age is 19 as it has been when i checked with the Britannia sponsorship scheme - if anyone knows of any airlines who would sponsor me before i am 19 that would also be a great help.

Thanx for your time

oh i forgot to state im a wannabe pilot! :O i thought taht was implied but just incase - oops

any replies would be much appreciated :ok:

[oli carley]

harri1888,

I think its great that your thinking that far ahead already, many people have no idea what theyd like to do once theyve left school.
As far as sponsorship advice is concerned, your guess is as good as mine. Theres very little going on, although it is gradually picking up.
Are you a member of the air training corps? Im sure that wouldnt do you any harm along with a duke of edingburgh's award maybe.
As far as the ppl goes, its always gonna be an advantage to have some flying experience of some kind but dont go and get carried away, some airlines/training schools may not appreciate a massive amount of flying hours, they think you may pickup bad habits that may be hard to get rid of.
Is it just sponsorship your looking for? As this is practically non existant, your best looking into the idea of funding the training yourself at a good training school.

Best of look for the future mate.

Ol

[airshowpilot]

Ironically enough Harri, for a full sponsorship, you may need fewer hours than a PPL! Take for example the recently advertised Britannia sponsorship–they are probably looking for someone just like you (after you have graduated) but with very little flying experience. So bear in mind that the number and type of sponsorship is always changing!

The reality of course is that there are always more far more wanabees applying for sponsorships than places, so I personally would go for the PPL and the degree (if you can afford it) and see what the market is like and, hence, what sponsorship opportunities are available, after you graduate.

If anyone could see what was going to happen in three years they'd be very wealthy indeed! Nevertheless the projection is for more of us to travel by air over the next few years and that, of course, means more pilots.

Make the most of the situation that you find yourself in today and enjoy your degree course to the full. Good luck!

[ali1]

Hi there,

The only 2 sponsorships I knowf are the Britannia scheme and the My Travel one. However the only y people I've met from MYT are already on-line so the selection ? Whether they will do it again once they are out of financial trouble??!! Bearing in mind you had to pay 15k of your own money for Britannia!!

My advice would be do a bit of flying- Cadets, University. Increase your knowledge by reading and sit tight keeping your ear to the ground!

All the Best.

[harri1888]

Hi, i've been away for a while so this might be a bit too late however i'd just like to thank everyone for taking the time to post a reply - i have taken all points on board and find them very useful - they have also boosted my confidence severly which i really must thank you all for

well i better go - my first exam's in 3 weeks and its english - not my best subject :( so i better get down to some more studying

thanks again. harri :p

[sally at pprune]

easyJet and Thomas Cook offer 100% sponsorships. I think one of them was 18 minimum age; check their websites for details www.easyjet.com (http://www.easyjet.com) and www.thomascookpilots.com (http://www.thomascookpilots.com).

Air Atlantic offer 100% sponsorship (but you need to be prepared to fly vintage aircraft for a few years).

flybe (in addition to Britannia) offer part sponsorship from time to time; sorry, I dont know age limits.

Personally, I've the other problem; too old now :(:{, so I bit the bullet and paid for my own training. God, I hope there's a job at the end of it!

Get a good degree Harri; keep your options open. Having said that it would be a tough call if you actually landed a sponsorship deal before you complete at uni.

Good luck.

[psj]

Harri1888

I too did Aero Eng and uni, and then went on to get a sponsorship with a UK airline.

It's good you are thinking ahead as you will have to compete with every man and his dog for an airline sponsorship.

Since you are now 16 years old I would recommend the following.

Now:
Apply for a flying scholarship from the RAF to fund your PPL
Apply to GAPAN for a PPL sponsorship
If no one will sponsor you go and have a few lessons up to first solo standard (you need to be 17 to go solo). It is not necessary to get a whole PPL, just show keen for the time being and save the £££.
Also take a look at www.fffoundation.co.uk

When you go to sixth form (very soon?)
Apply to the RAF for a sixth form sponsorship (more £££ :D)

During 6th Form
Apply to every airline sponsorship that comes along (as you will now be old enough?), although it's always good to have a degree to fall back on later in life.

When you go to university
Apply for an RAF bursary (£££!!!)
Join the University Air Squadron (free flying, cheap beer! :D :D )
Continue to apply to sponsorships, if the right one comes along you can always leave uni, or try and postpone the sponsorship.

Hope the above is useful

Regards

psj

[waspie]

That is all correct but you have to be 16 to fly solo (I did it four months ago and I am still 16).

[mad_jock]

You could try the air league for help doing your PPL.

I had a couple of students who over the space of 3 years got there PPL and IMC payed for by the league.

Strange thing is they have budget left over at the end of the year due to the number of students who don't take the offer up and learn to fly.

Another method is to practise bull****ting and join the Air training corps. They won't take you if they think your only in it for the flying, you have to be able to kid them that you really want to become a RAF officer. This suggestion will get quiet a few backs up but it is an option.

MJ

[jonnys]

I echo what has been said, it's always important to have a lot to say in an interview, and if you can back up questions like 'what have you done to further your career aim to be a pilot" with EVIDENCE, you've got as much chance as the next guy :-)

I'm currently being sponsored by easyJet, so have had the experience of interviews and selection processes. I would suggest going to Uni, flying with a UAS, maybe doing some time towards a PPL if you can afford it (but caution max number of hours permitted for some schemes!) Get work experience with an airline in your part time or within aviation generally, read around the area, and just make sure you can overload an interviewer with evidence to PROVE your enthusiasm! (a lot of people go to interview and say 'I want to be a pilot'. Great. So do the other 1000 people who've applied) It's all about coming across as genuine, enthusiastic and motivated, and ensure you look far more attractive to the company than the next guy.

All the best, the end result is more than worthwhile!:ok: