Some feed-back please!

[crash_1983]

Hey there, im currently a member of Cabin Crew, and am reaching the stage where i want to do my ATPL (life long dream)

Ive been to visit HSBC, and they told me the figures etc, I have no problem getting the loan to do the ATPL, but i wanted to ask Flight Deck Crew if they where at all nervous about taking such a large loan with no guarantees of passing. my dedication is there 100% and its not going to be "just a job" im looking at it more as a hobby, but i have no preperation of how hard it really is!

Any feed back would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in Advance

[gordonsmall]

I'm not flight deck quite yet, just a humble computer programmer and modular ATPL student.

The ATPL exams themselves are quite invovled, and you'll need to have a decent grasp of maths and physics to make it through them - on the other hand many will tell you that the ATPL's can be passed by remembering the stuff "off by heart" and they're probably right, but in my very humble opinion you need to have a decent grasp of the concept or you're totally missing the point.

Admittedly there is a lot of "crap" in the ATPL's - why any pilot needs to know the ins and outs of how a variable flow pump works is beyond me - but I suppose that's just my youthful ignorance.

As for the actual flying, well it's all a matter of dedication/practice IMHO - if you practice anything often enough eventually you can do it well.

I am very loathe to the idea of getting into a pile of debt to finance flight training, where I come from the price of geting a CPL/IR (frozen ATPL) can buy you a decent 4 bedroom house - and I have no ambition to get into that sort of debt before I'm even into flying commercially (especially as I'm already paying of a pile of student loans already), that's why I'm just pondering along flying as and when I can afford to - it's probably going to take me another 2 years at least but I've got youth on my side as I'm only 21.

Regards,
Gordon.