Lewy Boy
26th Aug 2002, 15:16
Currently pondering my future in aviation by looking at the routes to getting my CPL. Have been told good things and bad things about getting an FAA licence. Currently live in the UK(UK citizen) but have no preference about where i want to live. Like the idea of instructing for a year or so to get enough hours for the ATP, couple of pilots tell me hours are vital now due to competition for jobs is greater. A JAR CPL/IR with 200hours is basically not sufficient anymore. Can anyone list some pro`s and cons of going the FAA route to the CPL and pro`s and cons of the JAR CPL!!!
Thanks in advance!!!!
Luke SkyToddler
26th Aug 2002, 21:06
Pros = very cheap to learn to fly in the USA.
Cons = very hard for UK citizens to get a green card so unless you have some special circumstances, you'll probably end up back in the UK once you've done your bit of instructing on your J1 or-whatever-it-is visa. You won't be able to fly commercially in Europe on your American CPL, so unless you've got a lot of heavy jet command time you'll end up having to do all the JAA ATPL exams and flight tests over again, which is a very expensive and time consuming exercise unfortunately. You may spend less to get the licence but in the long run you will end up having saved not nearly as much money as those schools in the 'states would like you to believe.