Originally Posted by
faarn
I will certainly look at the AEF and see what advice they can offer.
Fine, as long as you are aware of the obvious caveats - you will get about 7 hours as a convex and from then on, it takes a lot of 20-minute cadet sorties to build hours! If you are prepared to go there on every free day you have, you will end up getting some hours under your belt, and you certainly have time on your side, but the usual limiting factors can slow progress significantly. NB you may have quite a commute to your AEF, depending on where you live - some of them have so many pilots already that they will simply turn you away. Inevitably, those in the South-East are (so I'm told) the most flush for pilots. And as a current serving guy/girl, don't expect to receive a penny towards fuel costs etc.
A simpler alternative which others have taken is just to book yourself a couple of trips to Florida where the weather and serviceability is guaranteed, and the view out of the window (aircraft and accommodation!) is probably more entertaining even if you don't get to go upside down. Please note that I am not trying to play down the pleasure of AEF - I enjoyed my time on the Tutor immensely, and there is genuine satisafaction in taking cadets flying, some of whom had never left the ground before at all - but I'm simply trying to be realistic about your chances of achieving what you want.