Originally Posted by
rudestuff
1)
10) I can only tell you about modular because I'm not a rich idiot. That's a lie - I wasn't a rich idiot.
Integrated: you do a load of exams and flying but you don't get a licence of any kind until the very end. Wash out and you get nothing.
Modular: You start with a PPL (or even LAPL but you need an ICAO PPL to start the ATPL exams)
Because you need an ICAO PPL the easiest, quickest and cheapest PPL to get is an FAA one from the US. Because of this wonderful thing called predictable weather, you can get an FAA PPL(called a certificate) in under 4 weeks. It's possible to get a CAA PPL in under a year.
My advice: take 2 blocks of 2 weeks holiday in your first year and get an FAA private.
After private things get a bit murky, so concentrate on what you want to end up with and work backwards:
You need a CPL with MEIR and ATPL theory credits. Understand that every licence has exams. PPL has exams. IR has exams. CPL has exams. ATPL has exams. The great thing about the CAA/EASA system is that all exams are downwards creditable: because 99% of people plan to sit the ATPL exams anyway, they simply do those after the PPL and use them instead of the CPL&IR exams, then use them again for their ATPL.
The CPL requires 200 hours with 100 PIC so there's hour building to be done. The MEIR requires you to have an MEP rating, so there's that. But that requires 70 hours PIC to start. The beauty of the modular system is you can do any course in any order, but obviously there is an optimal order. Actually there are two optimal orders. One which makes the flight school the most money and one which saves you the most money. Guess which one they will try to sell you?
90% of people do something like this: Medical, PPL, ATPLS, hour building, CPL and MEP, MEIR. This is not the cheapest way to do it, and it's all to do with hour building. Trust me, I know this because I fell into the same trap as everyone else. If you get your CPL first you'll have 200 hours before you start your IR. Then you'll fly at least 15 hours multi engine plus 30 hours in a simulator for the IR. You'll finish with approx 220 hours. If you get the IR first, you can do it after 50 hours cross country PIC. You could start IR training the 100TT point. If you do your SEIR you can do it ALL in the airplane - combining it with your hour building - hours that you were going to fly anyway. The additional cost is only the instructor. Don't get me wrong, SIM training can be useful but the airane is effectively free if you're hour building anyway. The SEIR gives you multiple advantages: 1. You only need one type of IR to stick the clock on the ATPL exams (they expire after 36 months if you don't get a CPL and IR) and the SEIR is by far the fastest answer cheapest way to do that. 2. You can upgrade the SEIR to MEIR with a 5 hour course (3 in three sim) meaning you could save 10+ hours multi training. The disadvantage is that you have to take a second IR test to upgrade. But overall by doing the IR before the CPL your get to finish with 200 hours and save yourself 30+ expensive sim hours and 10 very expensive multi hours. An easy £10k in the pocket.
For your wallet the optimum order is:
Medical, PPL, ATPL exams, 50 hours XC PIC, SEIR (CBIR route), hour build to 175 then STOP.
Stop to assess the job market.
If the job market is good: MEP, MEIR upgrade, SECPL at 200 hours.
If the job market is poor: WAIT until 30 months after ATPLs passed, hour build, SECPL at 200 hours.
Why two options? If there are no jobs there is no point in having the qualification or spending the money. You'll need to keep it current every year, plus recent graduates are more desirable. However, the ATPL exams have an expiry, so once they get close to expiring you have no choice but to take a SECPL to save them in the cheapest manner. The only real difference between the two options is taking the MEP and MEIR short course before or after 200 hours, and in real terms the only extra expense is about 10 hours of extra hour building, so maybe £1000-1500. That buys you the flexibility to slow down your training and choose when you finish your Modular program to coincide with the best possible market. Most people don't think that way. They plough on and qualify into a poor market, spend a fortune revalidation whilst slowly aging out and eventually give up. Finding yourself in a poor market with only a SE IR/CPL and the money in your back pocket to pay for the upgrade means you have nothing to revalidate. When you market picks up, you do the MEP and MEIR and "qualify" with a brand new licence.