Hello, a short background on me:
Up until school/6th form I had my eyes set on being a pilot and was targeting the CTC (L3) integrated routes/sponsored cadet schemes. Made it through the assessment centre at CTC for the fully self-funded integrated ATPL, pending the re-sit of one joystick aptitude test, but ultimately decided to go university on the advice that it would be good to have a backup.
In this instance, hindsight is an amazing thing as I would've graduated flight school 6 months prior to COVID and probably would have been sacked and possibly lost everything, so I don't regret this choice, nor having to re-mortgage my parent's house to fund it.
I've since completed a 5 year masters in Aerospace Engineering and during this time, I've seen the industry get hit from COVID and 'thought' that engineering would be better for me. However, I am now employed on a 2-year graduate program with a well-known aerospace company in the UK, and I am incredibly thankful for my job, but I can't help shake the feeling that deep down I still want to be a pilot.
Prior to reading through this thread, I believed that the modular route was inferior to the modular route and I would be second best in job applications (possibly this could be from my experience applying through CTC). I've started to consider how I might go about becoming a pilot again, now that the industry is starting to open up. I've been applying to the sponsored cadet schemes, but I am also considering the modular route, as I like my current job and I think I would be happy to take 3/4/5 years to study/fly part-time, funded by my job.
- I was hoping to get people's thoughts on this, and the expected costs for the modular route to a CPL and beyond. I know that this has been covered before, but with the recent hikes in fuel/inflation etc I was hoping for some more accurate numbers
- I have previously carried out 10 hours of PPL flying, but this was nearly 6 years ago. Would these hours be valid in any way towards a PPL?
- My take-home pay is ~£1800/month, bills and rent come to £800/month, so I have £1000/month spare cash. What sort of timeframe would this allow me to complete my modular route in? (aware this depends on my lifestyle choices). This take-home pay will increase to £2300 in 18 months time.
- Is it feasible to study for the ATPL exams in the evenings/weekends after work? The thought of having to do more exams after 4/5 years of uni is a sad one but part-time it may not be so bad, especially if it is broken up with some hour building.
I appreciate any thoughts you may have, and I'm also aware that I could be asking how long is a piece of string, but I'm not really sure where to start having been out of the aviation loop for so long. Feel free to bash any of my comments/questions.
Thanks!
Ryan