Professional Pilot Training (includes ground studies)A forum for those on the steep path to that coveted professional licence. Whether studying for the written exams, training for the flight tests or building experience here's where you can hang out.
I would guess that you are still enviably young!. Go to uni and enjoy that experience. Although you can go to uni at any time of life I feel that to go at your age is a right of passage that should not be missed. You will have loads of time to get into commercial flying once that is over. Don't miss it if you can help it. I am 35 and have always wanted to fly professionally, problem being I also wanted to be a copper so I have done that and now am doing ATPL'S and hopefully will be an instructor in the not too distant future. Whatever you choose, good luck!
More 2ps worth on this. I went to Uni to do advanced colouring-in in 2002. I already had my PPL and all I ever wanted to do was fly so I continued to by joining the UAS. After two years of spending more time at the flying element and the pub than at lectures I had to decide whether to go for the RAF, I 65% wanted to but as the boss said thats 35% to little, so I decided against it. That summer (2004) I decided that I would take a year out to do my ATPLs, CPL and an FI ticket then go back to uni ( i had been accepted into honours ie 2 more years in Scotland) to complete the degree and instruct. I also took a job as a dispatcher for Servisair, contacts and all that. At the end of the year I had my ATPLs and CPL ticket and went back to uni. I lasted two weeks. Having done a bit of travelling in Canada and enjoyed working I really hated sitting around in a lecture room being taught something I was no longer interested in surounded by people who did not want to be there. I enrolled for my IR in November 2005 and competed my MCC on 23rd Dec 2005. In the new year I started applying to airlines and went back full time at Servisair. Didn't heard anything from any airlines so applied to CTC in Feb and started TR with easyJet in March and have just completed my line check.
Now I know that people say that you should go to uni and get some life experience and have a back up plan but in my opinion its a load of blx. You get life experience from working to earn your beer money and learning to interact with other human beings outside a student union. Others will strongly disagree with me but its just my opinion. My friends are now graduating and those that have not done vocational degrees ie the majority are struggling to find work at all except in starbucks and whsmith. I may have been lucky with getting a job quickly but I think you also make your own luck not just by taking risks but showing that you really are interested in the industry you want to work in. Theres a whole world out there do what you want with it.
I am 18, and have recently passed my A Levels, and thus now I'm heading to University. I also have a PPL with something like 80 hrs.
The school at which I trained for my PPL offerred me a Flight Instructor's job, however, I must pay for the fATPL/CPL/ME/FI. The wage will be 627 GBP monthly, and rises to 1,019 GBP monthly after 6 months, plus, I will be clocking about 400 hours a year, single engine, with the possibility of multi-engine after a few years.
Does anyone recommend not going to University and go do the licences then work as an FI? Any comments much appreciated.
I am 18, and have recently passed my A Levels, and thus now I'm heading to University. I also have a PPL with something like 80 hrs.
The school at which I trained for my PPL offerred me a Flight Instructor's job, however, I must pay for the fATPL/CPL/ME/FI. The wage will be 627 GBP monthly, and rises to 1,019 GBP monthly after 6 months, plus, I will be clocking about 400 hours a year, single engine, with the possibility of multi-engine after a few years.
Does anyone recommend not going to University and go do the licences then work as an FI? Any comments much appreciated.
I'd always recommend going to Uni first. I degreed in Chemistry and started my training after I graduated. At 24, i'm still on the young side. Theres no rush. Uni in Malta is free isnt it. You actually get paid for it!! Hear that lads? They get PAID to go to UNI!!!!
It wont. Your national airline are accepting applications for F/O's up to age 35. You have plenty of time. But make sure you get trained in a 2nd career. In aviation loosing your Class 1, God forbid, due to ill health means loosing your income. (And those were the words of my AME.) If you have a degree to fall back on, you're in a very comftable position.
I've had a look at the university league tables. Oxford seems to have a very good physics department, while Cambridge has a very good general engineering degree. I'm not convinced that they are the best places to go as an undergraduate. In my opinion, I think that there would probably be too many introvert intellectuals or private school people at those universities. I know someone will disagree with that, but that's just how I feel. I think it would be more beneficial to go to a university where I could mix with more extrovert people, rather than spending 100% of my time with my head in the books. For the past thirteen years, I've had free education alongside people from all different backgrounds. Upper-class or upper-middle-class people made great friends with "working-class" people and everyone was down to earth and got along well. Despite this, we consistently matched and out-performed fee-paying and private schools in academic and sporting achievements. Basically, I'm saying I don't really care about the perceived prestige of certain educational institutions. It's always possible to do a masters in Oxford, Cambridge or Imperial etc. later.
Enough of that.....
I've narrowed my choices down to AeroEng or Physics at Imperial or Glasgow, or AeroEng at Kingston, or AeroEng with French at Bath.
GREEN = POSITIVES RED = NEGATIVES
Imperial: Very good university for science-based courses, university orchestras, living in London and associated costs, fees
Glasgow: Very good university for physics, free education, free accomodation
Kingston: Very good university for AeroEng, not in central London, reasonably small and well-knit student population, fees
Bath: Very good university for both AeroEng and Physics, able to combine French with AeroEng, fees
If anyone has any other suggestions, please share...
EI-Shamrock,
Im 3rd year Aeronautical Engineering at Glasgow Uni which I noticed was one of your choices, If you're looking for any info/advice/opinions whatever I'll be happy to help just give me a shout!
Good luck!
Colette
Colette, do u think it would be possible to study at unviersity, and at the same time do the frozen ATPL course by distance learning? I'm very willing to do so...
PPL152, yeah it probably is possible, but personally I wouldnt do it! The workload from aero eng has been pretty heavy, and Ive got 2 jobs as well so doesnt really leave much time for anything else! That said though I did manage to study for the 7 PPL written exams and pass them all first time but thats only half the amount of the ATPL written exams and not as much material to remember! Could maybe have managed it in 1st year or something when there wasnt as much studying involved, and if i didnt have a job or whatever, but again thats just me. One of my mates has just finished a 4 year pharmacy degree and he seemed to think it was pretty intense so I dunno. I guess it just comes down to the individual really, how much you're prepared to work etc. Would be interesting to hear from anyone that has completed their distance learning while at uni though?!
Sorry couldnt be more helpful!
Colette
Many thanks for your reply... yeah pharmacy is not one of the easiest I can assure that.. neither is the ATPL, and also I'll have one part-time job so.. dunno if it owuld be really possible..
I have been looking at the clearing lists for Uni's despite having a place, i was looking at Kingston AeroEng too. I am thinking of applying but where did you find, or how do you know its a "very good" uni for AeroEng? I looked at the league tables and it came 26th for Mech Engineering which i am sure Aero comes under?
I am holding a place for Brunel but i am yet to find too many people who say its a "good" uni? I dont want a Degree from a Uni no one has heard of. Brunel is ranked 11th Mech? Little confused.
Also does anyone know how good the Brisol UWE AeroEng course is? Or how emplyees view that Uni?
I was looking at the G'dian league tables, don't want to pay to use the Times. They say the teaching standard is excellent. They have some quality facilities like a B737, a Learjet, a £5m B747 Flight Sim, and Merlin Flight Sim to name a few. That's why I think it looks good, but I'm still trying to find out more about it. I'm still undecided about uni, or where to go, but I still have a year left. I'm probably leaning towards Irish universities (quality!) or Glasgow because they're all free!
Last edited by EI-Shamrock : 18th August 2006 at 22:38.
There may be one or two blue chip companies that will only recruit graduates from certain established universities on to fast track schemes but in general in the aero engineering industry where you did your degree will not have much affect. Your attitude in the workplace and the experience you gain after university will be more important than where you did your degree. It is a good ego boost to make it in to an established university, but with six years experience in the aero eng industry the fact I studied aeronautical engineering at a "university" as opposed to an ex-poly has little relevance now. Infact I now work or have worked with several graduates from the ex-polys (eg; Bristol UWE); well they are doing the same job as myself so I can say studying at an ex-poly doesn't make that much difference to future employment prospects.
Remember if you want a career as a pilot, the engineeing degree will give you a job to fund the flight training, but the airlines will give you little credit for having an aero degree.
If you want to be an engineer and are seeking chartership, you will need four years of academic study hence you will need to make sure the degree you study is a four year MEng and fully acredited by the engineering institutions or a three year BEng followed by a masters. Though I will stress that gaining chartership isn't that essential.
In summary where you study aero isn't going to make alot of difference to post graduate employment, so pick a location that is going to be interesting and lively to study at for three years. Or pick the place with the best male / female ratio ( which is never good on engineering courses).
So what Degree is linkley to give you credit with the airlines? Or is it a case of the airlines dont really credit a degree? I went for Aero Eng instead of Airline Transport and Pilot Studdies, is this a mistake? Are there any other degree that would give more credit than Aero Eng with the airlines?
Airlines are interested in flying experience, you don't necessarily need a degree to be a pilot.
I have probably secured one airline interview on the grounds of holding an aero degree but that is it.
Your aero engineering degree is a good choice, it will get you a graduate engineers job, from which the earnings are high enough that you will build up the credit rating that will allow you to secure the loans for flight training.
That said you could go and work in the financial sector to earn the sums of money you need to fund flight training.
To get your first flying job you will either need a 1000 hours total time (built from instructing or some other means) or £20000 for a type rating, (there are exceptions to this see other threads), but don't expect that because you have an aero degree that airlines will fall over themselves to offer you an FO position.
One of my mates has just finished a 4 year pharmacy degree and he seemed to think it was pretty intense so I dunno. I guess it just comes down to the individual really, how much you're prepared to work etc. Would be interesting to hear from anyone that has completed their distance learning while at uni though?! 
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