Help, really important

[quifflegend]

Over the past few months, i have been arranging my finances and trawling the forums for info about taking the plunge to become an airline pilot. Already have my ppl and want to start an intergrated course to do it all in one go. Basically, i will be funded largely by my parents, with the help of some money left to me by a relative. So what i really want to know is, if i go to America to train, what disadvantages will i have at the conclusion of my course. I mean how hard will it be to come back to the u.k and fly here. Will airlines still look favourably at my c.v or will they dismiss me as someone who has not had the quality of training one might get at a u.k school. Basically the reason for shooting off to america is the cost. Thats the end of it. I want to keep my training as cheap as possible, without going to a school where the tuition is poor and i end up a poor pilot because of it. Would i be quite safe going somewhere like Naples, to do their app course. Basically would such a school look ok on my c.v. Ive heard only good reports about it on here, ok some things you have to take with a pinch of salt, but generally it looks good. Any views? Could someone please set me straight before i invest my money in the wrong place????? Thanks

[willby]

Hi Quifflegend,
Unfortunately, I suspect you are going to get lots of conflicting opinions so in the end I'm afraid you will still be in a quandary as to where to go.
However, since you are anxious for views I'll get the ball rolling!
Since you will be returning to the UK to look for a flying job you will be on a JAA/JAR course . The most important element of your training will be the IR rating and your FTO in the USA will send you back to the UK for some portion of your IR flight training including the IR skills test . This is because it is a JAR requirement that the IR skills test be conducted in the airspace of a JAA member state.
IMHO you should'nt worry about doing your course in the USA but I wait with bated breath for more opinions!
Best of luck wherevere you end up going.
Willby

[quifflegend]

Anyone else wishing to shed some light?

[Send Clowns]

Your CV will be amongst those of people who trained here, in a training system used by people from all over the world despite its cost due to the known high quality. You think about how a potential employer will view your CV. You save in reality very little money once you include costs of relocating to the US, especially as people often have extra IR training to transfer from the US to the UK and actually pass the test (there was a thread about the issue here a while back).

Tuition is generally considered better in the UK than anywhere else. The quality is not necessarily closely related to cost - one of the most expensive in the UK has a very poor IR pass rate.

[traumahawk71]

You will have to complete 15 hours in the UK for a JAA IR to be issued.

What i will say is don't exepect to get a job as soon as you qualify.
There a hundreds of us out there who have completed the training only to find that getting a job is somewhat harder than passing your exams.
By looking at most companies requirements you reach the catch 22 situation.
E.g. required 500 hours on Turbo prop or experience on aircraft over a certain weight. How you get that experience is another matter.

It seems to me that to get a job you must either:
Know someone in the industry who is quite high up?
Or be recommended by your training school cos you scored very well in your ATPL exams.
There are people out there who are fortunate to get ajob straight away but they are few and far between

Im sure that we will all find jobs eventually but its a long hard struggle.

Good luck with which ever route you take:ok:
T71

[half full]

T71-

you mention getting recommended onwards by scoring highly in your ATPL exams. Is this the reality, because if so then I can see myself also having to budget for a significant number of beers and curries for deserving instructors!

any views?

cheers,

HF

:)

[daw]

Anyone got a crystal ball? If so please speak up now.

Following 9/11 when things looked really dire not only for all those cadets that were in the system but the rest of the industry you could have thought why bother entering training and instead concentrate on going to Uni, getting a career and saving money for when things get brighter.

Who would have forseen that in the last month Big Airlines would rock up to Oxford plus few other FTO's asking for cv's? Thus for the lucky few that were in the top quartile at the integrated FTO's, impressed the instructors with not only their academic ability but their aptitude, are able to pass various psychometric testing, keep a wobbly crosshair in a box using a joystick, pass group testing, pass a couple of panel interviews, pass a sim check then yippee they have now made it onto the bottom rung for a type rating, line training etc.

By all means go integrated if you want but who is to say that the airlines will come calling again or that you will be able to jump the hurdles above. Good luck.