Where Next?

[KingCooky]

hey guys, first thread onthe forum so here goes.......

im sure this question has been answered a million times before but i really need some guidance and direction.

I have a JAA PPL (with night rating for what its worth!) and im interested in persuing a professional aviation career.

with lack of funds to go ahead and commit to weeks of training ab intio for an ATPL i could do with some clues as to where to go next considering i work a 9-5 (well 9 - 3.30, im a school teacher and such can afford to train intensively during July and August)

Any help whatsoever would be much appreciated.

King Regards

Russ

[Mach086]

Next step is hours building. Could do the atply studies too.

It is possible to do 100 hours building over the summer providing there is availability. I've heard that most people fly 4-5 hours a day for hours building.

If funds are lacking, then I guess you would do the atpl studies via Distance Learning over 13 months.

CPL/IR/ME comes next. 6 month sabbatical could be good. Whethe rit can be done on weekends? I can't say. probably best to hear from people that have gone down that route.

[GusHoneybun]

Hi Russ,

First thing you should get sorted is your Class 1 medical as this is a potential show stopper. This can only be done at Gatwick and takes about half a day. Last time I checked this was £317.

Once this is in the bag then there are two areas you will need to concentrate on first. One is fun the other is not so much fun.

The fun bit is hour building. I don't know how many hours you have, but most people need to build about 100 hours from PPL to start a CPL course. Obviously, there are a few ways to build hours, so here are a few I looked at when in your situation.

1) As you have a nice 2 month holiday coming up in the middle of the year, book a flight to florida, sort out a visa and FAA PPL, block book an aircraft and take off round the states. To be honest though, the pound doesn't go that far in america anymore so this may not be the cheapest option. In the states, it is possible for two qualified pilots both log the time flown, this is not acceptable in the UK, so make sure any price quoted is actual solo hire, not buddied up with another hour builder.

2) If you have a bit of disposable income you could buy a share in an aircraft. Don't go for an IFR complex turbo type as this will cost too much an hour to fly, get hold of a basic VFR machine that doesn't drink much fuel. This is what I did, and my hourbuilding worked out at £46 an hour. When I was finished, I also managed to get my initial share back when the aircraft was sold. Make sure the group is well run and that they have an established engine fund. Some groups don't require capital to join, just a monthly subs, however, the hourly rate works out a bit higher.

3) If you want to 'pay as you go' at a school, then you will be paying about £100-120 an hour for a C150. Personally I would try some local microlight schools, you can normally get a fixed wing microlight, like an icarus, for quite a bit less. I saw one school offering their members an icarus at £45 an hour. AFAIK time built in a fixed axis microlight is acceptable for CPL issue.

4) If you know the right people try glider tugging or para dropping, however, these kind of jobs normally require you to have experience so are difficult, if not impossible for hour builders to get. If you have experience and know people in the scene, then it's always worth hanging around seeing if you can get some free hours.


While you are happily drilling holes in the sky, you also have to concentrate on the less fun part, the dreaded groundschool. This falls down to choosing either to go full time or via distance learning. Full time will be preferable as you will enter a structured classroom environment, with good resources and support. Distance Learning means you need to be very disciplined, manage your time well and it can be difficult to maintain enthusiasm. If you go full time, you will need about 9 months to complete all 14 exams.
If you can't afford the time away from work, then obviously you will need to do Distance Learning. Bristol are very well recommended and their course notes are top notch. Their support is all online and I understand that they respond to queries very quickly, which helps your enthusiam when your stuck on a tricky part of the syllabus. Part of the Distance Learning is that you need to spend a set amount of time in the classroom prior to sitting the exams. This shouldn't be a problem for you if you can make the time co-incide with term time.

You will be lucky to get hour building and exams all done and see some change out of 10 grand. The speed at which you complete these is purely up to you, so if spread out over 18 months, it's not such a monthly drain on your resources. I found that this part of my training required the greatest sacrifice as I rarely had the time or money to go out or enjoy myself, and it was difficult sometimes to remain motivated. If you want one piece of advice is to aviod pprune during this period as there are way too many negative people on here.

Once this is all completed and you have to requied hours and exams, then it's time to start the final, and by far and away the most expensive part of training. By this time, you'll probably have an idea of which school you'll like to train at. If you're in sheffield, there are two good schools up the road in Leeds. When you visit the schools, talk to the students, especially if they are having a crafty fag as you will get a much more honest impression. Try and pick a school by reputation and not marketing. The training you receive here will last you throughout you career so make sure you get the best you can, even if it's a little bit more expensive. An extra £10 an hour is a lot cheaper than an IR retest!.
The CPL ME/IR will probably cost should set you back about £20 grand including test fees, assuming you don't need any retests. Try and keep a contingency of at least 20% of the course for any unforeseen circumstances.

Good luck and if you want any more help, PM me.

[cowl flap]

Gus,

I think you will find that these days there is only one good school left at Leeds, Multiflight.