360BakTrak
31st Mar 2006, 21:44
This has probably been covered at great length before but............should I a) do my FAA ATPL/IR etc and then convert to JAR or b) just sell several internal organs and do the whole lot in the UK?! Any advice/recommendations/suggestions would be very gratefully received!!:ok:
You're right mate, this has been covered a number of times before and it would probably help you get a better all round perspective if you did a quick search.
Very quickly though, I am sure you are aware how incredibly competitive it is out there to become a professional pilot. I don't know what your aspirations are and where you would want to see yourself, but your question indicates a preference towards a career in the UK. Obviously JAR ATPL is the qualification required over here, so I would probably suggest go straight for this. Flying in US airspace is quite different to UK airspace and you need to be expereinced at operating to JAR requirements as opposed to FAA requirements. With the number of low houred pilots coming onto the market each year, you need to be able to offer employers as low risk an investment as possible. I guess it could be argued both ways, in that you overcame your financial struggles and went the FAA route to fuel your passion, but you are not going to be as qualified say as someone who has sold their organs to do the JAR license.
There is no harm at all in doing some of your training in the US however - there are a number of JAA flight schools who train you up to JAA specs and requirements. You could for example do your PPL, Night Rating, IMC, and some hour building in the US at a JAA approved flight school in the US and then finish the rest of you training in the UK. This is obviously modular training, and I dont even want to start getting into the integrated/ modular argument!!!
The last thing I will highlight is the airline industry's move towards making pilots pay for their type ratings etc. Again, I dont want to go into the moral argument for airlines not helping with training, but you may well find youself in a position where you cannot find employment with just a frozen ATPL and might need to invest in a type-rating of some sort. This is incredibly expensive and you should take into account that remaining current and investing in things like SSTR's will be aditional to your flight training. Budgeting for these eventualities will leave you in a much better position post-training if there are no jobs available.
I have barely touched on the ramifications of making a decision either way, but if I were to offer you advice based on my research, go the JAR route, in whichever way you deem best for you.
portsharbourflyer
1st Apr 2006, 08:23
It is actually useful to have both FAA and JAA ratings. There is still a number of corporate aircraft based in the UK on the N register (I understand that D of T is trying to clamp down on this), therefore if you have both ratings it may open up some other options on the job front. You can of course do the FAA conversions afterwards, but it is more cost effective to FAA first and then convert to JAA. Given my time again I would have done FAA ratings first, rather than doing JAA approved training in the US.