liquidhockey

hi all
I am at college and am planning ahead at the mo. Please could anyone give me some advice on this question this would be much appreciated.
ok
I want to be an airline pilot.When i am older i wish to live in Canada or the USA (both under FAA i presume) However i will be wanting to start my training when i leave college in a year (self funding). I wonder if you would advise me to train in the uk or under the JAA or in the USA under the FAA? Obviously i wont want to leave my family behind when only 18 and will probably want my first job in the uk for that reason. However i WILL be moving to the usa somtime.
Bit of a tricky situation i know but any advice would be helpful.
thanx
Dave

boxjockey99

well liquidhockey first things first, getting a work permit in the USA and Canada is like getting S**t from a rocking horse especially in the aviation industry as there seem to be more pilots than they have seats already. The only easy way in for us brits is marrying in as I believe we aren't eligible for the greencard lottery. It's all made a bit easier if you have family ties there.

second the question of JAR or FAA can be answered simply... if you're in the UK / EU then get your JAR license, the money here is good and if you do get lucky enough to get a US flying job then transfering the JAR ATPL is simply a case of filling in a form and perhaps having to take a check-ride. it's a damn site easier that way than having an FAA ticket and then having to go through all the JAR writtens and flight training on top of the work in the US.

I know a guy who did an FAA CPL IR Multi in the USA then came home to get the JAR stuff and really bombed the NAV's in JAR in the end he postponed it and got a REALLY good job which happened to be in the states but not in aviation

Hope that helps some

sam_flying

Liquidhockey

Ok, I am not an expert by any means...in fact I am a wannabe like yourself. BUT, speaking from experience do the JAA licences.

I went to the USA and did my PPL there, got an FAA PPL as I had originally planned on getting all my FAA licences and working out there. Since returning I have completely changed my mind. The JAA licences are much harder to convert to from an FAA licence than converting from a JAA to an FAA later. I plan on doing this myself eventually.

Even my FAA PPL has restricted me, as I cannot get my night or IMC ratings here until I have 100hrs and do some exams to convert my licence to a JAA PPL....its all very fustrating!!!

If I were you, I would do all your licences here with the JAA, then later when you are in the USA convert to FAA...it would be a hell of alot easier!!

Hope this helps.

Sam_flying