Early Starts (PLEASE read this!!!)

[GHB100R]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for some information on whether any of you offer early starts for aspiring commercial pilots. I'm still at school and am trying to find somewhere that would help me achieve my PPL, CPL and eventually my ATPL. I know of many that offer perfectly good services and would probably attend one of those. However, i am keen to see if there are any programs out there for younger enthusiasts to maybe take a test and with a pass, get a place in a school for the future. Anything for young people would be appreciated. Also, i am trying to find the cheapest place to earn an ATPL. Plane Direct are pretty cheap but if anyone knows of cheaper schools please let me know.

Best Regards,

GHB100R

[bobster1]

You do have a couple of options open to you, firstly if you have a local flying school, club or airfield near to you, pop down and have a chat, I have known of school pupils working or more correctly, volunteering there services helping out doing the jobs know one likes to do, cleaning aircraft and other general duties in exchange for flying time, if i remember correctly around 20-30 mins flying time for a day or twos work, normally of a weekend or school holidays.
You will build contacts and valuable experiance in the ground operations side, and also will have some flying experiance which will help no end when you start your training. Also there will be people hour building or just going off on a joly for an hour or so, with a spare seat in the aircraft!!
Secondly, there is the Air Cadets, if you have a local squadron its well worth joining, after you have been in for a short while there are plenty of free courses open to you, gliding and flying scholarships, you could be flying solo in a glider in no time, or building experiance with a RAF pilot in grob tutor.
They also teach ground school subjects, engines, aerodynamics, etc, a basic understanding of which again will help with your professional flight training studies.
Best of luck.

[asuweb]

Plane Direct?? Who? Never heard of them, and google search doesn't reveal much.

I would seriously suggest doing a shed load of research before committing to any FTO. Cheap doesn't always equal the best. Likewise, neither does the most expensive.

As for your first question, I haven't heard of such schemes before. There are many things you can do to improve your chances of employment such as getting involved with group activities, organisations like the ATC etc to improve leadership skills etc.

Editied to add: I echo the above post.