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 had a very stressful sales job. I did a PPL CPL IMC FI Night + Instrument and Examiner.
It can be done, but flying like your existing job becomes a chore sometimes, and you question why you are still doing it, your enthusiasm does wane surprisingly. But have a go see where you end up. Im only freelance so not my main source of income, but its getting tough to find work.
I call it my flying experiment with my wife. My licences and hour build have been covered by my instructing earnings(Had PPL from 1984 just renewed it). so Im cost neutral, after 10 years, and have 1300 hrs. Its fun but not without its challenges. Makes you a great handling pilot instructing, Ive done loads from farm strips etc, and you meet some great people, some of whom go on and carve out great careers in aviation, and you started it all off for them. Seems to be getting very expensive to get the ratings though, not sure now if instructing would give you a return on the investment.
The think with the job is not necessary a problem. I was running a full time business and had a baby when I started my training/ATPL's.
But social life was gone, and I admit I met many new friends, but also was not able to keep in touch with all my old friends. Social life, what social life!
It is more than a job, when you start on this journey, and you will spend many hours wondering if it is really worth it! Do your PPL, and think about it after!
DON'T DO IT! There are already far too many without a job and you would only be swelling their numbers. My advice would be to cut your hours and spend the rest of them doing what you want to do - go flying. But you have the cash to do some serious flying in some exotic aircraft.
The current system is a race to the bottom, which you would be part of. Stay out of it until there is a real shortage. Until then, fly for fun!
I'm surprised there isn't current Airline Pilots on here looking to swop Jobs with you. Your mad in the head thinking of leaving your current position with the way things are around the world. One major Pilot Training College here in Ireland has hit rock bottom with a lot of unhappy people here and in Florida.
As you mentioned you have a good salary. Get your PPL done and hour build in your spare time while working your current Job. Your going to need a crap load of hours anyway if you ever do decide to take the plunge down the line so you might aswel do it out of your own pocket while you can afford to over a couple of years. It will save you taking out a loan to cover the costs. Also it will give you more time to research the Airline Industry and monitor how it is doing Job wise around the world and also discuss things with your better half.
Like yourself all I want to do is fly for a living (only in Helicopters) but I've giving up on pursuing it as a Career for now. I'm back at the books studying Engineering while doing some flying on my PPL when the wallet allows.
Hi there, thanks again for the replies, I have been hammering it hard at the flight schools in Oz and again went to an open evening tonite for a Jetstar program, to be honest it is a bit cheeky, they make a killing out of people wanting to be pilots, self funded and you might get a job...much cheaper to do a CPL yourself but you wont have a foot in the door unless your on one of these schemes I think.
I see in the UK CTC or OAA are the main ones are the same price more or less £80,000, are there any other ones in the UK? Do they just recruit generally and you train and then you get picked up by easyjet or ryanair etc at the end of the training?
Hi all, thanks for your replies. I have been doing alot of ground work on which course to do and I think that it may be better to try and get on a UK course ie OAA or CTC, is there anymore companies that do this in the UK or are these the 2 main ones?
As if I do my course here then I would need to do a conversion to a UK licence.
It seems that upto 35 you can get on a cadetship, how do OAA and CTC run, do they recruit you to easyjet for example or you may have a chance of getting in there when you complete?
I am in pretty much the same position as you, albeit 34 although I was 32 when I started on my 'aviation experiment'. I intially did a PPL, which is a good way to test your apptitude and followed this with a UK IMC rating which enabled me to prove to myself that I would be able to handle the IR course.
Currently I am studying for the ATPL exams via distance learning in the UK (I have completed 6 of the 14 and take another four in November). This does take quite a lot of time, but is on the whole pretty interesting and makes a nice personal challenge. Probably I am lucky in that I have a very short commute so I am able to get some study done in the morning before work and then again after work and still actually have some of the evening left. The course is tough, but this is very much going to depend again on apptitude and prior knowledge of some of the subject areas.
I've also amassed a resonable number of hours over the last couple of years, so when my ATPL exams are completed I should have just about the right number of hours to start the CPL course. These I count as 'free hours' since I would have flown them regardless of whether I was eventually after the fATPL or not.
Next year I am hoping to take a sabbatical to complete the CPL/ME/IR and then I will see how the pilot job market looks. If things are woeful or the sabbatical does not come off, or the market is looking horrible then I may just do the CPL and FI rating and get some part time instructing hours if I can.
Anyway, it is doable, but something you need to go into with your eyes wide open. Pay is definitely going to drop significantly and I would really really recommend making sure you can finance the training without taking on loans if at all possible. If you are being sensible you'll also have included in that the cost of a type rating. No one wants to pay for one, but have it as a safety net. IF the job market ever improves to the level where bonded TR's become the norm, you have some rainy day money.
Don't forget corporate operators. Many generally don't care how old you are so long as you display some decent corproate style traits during interview and sim check.
It will take a good few years before you are earning the money you are on now, but it's possible to get that again if you find a decent owner/operator on a med/long haul biz jet. I know guys earning £150k on Globals, Challengers etc. It is however a bit of a lottery on how the owner treats you.
My current employer is short haul stuff, so even at the top of the pay scale I will not see those sorts of numbers, BUT I am home a lot and fly "low stress". I am flying all over Europe for a great company, great bosses in a fun aircraft, AND the company is doing very well, in short it's about as close to Flying Nirvana as you can get.
