Hi everyone,I'm posting here out of desperation, because I have no more ideas and I'm frustrated. I'd like some advice, options and opinions of my fellow aviators.The long story, short...
Background:
-always wanted to be a pilot (cliche, but true)-went to ERAU, but found out the week before classes started, that flight training costs were NOT a part of tuition (I had no parents to read the fine print or anything - obviously my 18 year old self missed something important).-transferred out of Riddle, worked towards a BA, started flying lessons - got up to 40 hours (inconsistently) & ran out of money.-got a BA-got a job at a flight school in the marketing dept., full-time, and was looking forward to discounted flight training - or at least being able to finally afford it. However I let my naive self be taken advantage of - was paid way under any normal rate for my job & the living area. Left after 3 months.
Where I'm at now (in Europe):
-got a masters degree & a decent paying job (work in an office full-time). Still want to do nothing but fly.-my finances: make about 44K before taxes, after all bills & everything, I'm left with about $1400 (thanks also to GF just moving in!)-got the ppl and also work at the flight school as a Radiotelephony instructor, I also get to ferry the plane to and from maintenance when needed - not much, but 30 min here and there is better than nothing.-43 years old, 1st class medical-taking ATPL classes (well, only 80 hours of classroom instruction are required for this program). I've got 17 big thick binders & the corresponding online question bank trainer as well as AviationExam App. But it's me alone to study & prep.-pre-tests (with 80%), need to be taken by Nov. 3, before I can take the actual real tests (75% = passing).-In about 3 subjects I'm at or near 70%, with the others, I'm between 50 & 65% (flight planning and mass & balance I haven't even touched yet, aside from the classroom stuff).
The dilemma:-I feel like I don't have enough time to study. I'm lucky if I can squeeze out an hour a day going through the question bank trainers. I'm seeing improvement, but it's very very slow and I've only touched on a few of the subjects.-I've been giving this my all, literally. All my money, most of my time and most of my effort. I study most every night after work, and on weekends for 2-4 hours...but it doesn't seem to be enough.-Just this week I've tried studying an hour or so before work, and just going in & staying later so work tiredness/stress won't affect my studying.
My thoughts:-maybe I should just quit - obviously the universe doesn't want me to be a pilot, because no matter what I do, bigger and bigger walls get put up in front of me! (But then again damnit, it's all I want and I've already put in so much)...-quit the ATPL, buy a plane, fly for fun
- cut my job hours in half (and pay and vacation time) - and gain extra time to study...
-other than that, I'm not sure what else I can do or what else there is to do...Like I said above, I'm very frustrated right now and feel like I'm running through mud and the faster I try to run, the more walls get thrown up in front of me.So, if anyone out there has some good advice or novel ideas, I'd really appreciate hearing it.