Wondering What To Do Next (Finished ATPLs)
Hi fellow Ppruners!
I was wondering if some of the wiser members here would be able to give some advice. I am really unsure what to do. Totally torn in fact.
I'm Irish, but have spent most of my life living in the UK.
At age 18 (in 2010), I passed the entry requirements for the CAE easyjet programme. However, I wasn't in any financial position to join that programme. Several years on, I passed my PPL and night rating in 2018. I had always wanted to be a professional pilot, but things had never added up financially. I saved up and managed to pay for both. To be honest, it wasn't the experience I had hoped for. At my first flight school, I felt like a real failure. I got to 25 hours and had never soloed. It damaged my confidence pretty badly. However, I moved school and managed to come through relatively unscathed with a new FI who I managed to gel with much better and got through the PPL with basically minimum hours (excluding that first 25).
Then I did my ATPLs in 2020 and 2021. I started just as Covid began. It wasn't an easy journey and I ended up taking a six month sabbatical in 2021 from work as I found it a little difficult to focus on both work and the exams. In my mind, it was very much a now or never decision with my 30s very much on the horizon. It wasn't an easy journey (especially with Covid), however, I managed to finish all fourteen (as it was then) ATPLs with 14 first-time passes and a 92% average in late September 2021.
Obviously I was incredibly proud of this achievement. However, I still had so many niggles in my mind. Am I suitable to be a pilot? Over 30 hours to solo isn't at all normal I know. Plus being over 30 means I feel I've missed the mark somehow. I just renewed my class one medical as that isn't an issue.
Basically, my main question is asking for advice what do next. I have saved enough cash for the CPL-IR. Should I go for it? Is there anywhere I can test out my skills to see if I am good enough? My mind is spinning with this decision. Plus, September 2024 might seem a LONG time away, but I know that it isn't really.
Can anyone help with this conundrum?