Certificate IV in Aviation

[Ozzydoo]

Hi

I am looking around at many different flying schools and have decided that I would like to train to become a pilot in Perth, WA, have been looking at Western Australian Aviation College, has anyone had any previous exspirence with them?

They offer a CASA CPL course which gives me the licence to fly commercial aircraft in Australia, so if I was to move back to the UK after training what courses would I be required to take to be able to fly in the UK and Europe.

Thanks

[Diesel Pilot]

Hey mate,

It's great that you have decided to become a pilot, but there is quite a bit you need to take into consideration before taking the plunge and starting your training, especially if you choose to do it in another country which has a totally different set of regulations to the UK.

From what I can understand you're not actually from Australia and would be looking to return to the UK after your training. I'm also guessing you don't have any sort of visa which allows you to live and work here freely and would be looking to come here as a student.

I moved here from the UK 7 years ago and went through a complicated, lengthy and expensive immigration process to get my permanent residency, and now I am finishing off my CPL here in Perth. I know most of the flight schools in Jandakot (Perth's pilot training hub) pretty well including WAAC / RACWA so I should be able to give you some advice.

For a start, if you're going to invest a LOT of time, effort and money into becoming a pilot you really want to make sure that your investment is going to give you the best chance of getting a job once you have your license. Unlike the UK which tends to have the whole cadetship thing down to a fine art where you pretty much have a job interview with an airline BEFORE you start your training most people who freshly qualify as commercial pilots here in Oz tend to compete for entry level jobs as either casual flight instructors flying small GA aircraft or charter work in the remote parts of the country. And it can be highly competitive and time consuming trying to break into that first job. As an international student your visa options are very, very limited in what's available after your studies to give you the flexibility and time to find this kind of work. Immigration laws here change ALL the time and only recently has it become much more difficult to be sponsored as a pilot here, especially an entry level one. It's not impossible, my flight instructor is from Chichester and managed it BUT he had to keep himself here on a student visa so he could carry on working as a casual instructor until he had the experience required to get sponsored. That cost him at least $20,000 in fees for a course he didn't want or need to do just to get the visa options. It's full of uncertainty and you need deep pockets to do it this way. He almost didm't make it I should add, he was very lucky.

Of course you may not even want to stay here after your studies, which is fine. But think about the JAA conversion costs you'll encounter on top of the costs of training here. For example a CPL here only requires the basic 7 exams whereas i'm pretty sure (correct me if not) the JAA CPL has you sitting all 14 CPL and ATPL exams as part of the training package. And on that note you need to allow plenty of money for that too. For a bare bones CPL, you'll need around $50-75k for your training and theory exams PLUS extra to cover 8-12 months of living expenses in Perth, which will set you back around $500+ a week allowing for things like share house style accommodation, groceries, fuel, phone, bills etc. Then theres buying a car, flights, "fun money" etc etc. I know all of these costs too well as since living here I have been a backpacker, an international student and now a citizen renting and paying all the usual bills etc.

Honestly in your position unless you're dead set on coming here I would be looking at other options, mainly the large UK flight schools who can set you up with an airline job after your training or a mob out in the USA. I remember years ago researching plenty of flight schools in the states offering full JAA and even FAA/JAA combined courses for a fraction of the cost of training in the UK and even here in Australia. The large flight schools may charge a lot of money and you may end up with a ****ty contract with easy jet etc BUT the kicker is you get into a jet right out of flight school. My brother in law is a pilot for Emirates and has met many young pilots from the UK who moved over to Emirates only a few years after finishing their training. Moving to the ME isn't for everyone but after a couple of years you'd have the experience to move back to the UK and find better work if the option is there.

Good luck man, feel free to PM me if you want anymore specific Perth info either flying or otherwise.

[nastyevil110]

Very true i agree with diesel pilot:ok: you will end up spending 130k+ on training and no job then immigration keep changing rules every 3 months and recession has just started in australia you will be going through a lot of stress better of investing money training in uk i didn't get your point if you want to convert your licence in uk then why spend double money for training:ugh::confused: