Few Questions Regarding Oaa

[DFLY]

HELLO ALL

HERES MY SITUATION, I AM SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING GOING TO OAA NEXT YEAR AFTER I LEAVE THE ROYAL NAVY( I AM A AIRCRAFT MECHANIC). I HAVE GOT THE QUALIFICATIONS THEY REQUIRE I.E GCSE'S A-C etc AND ALSO HAVE 2 A LEVELS AT GRADE E!! I HAVE ABOUT 30 HOURS ON MY PPL BUT SINCE DECIDING TO GO TO OXFORD I HAVE STOPED FLYING SO I CAN SAVE UP FOR THE COST OF OAA APP. I NEED ADVICE WOULD OXFORD LOOK BADLY ON ME QUITING MY PPL SO FAR INTO IT, ALSO DOES ANYONE RECOMMEND ANY STUDY MATERIAL FOR THE SKILLS ASSESMENT BECAUSE I HAVE NOT DONE ANY MATHS OR PHYSICS FOR NEAR ON 8 YEARS( MY MATHS IS EXCEPTIONALLY POOR) AND FINALLY DOES ANYBODY KNOW THE FAILURE RATE FOR THE SKILLS ASSESMENT AT OAA.
SORRY FOR THE BAD ENGLISH AND RUSHED POST BUT I AM IN WORK.

[captain_rossco]

OAA or OAT as I'm still calling it would not and will not give a flying s***e about your PPL situation. If you enrol successfully on an integrated course you'll start in the same place as everyone else.
Maths and Physics wise, WHSmith have a good range of Letts books, so I've heard. the Maths and Physics used is not hugely complicated, so feel free to ignore the fools that rave about A level maths required (it's GCSE at worst/best).

Best of Luck

CR

[saccade]

Just be aware that oil is selling $108 at the moment. Wait a year or so with your decision and in the mean time monitor the financial performance of the airlines. By the time you have finished your training oil might well be selling in the region of $200 and air travel might be in a decline.

Warren Buffet on the peak oil subject:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWn4OVMwc4s&eurl

[DFLY]

Thanks For The Replys Guys, I Have Another Question Im Worried About The Fact That A Lot Of Students At Oaa Will Have Degrees And That I Have Poor Qualifications Will This Go Against Me When Applying For Oaa Or When Job Hunting After Oaa. Are There Any Airline Pilots Out There With Just Gcse's?

[preduk]

Degrees are good things to have, however if they think you have better skills than someone with a degree, then you have a pretty good chance also. It's about building a portfolio of yourself to show why your more employable than the other person.

I'm not trying to jump down your throat, but writing in capitals and then writing a paragraph with the first letter of each word in capitals isn't a good habit I would develop if I were you :=

[captain_rossco]

Oxford nor anyone else will give a s****e (again) about a degree. A levels can help (and may even be a prerequisite) but a degree is a rather straight forward qualification in just one area (okay so an aero degree may well be an advantage), Airlines are looking for rounded individuals, the ATPL qualification speaks for itself. I do not know any pilots with degrees as yet, after all what sort of character pi**es a £15k student loan and tuition fees up the wall doing a degree in Sociology and Animals Feelings only to go and do £80k on flight training!

Regards

CR

P.S Tongue firmly in cheek here whingers!

[n90bar]

My opinion is that it maks very little difference to your performance on an integrated program. In our class some of the strongest performers didnt have degrees - and I personally think airlines arent really that bothered.

BA definately accepts SSP's who do not have a degree, I can think of a number of them they have taken very recently!

[Adios]

BALPA offers insurance to trainee pilots to cover loss of the medical and the banks require borrowers to carry some form of it. If you pay cash for training, nobody is going to force you to carry such insurance, but if you're smart you will because it is inexpensive. This insurance is cheaper and easier to get and 100% effective as compared to relying on a degree as "insurance" against losing the medical. A degree can be a good part of a contingency plan for combatting the risk of not getting an FO position though.

BA doesn't require degrees or even A-levels. They hired an 18 year old recently who only had GCSEs. Nevertheless, more education will usually make you more competitive.

[Night_fr8]

The integrated course at OAA now gives you a degree at the end of the training.
PPL flying is not a problem, wether you have completed training or not as you will have to go through all the training again, so why waste cash.
You will have to undertake the 2 day selection, and should you pass that you can join a course.
Selection is only valid for 1 year so from the time you complete selection, you have 1 year from that date to start the course.

[turbowhat]

Well OAA give you a foundation degree, its like a Higher National Diploma, The PPl bit won't be a problem I had 35 hours in a c152 before I joined up, what does make a difference when you are looking for a job, is your ground school grades, and your flying report. They will get you an interview, your personality and your experence will get you that first job. :}

[Adios]

Sqwkvfr,

A backup plan is great (the banks require it and those who pay cash obviously already have it). I did not intend to demean your suggestions of how wannabes can achieve one. I don't think having a degree as a backup plan is necessary for everybody, but many people will certainly choose that route. I think a degree is far more valuable as a means toward employment that can fund an ATPL for those of limited financial means when they first set flying as a career goal. These will find they later can fall back on it if needed, but any pilot who has insurance that can make them whole if they lose their medical will simply be back where they started and all they have lost is time. I have a degree by the way and have never worked in the field in which I took it.

I can think of two categories of people for whom a backup degree is not vital so long as they have insurance against loss of the medical. There is a third category and there is insurance for that as well.

The very young 18-25 year olds or so who have loss of flight instruction fees insurance don't necessarily need a degree as a backup plan. The insurance will make them financially whole and they simply go on to take a degree or pursue an alternative career not requiring a degree if they lose their medical early in training or their career. All they have lost is a year or two and the challenge and experiences of those years will still be valuable towards maturing them.

The older wannabes (25-35) who just happened to earn and save enough cash to pay for training can also be made financially whole by the insurance. They need to be informed and wise enough to buy the insurance. They may already have a degree or perhaps they built a solid career without one. Returning to the career from whence they came is their backup plan for future earnings, but they need the insurance to recoup their investment. They could use these funds to train for another career if needed.

The third category includes those who are 3-15 years or so into their aviation career when they lose their medical. Some of these will still be paying off a training loan and their bank's required insurance will payoff any remainder. People in this category will need to carry an additional loss of license insurance policy the proceeds of which should be used to purchase training for an alternative career. So long as they are younger than 40, the cover is relatively inexpensive. Those over 40 are less likely to need it as they will have savings by then.

The bottom line is that in all walks of life, for individuals as well as companies, there is usually some type of insurance coverage to mitigate and manage financial risk of almost any sort within reason. Risk management is a larger industry than aviation and could make a good alternative career by the way.

[WISH2FLY]

I would agree with Sqwkvfr and Adios that a degree provides some security and is helpful when structuring a contingency plan to secure finance. I myself have one.

I do, however, believe that professional experience within that chosen field is also important, helping to build some steps towards a career if you were to return to it.

If you are planning on enrolling on an integrated course immediately upon graduation from university then you may consider whether it is worth 3 years and 15K - 20K of debt!

wish2fly

[Adios]

Not to mention that three years in Uni is three less on the flight deck. The pay is the same in the early years, so the three you miss are the last three where the pay could be £100K or more annually. That's a mighty expensive degree to never use and this is why I think insurance is a better and cheaper backup plan.